Take charge of your life! It's time to take personal responsibility for your own health

Take Charge of Your Life!

Just do it!"

You've seen it on billboards, in magazines, on television. "Just do it!"

Sure, it's an advertising slogan, but it's still good advice. "Just do it!"

Who, me? Yes, you (and me)! "Just do it!"

When? Why not begin right now!

"Just do" what? Just decide to take personal responsibility for your own health. According to the 1989 Report of the United States Preventive Services Task Force, our ability to improve our health and prevent disease is dependent in large part on our willingness to take charge of our own lives. We must become knowledgeable regarding our bodies--what makes them work well and what makes them break down. Then we must take positive, assertive action to attain and maintain optimum health.

It's really not so complicated. We know that just a few diseases--including heart disease, cancer, strokes, injuries, and lung disease--account for almost 80 percent of the deaths in our country each year. And we know that our own destructive behaviors--cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, failure to use seat belts, drinking alcoholic beverages, and poor nutrition--contribute substantially to the development of these diseases.

In preparing its report, the Preventive Services Task Force recognized that our risk of developing certain diseases varies depending upon our age, our gender, and other factors. After all, babies don't smoke cigarettes or use alcohol, and most adults don't fall out of the crib or put their fingers into electrical outlets. Men don't need Pap smears or mammograms, and women are less prone than men to injuries from dangerous or violent behavior. In other words, what we really need is age-specific and gender-specific information regarding important aspects of health promotion and disease prevention. That is what this report provides.

Although written primarily for physicians and other health professionals, the report contains valuable information for all of us. Let me tell you what it means to my family. There are four of us in our immediate family, my wife and I and two teenage daughters. Our children are fortunate to have four living, healthy grandparents. Together, Jackie and I have five brothers and sisters, six nieces and nephews, and many auntS, uncles, and cousins. Each category of the task force report is relevant to some member of our family.

Birth to 18 months. At 6 months, nephew Chase is the newest member of our clan. Active and healthy in every way, he is now smiling and "talking" and making efforts to crawl. So why worry? What does prevention mean to a baby?

Unfortunately, even babies become ill, and, tragically, some die. Most often, baby deaths are related to events or conditions surrounding birth, birth defects, heart disease, or injuries.

His parents' chief concern regarding Chase relates to giving him the very best start in life that they can. This means regularly monitoring his height and weight to ensure that he is growing properly. A routine blood check tells whether he is getting sufficient dietary iron and other blood-building nutrients.

The car engine is never started until Chase is safely buckled in h is infant restraint seat. Drugs and toxic chemicals are stored in locked cupboards safely out of reach, and the phone number for the poison control center is posted prominently by the phone. He never goes to bed with a bottle, because of the potential damage to his developing teeth.

Chase is up-to-date on all his immunizations. By age 18 months he will be protected against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella (German measles), and H. flu (a type of bacteria that causes childhood meningitis).

That's what "just do it" means to Chase.

Ages 2 to 6. Mikey is Chase's older brother. Any parent of a 3-year-old boy understands why injuries are the number one cause of death in this age group. Mikey is into, on top of, around, beneath, and through everything, and all at lightning speed. His active explorations place him in dangerous situations despite vigorous efforts to keep h im from harm.

Although he is no longer growing as rapidly as younger brother Chase, his height and weight are checked at regular intervals. Since eye-muscle problems ("lazy eye") often become apparent at this age, he has already had an eye exam and has made an initial trip to the dentist. His physician has checked his blood pressure (it was normal), and his urine (perhaps more important for little girls).

Mikey's sweet tooth is satisfied by nutritious foods rather than sugary pop, candies, and snacks. And he is learning to brush his teeth. Since their parents are nonsmokers, Mikey and Chase are not exposed to the danger of passive cigarette smoke.

Most important, their efforts to "just do it" for Mikey involve providing a safe environment for him to grow and develop. He has outgrown his infant restraint seat, but "buckle up" has become part of his vocabulary and habit pattern. He always wears a safety helmet when riding bicycles with his parents. And even though he has begun swimming lessons, the pool is fenced and locked unless an adult is in constant attendance.

Ages 7 to 12. School work, piano lessons, swim team, and Girl Scouts keep my 10-year-old niece Ashley very busy; but she is still her mother's best helper and baby-sitter for brothers Chase and Mikey.

Ashley's growing maturity means that she is beginning to "just do it" for herself, taking personal responsibility for her health in many ways. It's no longer necessary to remind her every day to buckle her seat belt, wear her safety helmet, or brush her teeth.

It is necessary for her parents to provide regular visits to her dentist and her doctor (who did a skin test for tuberculosis at her last visit), and to watch her growth and development.

Ashley is learning what a nutritions, low-fat, low-cholesterol diet means and how to prepare good lunches for school. She has developed a habit of using sunscreen when swimming and cycling in the bright sun.

Ages 13 to 18. Our own daughters, Jennifer and Jessica, and their cousins, Jeff and Josh, Heidi and Carlyle, are traversing the teen years. Rapid changes in body shape, size, and strength are accompanied by expanding social horizons and pressures.

For them, "just do it" sometimes takes on perverse and dangerous connotations.

"Just try it; one joint won't hurt you."

"Just floor it; let's see how fast it goes."

"If you really love me, just say yes."

Our responsibility for the health of our teenage youngsters, who are dying most frequently of accidents, homicide, and suicide, means giving them the knowledge, freedom, and support they need to say No. They must be made aware of the short- and long-term consequences of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use. We have no choice but to discuss frankly with them the implications of their sexual behavior. They must learn responsible use of automobiles and good driving skills. And we must be aware of risk factors for suicide and on the lookout for signs of depression.

Ages 19 to 39. Young adulthood -- courtship and marriage, career development, and raising a family are the elements of life for Bob and Joni, my brother and his bride. Good health is almost taken for granted. Active lifestyles, including demanding occupations, busy social calendars, and church and civic responsibilities, leave little time for medical checkups -- and besides, they both feel great, so why bother?

It is during these critical years that we prepare our bodies for a healthy entry into the second half of life or set ourselves up for the abrupt appearance of chronic disease or disability. High blood pressure and elevated cholesterol may be taking a silent toll on the blood vessels of our vital organs with no obvious outward indication. Recreational sports -- golf, tennis, skiing -- may not provide the aerobic conditioning essential to healthy heart and lungs. Regular Pap smears become an important preventive measure for young women.

Pregnancy introduces a new and unique order of considerations. A more-than-casual look at the family tree is appropriate. Are there obvious genes in the family that may cause birth defects? Specialized testing may be indicated to screen for potential problems.

Ages 40 to 64. Here we are -- Jackie and I -- the first of the baby boomers to turn 40. Somehow things have changed. We look different. Our hair is graying, our clothes are shrinking (especially around the waistline), we hold the newspaper farther from our eyes.

And our contemporaries are dying of different diseases. During the previous four decades, those of us who died did so -- for the most part -- as a result of accidents or trauma. Now we're dying of heart disease, cancer, and strokes.

Why? What happened? Why are our bodies breaking down?

Well, some of us neglected our health a bit in our 20s and 30s. We ate too much -- too much fat, too much salt, too much. We didn't exercise frequently or well, we smoked and drank, pushed too hard to get ahead, and we didn't watch our blood pressure. We were a little casual about our sexual behavior, and we didn't bother with medical checkups.

So what can we do now? Is it too late to recapture some of our lost youth and health? No. We can "just do" the following:

1. Begin an exercise program and attain optimum weight.

2. Increase dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates, and decrease sodium, fat, and cholesterol.

3. Take time for a checkup. The physician will look for hidden problems: abnormal sugar tolerance, blood in the stool, limited exercise ability.

4. Women should increase dietary calcium and have regular manual breast exams and mammograms.

Ages 65 and over. The grandparents of our family -- all four are healthy, active, productive. They've earned the right to "kick back" and take life easy. They can loosen up, eat what they want, sleep when they want, and sit in the rocking chair. After all, by now they're pretty much stuck with their state of health, for better or worse.

Not so! At age 65, healthy Americans can reasonably anticipate another 15 or more good years. Living longer healthfully has become the rule rather than the exception.

Both sets of grandparents are contemplating building new homes and considering whether to build on a single level rather than plan to continue negotiating stairs indefinitely. They are concerned about providing adequate lighting and sturdy handrails.

Good questions for them to ask now are:

* How well do our eyes, ears, teeth, and joints work?

* What is the best form of physical activity to build heart and lungs while protecting muscles, bones, and joints?

* How competent a driver am I, and what alternative means of transportation are available when I have to stop driving?

* Do I need pneumonia vaccine? Answer: Yes, one time only.

* Do I need flu vaccine? Answer: Yes, each year in October or November.

Summary. Don't wait around. "Just do it!" Take charge of your own life and health. For each of us, at every age in life, health promotion and prevention of disease is important. Good health is not accidental, nor is it a nonforfeitable prize or our birthright. It is ours only if we are willing to nurture and keep it.

So "just do it!"

Now!

Ted Hamilton, M.D., is associate professor of family and preventive medicine at the School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California.

COPYRIGHT 1991 Review and Herald Publishing Association
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group