What Is Health?
The word has been bandied about often enough. Not just in Medical Journals and scientific treatises, but in the daily newspapers and magazines, in online blogs and TV advertisements. It is one of the most over used terms in the dictionary, yet the real meaning has mostly escaped detection. Perhaps the best definition of this term comes from the UNO. In a historic report in 1948, the UNO defined it with a phrase that still rings true today, saying it “is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. But research into all aspects continued, until 1986, when the WHO further defined it as a “Resource”, and not an “Objective”. In other words, it is a resource in order to support the individual’s obligations to society, and not an end in itself. Actually, this is meant as a warning to self indulgent affluent individuals who care only for themselves, at cost to the less fortunate of society. In fact, the latest concept on this is that it is the ability of a body to react, adapt and overcome external and internal threats and infirmities. Modern medical science has made giant strides in the early diagnosis and treatment of most of the major diseases and afflictions of Mankind. Health is no longer a faraway pipe dream, but an achievable goal.
Factors Of A Healthy Life
Physical and Mental Well Being are the two most common factors discussed. But further advances in knowledge have meant that other forms, such as Spiritual, Emotional and Financial have now come under focus. Physical wellbeing means not only a lack of disease but a balance diet, adequate exercise and rest. A healthful lifestyle has been shown to reduce the risk of disease. It protects our organs, and improves not only muscular strength and flexibility but also cardiac and pneumatic or lung functions. Endurance and alertness is vastly improved, thus reducing hazards and accidents. Unhealthy intruders like Tobacco, Alcohol or Illegal Drugs also need to be avoided. Mental wellbeing encompasses a person’s psychological, emotional and social balance. Reducing depression and anxiety or other disorders must go hand in hand with improvements in mental life. The individual must know how to achieve happiness and reject negative thinking. Adversity must only spur the person on to achieve greater things in life to the full potential, while improving on mental security, safety and self confidence. It is of course a known fact that the Physical and Mental Health go hand in hand. Environmental factors play an important role in the person’s wellbeing, particularly for persons who are, in addition, genetically susceptible. Education and relationships are the next important factors.
