Be mindful of your health and learn to see a doctor early to avoid trouble

A team of doctors led by Navin Raina (right) carry out diagnostic procedures on a patient at Mediheal Hospital in Nakuru on February 24, 2015. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Self-medication masks the symptoms but the underlying malaise remains undressed, growing aggressively with each passing day.

  • To live a healthy life, we must resolve to see a doctor whenever we are unwell.

  • We have become too trusting of our assumptions when a quick trip to the doctor would confirm what ails us.

  • Others are certain that their own diagnosis is correct and a doctor dare not tell them otherwise.

Imagine if we all woke up to find we had a little camera that allowed us to peer inside our bodies at any time. Would your internal organs look healthy?

If not, would this embolden you to swiftly visit the doctor if you spotted something amiss?

In the place of this little camera, our bodies show symptoms that alert us when something is wrong with our health. You feel the chills, you are too hot, your head becomes heavy, your poor tummy is in agony and your joints simply cannot shake off the fatigue. The first temptation is to seek a cure from your nearest pharmacy and hope that the symptoms go away. It must be malaria. Or is it?

It is coming as no surprise that we relate the symptoms we have to illnesses we have suffered from in the past.

That means, in turn, that it is difficult to relate to symptoms that we haven’t experienced. Worryingly, this assumption on illnesses — which often leads us to self-diagnosis — is now proving costly to the point of paying for it with our lives.

SELF-MEDICATION

Self-medication masks the symptoms but the underlying malaise remains undressed, growing aggressively with each passing day. By the time we visit a doctor and get a diagnosis, it comes as a shock that our self-diagnosis was grossly erroneous. By then, we are so far down the line of a grave illness. Have you or your loved one ever uttered these words in the presence of a doctor?: “But I thought it was…” or “I didn’t think it was that serious.”

To live a healthy life, we must resolve to see a doctor whenever we are unwell. We may all be familiar with some symptoms of prevalent illnesses, but there is always the risk of a crossover with other diseases. Left untreated, this could lead to dire health complications. We have become too trusting of our assumptions when a quick trip to the doctor would confirm what ails us. So why not just visit the doctor?

For many of us, we fear the worst and, as a result, avoid seeing the doctor because we fear he will confirm our worst fears.

Others are certain that their own diagnosis is correct and a doctor dare not tell them otherwise. Then we have the headstrong who deny they are unwell, reject any medication and refuse to see the doctor.

SEE THE DOCTOR

Last on this inexhaustible list are those who claim to be so inundated that they could not possibly spare the time to see the doctor.

As we go through life, we forget the significance of our bodies and our health. You only have one body and it is irreplaceable.

Once you start wearing bits and pieces of it through neglect of medical care, you are on a downward health trajectory. Your health is your wealth.

If you suffer ill health, you are likely to be away from work with little to no pay. You are also more likely to spend an astronomical amount on treatment, which can further lead to financial ill health.

In some cases, if you had received an early diagnosis, it would have significantly reduced the cost of medical treatment and time spent in recovery.

TREATMENT

Sadly, and very painfully for everyone, death is irreversible. We cannot act retrospectively with death. We only get one term in life and once it is gone it never comes back. So, why sentence yourself to an early death when you can seek timely treatment? As the man in the advert always extols us, if you have symptoms that persist, see the doctor.

While there is much we do know about our bodies, we lack the medical knowledge to decipher that what may be minor is an indicator of something much bigger going on. Giving a holistic picture will help in early diagnosis and timely treatment, which can make all the difference in our health and our wealth.

Just as we know that when our phone beeps, the battery is low and we find the easiest and quickest way to recharge, so it should be with our bodies.

 The writer works with international businesses on commercial litigation. [email protected]