Preventive Health Check –Path to Mental Satisfaction!

Every living organism is designed to recognize threat and respond by ‘flight or fight’ reaction. In case of human beings, external threat to physical well being in the form of wild animal attack is rare and therefore threat recognition has shifted to other aspects of human life that we identify as harmful. The fear of illness is one such threat.

We are vulnerable

We are vulnerable to get affected by illnesses due to:

• Life style issues and complications
• Environmental pollution
• Infectious organisms, to list a few.

This makes us anxious and anxiety leads to physical stress response which in itself causes problems like:

• Hyper acidity
• Muscle tension
• Fatigue
• Lowering of immunity and
• Fluctuations in blood pressure and metabolic parameters

With this understanding has come the concept of prevention of illness, which is now increasingly possible with the help of preventive health check ups.

Importance of Preventive Health Check

It is common knowledge that Health is not just absence of illness but a state of physical, mental, social and spiritual well being. Each component of our well being interacts with the other and disturbance in one leads to disturbance in the other. This imbalance leads to a state of in-equilibrium and disease. Identifying our vulnerabilities gives us the power to deal with it in an informed manner. Hence preventive health checks prepares us against eventualities and gives us the mental security that we can take care of our physical well being by adequate guidance and support of qualified people to avoid emergencies and life threatening conditions. Preventive health assessment not only evaluates an individual’s biological vulnerability to common illnesses like hypertension, diabetes, cardiac disorders but also assesses environmental vulnerabilities like nutrient deficiencies and regionally prevalent disorders. It also helps get rid of myths prevalent in society which make individuals unnecessarily anxious.

With the increasing prevalence of depression and anxiety, it is imperative to screen individuals for psychiatric disorders as well. It is especially important in children and adolescents who are otherwise unable- to express themselves. Parents can seek their regular paediatrician’s help in assessing any stress related symptoms. Certain physical problems have a psychological component and it helps to look an individual holistically.