Kenneth Gardner
THE AVERAGE life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past decades due largely to the development of vaccines and antibiotics to prevent and fight infectious diseases. However, chronic diseases have emerged as our major health threat. Even though we are living longer, many of us suffer a declining quality of life in our later years as a result of these diseases. Treating these chronic diseases is enormously expensive as well as difficult. The best treatment for these diseases is prevention. We have to be empowered to develop a greater awareness about health and taking care of our bodies.
The good news is that we do have some control over whether these diseases develop. We make choices daily that either increase or decrease our risks for the diseases. Lifestyle choices involving such behaviours as regular physical exercise, smoking, drinking excessive alcohol and diet. Our behaviour influences our health risks. Health-care professionals can do little more than provide information, advice and encouragement. What happens after that is up to us. Our decisions can make lasting changes in our lives to promote good health.
KEEP MOVING
Maybe the single most important choice we can make to promote wellness is to be physically active. A sedentary lifestyle is prevalent in our society which is unfortunate because the human body is designed to do physical work. Our body works best when it is used regularly to do physical work. The more regularly we participate in physical activity, the more our muscles, bones, heart and lungs will become stronger and work more efficiently. The reverse is similarly true; when we become inactive, we deteriorate. Bones lose their density, joints lose their flexibility, the muscles become weak and our cellular energy systems begin to degenerate.
The benefits of physical activity span the physical to the mental capacities, in both the short and long term. In the short term, being physically fit makes it easier to do everyday tasks; it provides reserve strength for emergencies. In the long term, being physically fit confers protection against chronic diseases and lowers the risk of dying prematurely.
Physically active persons are less likely to develop or die from heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis and respiratory disease. The cardio-respiratory system of the active individual tends to resemble that of persons 10 or more years younger than themselves. As they get older they are able to manage their weight better, avoid muscle and bone loss, avoid fatigue more easily, as well as other problems associated with ageing.
NEGATIVE STRESS
With a healthy heart, strong muscles, a lean body and a repertoire of physical skills, we are more capable of managing negative stress. Our lifestyle is not the only factor involved in good health. Heredity, the environment and access to adequate health care are other important factors. These factors can interact in ways that raise or lower the quality of our lives and the risks of developing specific diseases. A sedentary lifestyle combined with a genetic predisposition for diabetes can significantly increase an individual's risk for developing the disease. Similarly, if the individual lacks adequate health care, he/she is much more likely to suffer dangerous complications from diabetes and may experience a lower quality life. Our lifestyle can tilt the balance toward health even if heredity and/or the environment are negative factors.
Kenneth Gardner is an exercise physiologist at the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
