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As the old chestnut goes, preventing a disease is always better than curing it. It is an accepted fact that repairing an already done damage is usually more expensive than preventing one. Not just that, but the aftermath left in the wake of damage as seen in health issues can sometimes remain for the rest of our lives. In the United Kingdom, for example, illnesses in the working population cost the economy a whooping £100 billion each year, with many of these diseases being quite easily preventable. The benefits of adopting a preventive approach to our health care (rather than waiting to get treated when we fall ill) are immense. They include the following:

Improved quality of life: It is not only how long you live that matters but how well that life was. Living most of your days without the bridling challenges that come with pain, hospitalization, deformities, and complications is what counts for a good quality of life. A preventive approach provides the possibility of this.

Increased productivity: Preventing illnesses also gives you more time to be productive at work. The more productive you are the more you can earn and contribute to the economy.

Boosts the economy: When a society as a whole imbibes these approaches more, the economy benefits as their collective input into the economy helps improve other indices that are markers of a healthy and prosperous economy.

Makes for a more efficient budget and planning: Governments and policymakers get to spend less on therapeutic measures for the sick and the earmarked amounts can help boost other aspects of the economy as well as other parts of the healthcare expenditure on largely non-preventable diseases.

More cost-effective and affordable health: A preventive approach also saves you money. As we will come to see in this article, certain plans and behaviors will cost you little or nothing more than the regular expenses you would usually make. So it is safe to conclude that a life of prevention leaves more money in your pocket and helps you save better.

How to Avoid Health Problems

Living healthy and preventing disease and illness is one of the easiest and cheapest healthcare options to adopt. This is so before it can be infused into your daily routine and made a part of your lifestyle. Here are some key steps to follow in order to stay healthy:

  • Plan ahead and set goals: This is most important for people with family histories of certain illnesses. Although planning is what everyone should do, people in certain risk categories particularly have to take extra care. Some illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes have a genetic predisposition and therefore if your doctor says you fall under such a category, then it is best to put checks and balances in life while you are still younger so as to reduce your chances of having the same illness when you get older.
  • Increase your water intake: Drinking at least 8 glasses of water each day does more than pills sometimes. Ensuring that the body is constantly hydrated helps with the functions of the kidneys. The kidneys help with the excretion of waste products and drug metabolites and require water for their filtration process. When this is not available in its required quantity, the kidneys would reabsorb water that passes through it and therefore makes your urine concentrated. When this happens over a long period of time, salt crystals (stones) could form, further damaging the kidneys and causing them to fail. Also, one of the ways to have clean and clear skin is to always keep it hydrated by drinking enough water.
  • Protein over Carbs:  Regularly eating a balanced diet that is protein-rich with fewer carbohydrates will save you a lot of hospital time and money. Proteins are broken down into their primary constituents in the body and these amino acids help with tissue growth and repair, healing, and rejuvenation. Also, it’s one of the natural ways of attaining and maintaining a healthy weight. The more carbs you have in your diet, the more excess you leave behind to be stored up as fat when the rest is burnt.
  • Maintain an active lifestyle: The American heart association recommends that a 30 minute daily routine of mild exercise can keep you from having to visit a cardiologist later in life. Exercising and maintaining an active lifestyle help burn up stored up fat. This, in turn, keeps our body weight in check and prevents the build-up of bad cholesterol which can block blood vessels and also be harmful to the liver.
  • Regular Medical checks: You don’t have to wait for when you have an illness or a disease before you visit the hospital. Prevention is indeed the best health policy. Routine medical checks can help spot chance illnesses and make early diagnoses. You can have your blood sugar and cholesterol levels checked regularly to assess your heart health. Catching a disease early makes it not just only easier to treat but also helps the patient cope better with the symptoms before complications set in.

Adapting to a lifestyle that encourages preventive health care may not be an easy task especially for people who may have to give up certain dangerous habits like smoking and excessive alcohol consumption for instance. However, in the long run, it always pays off handsomely. You can start today. Please reach out to us with your comments and questions in the comment section if you found this post helpful.