Any executive should make a point to think seriously about his health status on a regular basis, at least once a year, and mark it in his agenda as a priority. One should visit the doctor for a yearly check-up and possible treatment, even in the absence of any particular symptoms. Just like your car or your computer, a regular “health maintenance” is advised, because for health matters, prevention is also better than cure!
However, one's lifestyle by itself can achieve most of the prevention of serious problems, just by adopting good living habits. Make sure you choose a doctor who is open to the concept of “Integrated Medicine”, which is the association of the Traditional Medicine with what the Complementary and Alternative Medicines have offer. Integrated Medicine takes a person as a holistic entity, and does not address each disease by an organ-orientated approach only.
1. Cardio-vascular risks:
Cardio vascular problems are the number one killer in the world. Each person carries a certain likelihood of developing cardio-vascular problems at any given time according to:
- the family history: this is a crucial factor that must attract your immediate attention: if anyone in the family has heart problems, your own risks to develop similar problems are higher.
- the smoking status: Don't smoke. If you do smoke, stop. Nicotine patches, gum or inhaler won't help much, and acupuncture won't help at all. Try to reduce your smoking, as there is a profound dose-response (the more you smoke, the more likely you are to have cancer, or heart or respiratory disease). So cut down to below five cigarettes a day and leave long portions of the day without a cigarette.
- the control of the blood pressure: High BP is called the “silent killer” because often does not have any symptoms, is discovered by chance and yet can be lethal. Medications, weight control, regular exercise and stress management techniques should all be associated in order to control high blood pressure
- a blood sugar: diabetes is bad, not only for the heart, but also for the kidneys, the vessels and the eyes. If you have high blood sugar levels and are overweight, controlling your weight will be the first step. If this proves insufficient, your doctor will advise a treatment based on tablets or insulin.
- the cholesterol level: there are different cholesterol types, some are bad (LDL) some are good (HDL). Again, a diet and a normal body weight are the first essential steps. If insufficient, your doctor will prescribe statins.
- the body weight: Check your height and weight on a chart to see if you are overweight for your height: your body mass index (BMI) is the weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared: for preference it should be below 25. Recently, abdominal girth measurement is slowly taking over as the benchmark for excess weight. If you are overweight, lose it. This has many benefits. There is no good evidence on simple ways to lose weight that work. Crash diets don't work. Take it one step at a time, do the things that are possible now, and combine some calorie limitation with increased exercise. The good news is that in a few years time we may have some appetite suppressants to make it easier.
- the stress level: we are not only here to simply say that stress should be avoided, we are realistic and know the constraints of modern life. But a stressful life absolutely needs to be seriously counter-balanced with stress-busting activities, i.e. sports, yoga, meditation...
2. Cancer risk:
The risks of cancer can also be reasonably well defined at each time of one's life. Given that cancer gets about 1 in 3 of us in a lifetime, follow this advice: Check for the following risk factors!
- the age: the older, the more chances of developing cancer: for instance 80% of men aged 80 have prostate cancer on autopsy
- the geographic location where one lives causes some huge differences in some forms of cancers. This can be explained by some factors like nutrition and culture (pace of life), but others reasons are less known.
- the family history: certain forms of cancer like the colon, the prostate are definitely affected by family transmission. If there are cases of those in your family, establishing a regular detection strategy is mandatory.
- the nutritional habits: eat whole grain foods (bread, or rice, or pasta) on four occasions a week. This will reduce the chance of having almost any cancer by 40%.
- the stress level: there is more and more evidence that long term stress markedly decreases the immune response to both infections and cancers: meditation is an excellent stress-buster, and practiced for 30 min daily reduces cancer risks by 50%!
- the exposure to toxic substances: tobacco is the prime example.
- the chronic inflammatory processes in the body
- viral infections like Hepatitis B and C are precursors to some forms of cancer
3. Nutrition and drink
Healthy eating and drinking means:
- Eat at least five (5) portions of fresh vegetables and fruit a day, and especially tomatoes (including ketchup), red grapes and the like, as well as salad all year. In general, the darker the color of fruits and vegetables, the better they are for your health. This protects against a whole variety of different nasty things:
• It reduces the risk of stroke dramatically
• It reduces the risk of diabetes considerably
• It will reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer
- Use cholesterol-lowering products (like Benecol) instead of butter or margarine. It really does reduce cholesterol, which will reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, even in those people whose cholesterol is not particularly high.
- Eat fish once a week won't stop you having a heart attack in itself, but it reduces the likelihood of you dying from it by 50%.
- drink at least 3 liters of water per day, half before lunch and half after lunch. Cut down on coffee and tea to maximum 4 cups a day, as they only contribute to get you more nervous and to dehydrate your body further. Switch over to decaffeinated coffee or herbal teas like chamomile. Want to know one simple and good method to check that you are drinking enough? Your urine should be light yellow colour, not dark.
4. Are food supplements necessary, even to a well balanced-diet?
- Omega-3: Yes! This fish oil comes in tablets and is essential to reduce you chances of heart problems. It is also very good in protecting against “burn-out”, anxiety, depression.
- Aspirin: if you have no stomach ulcer problems or allergy to this medicine, 100 mg of aspirin per day also decreases your chances of heart problems, and has recently been suggested to decrease some cancers
- Vitamins: take a multivitamin tablet every day, but be sure that it is one with at least 200 micrograms of folate. The evidence is that this can substantially reduce chances of heart disease in some individuals, and it has been shown to reduce colon cancer by over 85%. It may also reduce the likelihood of developing dementia.
5. Stress management
- Physical exercise: get breathless more often. You don't have to go to a gym or be an Olympic marathon runner. Simply walking a mile a day, or taking reasonable exercise three times a week (enough to make you sweat or glow) will substantially reduce the risk of heart disease. If you walk, don't dawdle. Make it a brisk pace. One of the benefits of regular exercise is that it strengthens bones and keeps them strong. Swimming and cycling, preferably outdoor, are particularly recommended because they cause minimal strain on the joints. Exercise will boost your morale, relieve stress, help you shed weight, improve your immune system,
- Yoga, meditation, spirituality are essential. Don't think these are beyond your reach or just weird, absolutely everybody benefits from it. Get a good teacher to train you. You'll be amazed!
- social and family life are cornerstones of well being: communicate with your spouse a few times a day, set some moments to play with your kids, get out in the nature with your friends for camping or barbeques.
In summary: Manage your health like you manage your business: make a commitment to visit your doctor once a year, control your weight, identify your risk factors, develop your social life around family-orientated sportive or outdoor activities, and find out more about yoga and mediation! This could make you a new person!
Dr Piet P. Bekaert of Belgium Medical Services, Dubai Healthcare City, is Managing Director of Dial a Doctor.
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