Prevention is the Best Health Insurance
By the time you read this, you already may have dropped out of your New Year resolutions-although it's estimated 63 percent of those who make them are still keeping them after two months. The majority of people make three or more resolutions, and three out of the top four resolutions have to do with health issues: increase exercise, incorporate better eating habits, and stop smoking and drinking. People make more resolutions to start new habits than to break old ones; a new activity takes 21 days to become a habit, so have patience.
Millions of Americans have no health insurance either because they can't afford the premiums, they're ineligible for coverage, or they have serious, preexisting conditions that keep them from being fully covered. Those who have insurance need to be aware that if they change jobs or marital status, their insurance may have to be rewritten, and any previous health episodes could cause waivers or possible rejection.
The pursuit of good health insurance and good health is important to everyone, and while resolutions help us focus on a healthier lifestyle, the real need is for you to take control of your own health. "Control" is the important word since many of the health risks we face are uncontrollable such as family history, age, and gender. We all know the controllable risks: physical inactivity; smoking; being overweight; and having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and most adult onset diabetes. It seems we can cruise through many decades of our life with few problems, but then somewhere in our 50s we hit a brick wall-and things we possibly could have controlled are causing health issues.
The one thing you can do about family history is to take it seriously. If your grandparents and/or parents were diabetic, don't let your weight or lack of exercise get out of control. More than 9 million women in the U.S. have diabetes; 3 million don't even know it. No time to exercise? If you don't take the time, time might not be an issue much longer, and I've never heard of anyone dying from the effort to quit smoking.
An old adage says that if you've got your health, you've got everything. There are so many people who can't do anything about their health, but for those of us who can, take some personal medical responsibility and resolve to work at keeping fit. Prevention needs to be part of everyone's retirement plan. TPW
Millions of Americans have no health insurance either because they can't afford the premiums, they're ineligible for coverage, or they have serious, preexisting conditions that keep them from being fully covered. Those who have insurance need to be aware that if they change jobs or marital status, their insurance may have to be rewritten, and any previous health episodes could cause waivers or possible rejection.
The pursuit of good health insurance and good health is important to everyone, and while resolutions help us focus on a healthier lifestyle, the real need is for you to take control of your own health. "Control" is the important word since many of the health risks we face are uncontrollable such as family history, age, and gender. We all know the controllable risks: physical inactivity; smoking; being overweight; and having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and most adult onset diabetes. It seems we can cruise through many decades of our life with few problems, but then somewhere in our 50s we hit a brick wall-and things we possibly could have controlled are causing health issues.
The one thing you can do about family history is to take it seriously. If your grandparents and/or parents were diabetic, don't let your weight or lack of exercise get out of control. More than 9 million women in the U.S. have diabetes; 3 million don't even know it. No time to exercise? If you don't take the time, time might not be an issue much longer, and I've never heard of anyone dying from the effort to quit smoking.
An old adage says that if you've got your health, you've got everything. There are so many people who can't do anything about their health, but for those of us who can, take some personal medical responsibility and resolve to work at keeping fit. Prevention needs to be part of everyone's retirement plan. TPW