5 Things Mothers can do

For their Health

By:

Dr.Madan M Vasandani

 

To all you mothers out there – HAPPY MOTHERS DAY. I would not be where I am without my Mom and my Mom in law. 2 wonderful women in my life and I would like to take this opportunity to say I love you. As a husband, I sometime forget how amazingly busy my wife is when taking care of our kids. We have 2 wonderfully active boys, who do not know the meaning of the word “rest”. My wife and, I am sure all the other mothers out there, are always on the move. Health is often neglected. This year make sure you change this. Do not neglect your health. If you do not have the time to take care of your health, make sure you prioritize the following health issues before going back to taking care of your kids

     

     Get a Mammogram – Mothers, did you know that Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. Mammograms can detect cancer at a very early stage. When detected early, the treatment carries a very high cure rate. Do NOT neglect this. Once you finish reading this article, make sure you call the nearest hospital with a Digital Mammogram machine and get a mammogram done. It is ONLY a 30 minute procedure.

    

     Make Resolutions to lose weight – Cliché? Well, you know what, I cannot stress enough how important it is to maintain a healthy weight. Here are some of the negative points of being overweight:

• You cannot run after your kids
• Your clothes do not fit any more
• Lethargy increases as weight increases. This could affect your alertness which may lead to childhood injuries
• High Cholesterol and Elevated Blood sugar are partners of obesity. Together they cause damage to your health which often times are irreversible
• Headaches and mood swings increases and are more severe in people who are overweight

Ladies, do whatever to decrease your weight. Remember, there are no secret weapons to bring down the weight. All studies prove that being overweight or obese poses a greater threat than the treatments that are available to decrease you weight.   
    

     Cardiovascular health – How do you know if your heart is functioning properly? Remember, your health and your lifespan depends mostly on your heart health. To find out the condition of your heart get the following tests:

•       Lipid profile
•       Fasting Glucose
•       Electro Cardiogram
•       Treadmill test if you are over the age of 45

   

   Take care of your mental health – Many mothers in this day and age suffer quietly from depression or anxiety. Children occupy most of a mothers time and because of this, social outings become a thing of the past. This along with financial constraints and lack of sleep are major cause of depression in a mother. Ladies, if you feel you need help to deal with this, ensure that you meet your doctor about this and I am sure he/she will be able to help you

     

     Manage Joint pain – Do not allow Osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia or other types of arthritis damage your joints. Nowadays, there are a number of supplements you can take to prevent the degeneration of your joints. The longer you wait to meet your doctor for this issue, the harder it is to treat the pain.

 
Being a mother is the noblest job in this world. Not only are you taking care of the house, but you are actually nurturing your children to become the world’s future leaders. Mother, I need you, the world needs you. You have a central role in saving this planet so please take time to take care of your health. 
Remember this quote “Health is not Everything but without Health, Everything is NOTHING.”

Killing you softly

By:

Dr. Madan M. Vasandani

Family Physician

Centrepoint Healthcare

As a doctor and a person who suffers from Asthma, I will not make my dislike towards cigarette smoking a secret. I do not have a problem with the smoker; it is the cigarette that I absolutely detest. Indonesia, one of the most populated countries in the world, boasts that upto 40% percent of its population smokes. This is a staggering 80 million people. Indonesia also has the world’s highest percentage of young smokers.

An average person living in Indonesia spends about Rp. 450, 000 on cigarettes. 

Maybe this amount is not too significant for you. But what many do not realize is that they actually spend extra to restore their health because of smoking. An average smoker gets sick 2 times more often than a non-smoker. The family of the smoker also gets sick twice as much as families of a non-smoker. The insurance premium for a smoker is about 1.2 times more for a smoker than a non-smoker. In Indonesia, for the ‘man of the house’ who is a smoker, he has to shell out an additional 6 million per year to restore his and his family’s health merely because of cigarettes. 

Many people smoke out of habit, not out of addiction. The reasons for smoking are mostly psychological, but nicotine addiction makes it hard to quit smoking once you have developed the habit. Habits can be broken – it’s a matter of really wanting to break it and dealing properly with the withdrawal symptoms. Would you make a habit out of eating rat poison?Probably not, but if you smoke, you might as well. 250 of the more than 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke are harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer.

Smoking is a habit that kills… not only the smoker, but the people around them too. Don’t think that just because you don’t smoke, you’re not prone to suffering the same disease as smokers. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that passive smoking causes 600,000 premature deaths per year, 31% of which are children who are passive smokers. 

Not enough to make you want to quit, or get your loved ones to quit? Consider the following questions:

1. Does smoking a cigarette make you relax?Dopamine is one of the reasons why people smoke. When nicotine reaches your blood it stimulates the release of dopamine, which in turn causes you to relax. Did you know that watching a movie, going out for a walk, listening to music or playing with your kids releases the same amount of Dopamine as a single cigarette?
2. Does smoking taste good? I’m fairly certain your answer is “No”. The chemicals in cigarettes affect your taste buds located in your tongue and palate and dull your ability to taste. You are missing out on so many wonderful flavors! Good news though – kick the habit and your sense of taste and smell will begin to return within 48 hours.
3. Does smoking make you feel cool? If the answer is Yes, Did you know that only 1 in 12 girls like the smell of cigarette on you, the rest 11 are absolutely disgusted by it. I am sure the one girl who likes your smell might be a smoker too and she’s probably lost all her sense of smell because of cigarettes. 2 out of 3 individuals hate that they are passive smokers. If you feel you are on top of the world because of that cigarette in your hand, it’s time to tumble down - nobody reallylikes to be around a smoker.
4. Would you pay to get wrinkles earlier than you should? I would think not. By smoking 10 cigarettes/day you are actually compounding your lung age by 15%. Hence if you are 30 years old and you smoke 10 cigarettes a day, your lungs are actually 34 years of age. If you started smoking at the age of 30, you have been smoking 10 cigarettes per day and you are now 50, your lung age is actually that of a 70 year old. You are actually paying to age yourself.
5. Do you actually think, by smoking that “mild” cigarette you can actually do those extreme sports as advertised on TV and magazines?Don’t be fooled by good advertising. Do you really think that by smoking cigarettes  you will actually be more fit so you can do all those extreme sports. You have to be in top shape to be doing all that. Trust me cigarettes, however mild they are does not improve your fitness level.

Most people quit smoking only after being diagnosed with a severe condition, like a heart attack, emphysema, or lung cancer, in which case it is too late. It seems that health is not enough of a major concern for smokers, no matter how inundated with facts they are.

I hope with this article you realize that from whatever aspect you defend your habit;absolutely no good comes out of it. Smoking destroys your health, disrupts your bank balance and slowly but surely makes you a social outcast. 

Call Centrepoint Healthcare at 5706208 to inquire about our Stop Smoking Program if you really want to stop smoking.