ARE YOU HEALTHY?

Without mincing words, being healthy means to be in the state of being free from sickness, disease or injury. 

A study in the year 2015 revealed that 95% of the world's population has health problems, while one out of every 20 people worldwide (just 4.3% of the world's population) had no health problem in year 2013 - according to sciencedaily research.

But as you might have rightly known, reputable health institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF annually look out for measures that would help to battle the continuous rise in the level of re-occurring diseases and epidemic outbreaks in the world which have continued to claim lives of people. 

THE STATE OF TODAY'S HEALTH:

 It is pretty saddening for me to know that yearly, kids from different parts of the world die of deadly diseases and ailments: malaria, Typhoid, Fever and other household name illnesses have continued to claim lives of children and adults all over the world, especially in Africa and Asia.

 Well, I’m sure you've once or twice seen a news where the likes of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg were sending aids - in the form of  health aid - to these parts of the world.

Even more so, would you believe that over 60,000 deaths in the year 2016 were caused by Ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections, Alzheimer disease, diabetes mellitus, HIV, tuberculosis and the rest of them - according to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO)? These diseases have long been known but they just still find ways to kill people annually (how bad).

Despite these heartbreaking statistics and facts, I think it is important that you  know that HIV treatments, Cancer treatments and Malaria prevention measures have risen dramatically since year 2010 till date.  

More people with these diseases in various countries around the world that still alive like You and I because treatments for those conditions have been greatly improved compared to decades ago. For example, Kenya - a country in east Africa - was ranked globally in year 2017 when it comes to research and development expenditure on the health sector. 

However, a lot of work still has to be done by health and medical experts. Apart from well known deadly diseases, some rare conditions - such as Stiff skin syndrome - are coming up and might pose serious challenges to the well-being of people if researches are not done and solutions found to counter and treat them. 

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU'RE HEALTHY?

Most of us have the desire to live healthy and we try to work towards it. Or, How do you feel while taking drugs? So elated like you've won a trophy, right? Well, I believe your answer is NO!. 

Okay, how about receiving injections because of an ailment: how do you feel during such time? Unhappy, I guess.

We have established that it's good to be in an healthy state, so how do you know if you're really healthy?

I remember a friend of mine, sometimes ago She wouldn’t stop eating junks and all that, and whenever I cautioned her about her state of health and her choices of diet, she would be like, "Cmon, don't look at my size; I know I’m big but at same time I’m fine and healthy!"

Unfortunately for her, She didn't take any of my advise seriously until she was diagnosed of an heart disease due to presence of excess fat in her body.

Knowing that you're healthy or not first begins with examining your physical body changes and secondly going for medical checkups.

There is this popular quote by Buddha which states, "To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind, he'd be able to control his cations, and he can find the way to Enlightenment and good living. I always wished my friend knew this quote and applied it, probably she would have been hale and healthy today. Therefore it is expedient for you and I to be able to stay healthy by observing whether we are really physically, mentally and emotional healthy daily or not.

You can be sure you're healthy:

- When you jump out of the bed in the morning with bundle of energy oozing from your body. Most of the signs and symptoms of sicknesses and diseases would naturally pin people down to their beds. For example, if you wake up in the morning with a serious headache and general body pain, these would disturb you from having a productive day. They are simply signs that you are not in an healthy state and you really need to see a qualified physician as soon as possible.

- When your skin looks vascularized and fresh, its a sign that you're healthy. An healthy skin does not look rough but clean. An healthy skin is free from complaints such as black spots, blackheads, oil, rough, flaky, loose, dry and inflammation. 

When the occurrence of headache does not become a daily routine. As a result of stress, it is normal for us to feel headache sometimes, but the moment it becomes a usual thing; it is a sign of unhealthy state. You may need to see a physician to examine the root cause of the persistent headache, which could turn out to be as a result of mild or severe migraine.

- When your Body-Mass-Index (BMI) is normal. BMI is the measure of whether you are overweight, you are obese, you’re of normal weight, or you’re underweight. ,

An underweight person would have a BMI that is under 18.5kg/m-square;

An overweight person would have a BMI of 25 to 30;

A normal weight person would have a BMI of 18.5 to 25;

An Obese person would have a BMI of above 30.

My friend that I mentioned above was over-weight but didn't admit to it. If she had admitted to what I said and had examined her BMI in order to confirm and had gone ahead for proper medical help, she would probably not have ran into the terrible state of Stroke where she later found her self.

It is important for everyone to know their BMI because it is one of the factors that determine whether you are healthy or not. 

- Regular Menstrual cycle. One of the index that shows you're healthy as a woman is when your menstrual cycle is regular. Irregular menstrual cycle is simply a sign that something is wrong somewhere.

Your Eyes are clear and healthy. You have probably once or twice detected that a friend or neighbor of yours isn't in an healthy state when you closely look into the eyes of the person. The human eyes give a lot of clue as to whether a man is healthy or not. When you examine someone's eyes, and they look yellow, pale or red; these are indications that such an individual is not healthy and needs to see a physician for diagnosis and treatment. A clear eye is one of the easier and most proximal index for being sure that you are in an optimum health condition.

Your chest does not pain you when engaging in exercise. It is a good sign that you are healthy when you engage in exercise and you do not experience any form of pain around your heart region. There have been people who, sadly, died on the field of play because they have an underline heart problem that got escalated during exercise. When you engage in exercise and notice sharp pain around your cardiovascular region, it is better to stop such exercise and see a qualified physician for proper diagnosis and treatment

- You don't get depressed over a bad occurrence

 You are healthy and emotionally balanced when you don't become depressed when bad or lugubrious occurrences happen. This implies that you are mentally and emotionally stable to cope with problems at home, in the neighborhood and at your work place. Not getting depressed is such a good sign that you’re healthy and there is nothing wrong with your mental and emotional health.

Other means by which you can know whether you are healthy or not is to under tests blood pressure test, eye test, stress test, hearing test, bone density test, blood sugar level test and dental examination. These tests are capable of revealing hidden health problems that are present in your body but have not just 'maybe' decided to manifest.

COMMON KILLER DISEASES NOWADAYS.

Did you know that about 23 million deaths in 2015 were caused by only five diseases? It is however staggering to know that 65% of these deaths were caused by only two diseases: stroke and heart disease.

Diarrhea alone accounted for about half a million death of under fives in year 2015 globally.

HIV/AIDS alone accounted for the deaths of about 47 million people in less developed countries globally.

According to a data released by the World's Health Organization (WHO) in 2015, the top killer diseases in the world are:

1. Ischaemic heart disease : this accounted for about 8.8 million deaths

2. Stroke: this accounted for about 6.2 million deaths.

3. Lower respiratory infections which includes pneumonia and bronchitis: these accounted for about 3.2 million deaths.

4. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary diseases: this accounted for about 3.2 million deaths

5. Bronchus, Trachea and Lung cancers: these accounted for about 1.7 million deaths.

6. Alzheimer disease and other dementias: these accounted for about 1.4 million deaths

7. Diarrheal diseases: these also accounted for about 1.4 million deaths.

These common communicable and non communicable diseases have continued to be a menace and deadly even till today. Further medical researches are needed to fully tackle these menaces.