Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) was created in 1948 and defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”  Today, there is a lot of focus on living a healthy lifestyle.  With obesity rates skyrocketing at alarming rates, many people are taking a much longer look at their over health and lifestyle.   Achieving and maintaining your health is the key to having a better quality of life.

Achieving and maintaining your health is an ongoing process.  There are several effective strategies for improving your health and staying healthy.  These include awareness of how you feel during the day, social activity, hygeine, stress management, and access to preventative health care.

Being aware of your health during daily living is an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  Personal health relys on information gathered from personal observations about your health during everyday life.  For example, if you suffer from chronic headaches, you will want to observe the types of foods you eat, how much rest you get, and any other things in your daily life that could possibly trigger a headache.  Information gathered from these observations should be shared with your healthcare provider so that they can assist you with medication decisions and treatment plans.

Social activity is another important part of maintaining personal health.  Studies have shown that people with strong social relationships have better health, enjoy longevity, increased productivity, and have a positive attitude.  Social interaction increases many chemical levels in the brain which are linked to personality and intelligence traits.

Personal hygiene is the practice of keeping the body clean to prevent infection and illness.  It also makes you aware of infectious agents so that you are able to avoid coming into contact with them.  Hygiene practices include showering, bathing, washing hands, and brushing and flossing teeth.    Practicing these hygiene methods on a daily basis will help maintain personal health and prevent the spread of germs.  By cleaning the body, dead skin cells are washed away with the germs, which reduces their chance of entering the body.

Stress management is another area that helps you maintain your health.  Prolonged stress has been shown to negatively impact health and has been documented as a factor in depression.  There are several methods that can be used to reduce stress or increase your tolerance to stress.  Relaxation techniques, physical exercise, meditation, and positive thinking are all examples of things that work to reduce stress.
 
Using preventative health care is important in maintaining your health.  This includes seeing your doctor regularly for physical well checks.  Doctors will be able to determine your overall health and provide you with test data that confirm your current well being.  It is important to use preventative measures such as vaccinations to help ward off illnesses.  Healthcare technology is changing rapidly and has increased the doctor’s ability to diagnose any conditions and provide early detection of serious illness.  This early detection will increase the change of maintaining your health.