There’s an age-old statement that goes like “health is wealth”, which all of us are highly likely familiar with. Well, if you’ve ever found yourself in a medical situation that requires your admission to hospital, or at least know of a person who has, you will agree with this 100%. All the same, despite the fact that we’re all prone to falling ill or encountering medical issues here and there, there’s a wide range of ailments that can be prevented. As a matter of fact, most of them are best prevented rather than treated.
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But in the society we live in, it so happens that many people only visit the doctor’s office when they are ailing. In other words, it is when sickness strikes that the fact of “I should be healthy” hits them. Well, the previous sentence may or may not be grammatically correct, but most of us only think about adopting healthy lifestyle habits when they visit the doctor and they’re diagnosed with a specific disease that could have been prevented in the first place.
But then again, prevention is a big word that could mean many things in this context. From eating right to exercising regularly, getting appropriate vaccinations, observing proper personal hygiene, getting regular health checkups, and refraining from substances such as alcohol and other drugs, the scope of this article may not allow us to cover all the important aspects of disease prevention.
On this note, however, here are 4 case reasons prevention is always better than cure.
Dental Health
From gum disease to tooth cavity, dental health issues can be really frustrating. As a matter of fact, many people who’ve suffered from tooth pain, swear by their graves that it’s the most excruciating pain they’ve ever experienced. Well, the harsh truth is that most of these problems come about when someone neglects proper oral hygiene and dental care. From eating too much of sugary foods to skipping dental care routines such as brushing the teeth and flossing at least once or twice a day… this is where it all begins for many people, and they end up making endless trips to the dentist’s office for treatment. According to Dr. Philip DeJesus from DeJesusDental.com, routine dental visits to get your teeth cleaned will benefit you much more than only going to the dentist when it’s absolutely necessary. By so doing, you can spare yourself a great deal of agony, physically, financially, and emotionally. Basically, a visit for thorough, professional teeth cleaning may involve X-Rays, the cleaning process, and an after exam that evaluates whether or not you have issues that need further addressing.
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GIT (Gastrointestinal Tract) issues
We’re often told to wash our hands often, especially before preparing a meal, eating, and after using the bathroom. Well, this is a basic practice that even a kid in 5th grade will understand. But all so often, people ignore this and end up suffering from GIT diseases such as dysentery, diarrhea, typhoid, and cholera (which is highly fatal) in the worst-case scenario. More often than not, treatment for such issues is highly expensive, not forgetting that some of these diseases may get you admitted to hospital if they’re not fatal at the very least.
Antibiotics – take them seriously
Thanks to modern medicine, we have drugs that fight off bacterial infections and diseases. Yes, almost all bacterial infections are curable. However, some are quite costly to treat, not forgetting that some are extremely stubborn to get rid off from the body. However, most antibiotic prescription medications are supposed to be taken for 5-10 days for them to kill and flush out the agent of the disease from the body. Due to misinformation or perhaps negligence, some fail to follow up on their antibiotic prescriptions, dumping their dosage as soon as they start feeling better.
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Well, what this does is bring in more problems as the disease agents are not completely flushed out of the system. As a matter of fact, bacteria are known to mutate and develop resistance to certain antibiotics over time, and when this happens, we’re left with multi-drug resistant infections, which are extremely hard and highly expensive to treat. In this case, by taking antibiotics to completion as prescribed, you’re actually preventing a potentially incurable disease or infection.
STD – Use Protection
Thanks to the 21st-century innovations and technology, even in some of the poorest countries in Africa, people have information about sexually transmitted diseases and how some of them can be extremely costly and hard to treat. Most importantly, it is a world known viral diseases such as HIV is only treatable but not curable. Thanks to big minds, it only takes wearing a condom during sex to prevent these diseases, avoid the frustrations, and steer away from the costs of treatment they’re associated with.
Disease is one of the most frustrating names in human life. When it gets to you, it is not uncommon to wish that you’d have taken steps to keep it away in the first place where possible. If you like, you can forget the 4 pointers above and remember that when it comes to illness, the best way to stay safe is to prevent it if at all it is preventable.
