Illnesses

Good health is something we take for granted until we become ill ourself, or become closely involved with those whose health is impaired. The human body is often compared to machine and both the physical bodies that carries out the day-to-day functions and the mental machinery keeps us thinking clearly are important for well-being.

Most ill health is a result of the failure of one or more parts of the body's machinery to work as we would like it to. However, sometimes the body is poisoned or damaged, making the parts work inefficiently or fail. We rely on genes that we are born with and sensible feeding for our energy requirements to keep our bodies running well throughout life.

You inherit your physical characteristics and susceptibility to certain diseases from your parents. You cannot change your genes but medicine may help prevent diseases to which you are prone and you may reduce your risk of disease by adapting your lifestyle.

Some risk factors are present before birth. Genetic defects may be transmitted through the generations. Sometimes genetic combinations from both parents produce an abnormality. Geneticists can assess the risk of inheriting a faulty gene, and you may want to take this into consideration before starting a family.

There are many external causes of physical and mental ill health: injury, infections, poisons and infestations being some of the most important. Internal causes may be due to failure of one of the body's systems involving the heart and blood vessels, the nerves, the hormones, breathing, reproduction, digestion, the skin and the mind. Rarely do problems occur exclusively in one part of the body. Usually problems in one area produce or go hand-in-hand with malfunction in another area of the body.

We are aware of how we normally look and feel and any departure from this makes us aware that we may have an illness. Sometimes the signs are obvious, as when someone collapses and becomes unrousable. Sometimes the signs are more subtle and in children it may be a mother's sixth sense' that recognizes illness in a child. The importance of preventing illness, as well as identifying and treating conditions, cannot be underestimated. Body and mind are intimately linked and keeping them healthy and free from external poisons and injuries as much as possible is very important.

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