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Most people don’t think about their health until they must. Unfortunately, this can be a barrier to early disease detection and increase your health risk factors.
When you have a busy life, it’s normal to ignore your health while it’s good. After all, if something isn’t broken you don’t think about how to fix it. But this isn’t the best strategy for long term health. It means that you may miss the earliest signs of a health risk. And this is a problem because early detection is key to getting a good health outcome with most diseases. A better strategy is to do regular health monitoring from a very early age. This will help you identify potential risks to your health early enough to make vital changes and perhaps avoid serious health threats.
The sad truth is that most people don’t think about their health until something goes wrong. This is, on average, around the age of 36. At this stage, a health scare means that you’ll probably be faced with costly and frightening treatments. On the other hand, some people start to take their health more seriously because a friend or relative has a health scare. This type of event can highlight just how important health monitoring is. However, in both situations, the changes come about far too late. If you want to make a real difference to your health, you need to safeguard it long before something forces you to do so.
The Danger of Long-Term Problems
You might be a healthy person who goes through most of life with very few serious health problems. In that case, you’re one of the lucky ones. But that doesn’t mean it will always be that way. Even if you seem healthy, there are processes going under the surface that are working against your long-term health. And over time, these processes will start to show visible signs of problems.
Your health throughout your life is at least partially the result of your health and lifestyle choices from childhood onwards. But if you aren’t aware of your combination of health risk factors, you can devise strategies to overcome trouble areas. And that means that there will be consequences later in life.
Obesity and excess weight are two of the biggest health risk factors in the modern western world. In fact, sources estimate that more than 1 in 3 adults in the US are overweight and more than 1 in 3 are obese. This is a frighteningly large number. Obesity has been linked to diseases such as:
Long term obesity is also a serious health risk. Childhood obesity has been linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. And it also increases the risk of mortality from all causes in adulthood too. Basically, the longer you’re obese the worse it is for your health. Which is why your weight throughout your life needs to be part of your health monitoring activities.
There are other conditions that pose a serious health risk and are also very common. Diabetes for example. The average age for diagnosis of this condition is 54 years. And yet experts estimate that only 4.3 percent of people aged 20-45 year receive this diagnosis. Diabetes doesn’t appear suddenly and without warning. So there are clearly a lot of people living with diabetes who haven’t been diagnosed and aren’t receiving treatment. This is a problem because it can result in eye damage, stroke and heart disease.
Another health risk you may not think about is sleep deprivation. Sources estimate that only 17 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 7 get the right amount of sleep. This is a problem because it can impair their mental, physical and emotional health and development. And if these patterns continue over time, it could lead to serious health problems in adulthood.
You obviously can’t prevent all future health risks. However, with ongoing monitoring you can ensure early disease detection. This could help diminish the damage done by the disease, delay its onset, or ensure that you get the best outcome possible. This monitoring needs to start much earlier than you would think to be effective. In fact, it should start around late adolescence and continue throughout your life.
If you’re concerned about a health risk, try using HomeLab to keep track of your condition and any preventative measures you take. And if you see signs of a significant problem, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible.
Tags: Health risk, early disease detection, monitoring
