Rome was not built in a day

Rome was not built in a day

By: Dr Madan M Vasandani

          A recent conversation with a friend of mine is the inspiration for me to write this article. His father recently recovered from a heart attack. As he was explaining to me the details of what happened that one particular night, he mentioned the word “suddenly his chest started aching like never before”. The word suddenly leads me to ask him questions regarding his fathers’ lifestyle. To start off, he is obese, he ate and he drank whatever he wanted and he rarely moved a muscle. The heart attack he experienced is the result of many ‘small’ mistakes he made in the past.

          In my practice I am always faced with people who leave a trail of shock when they hear they have a chronic disease like Diabetes, Hypertension or even cancer. Yes, there is a genetic aspect to these diseases but remember, these aspects only comes into play when you allow them to. Cancer is a condition which is quite horrifying. The pain of the cancer itself, the side effects of therapy and also the cost of it can lead a person into severe depression. Did you know that most type of cancer are caused by multiple factors? For example Obesity, excessive consumption of trans fat, inactivity, no breast feeding contributes more to breast cancer then genetic factors. As the old saying “Rome was not built in a day” is also valid for medical conditions. Remember chronic conditions does not just happen suddenly, it is almost always due to the decisions that we make to damage our body.

          It is time that all of us, including me, to make the right decisions when it concerns our health. Let’s not blame our forefathers, fathers or mothers for the ailments that we have. It is time that we look inwards and realize the wrong choices that we have made which has led to our current condition. For those of you who are reading this article and not sure what condition you have, it is time you get a medical check up. Use the internet wisely. There is a wealth of health articles for you to read so that your health improves.

          The sad part about my friends’ father is that, he has returned to his old ways. He has not done anything to improve his diet, he is not exercising and he is not very compliant on his medications. This is the character for many people and not only him. The only way to change ourselves is by looking at the mistakes that we have done and currently doing, and change it one mistake at a time. If you are eating too much fat, cut back on it. If you are smoking, start quitting, if you are not exercising, start with a slow walk to your favorite restaurant. Do not overwhelm yourself with too many changes at one time. Make a list of the things that you think you are doing wrong and change it one by one. Remember it took you years to become what you are now; it will take sometime before you can right all the wrongs. Stay healthy by making the right choices starting from today.