The fundation for good health

Let’s go to the doctor

Doctors treat patients. If you have a headache, toothache, backache, stomach-ache or earache, if you have a sore throat, eye or finger, if you feel pain in any part of your body, if it hurts you to move – you need help. First of all you have to turn to your physician.

The doctor will examine you carefully: feel your pulse, sound your chest, heart and lungs, test your blood pressure. The only thing you should do is to follow his directions. Otherwise a slight ailment can develop into an incurable malady.

I recollect the accident, which happened to my best friend Peter. He fell of the stairs, hit his head and knocked himself unconscious. His mother called an ambulance but Peter was still unconscious when it arrived. He was rushed to hospital where they kept him for two days for blood tests. He was suffering from concussion and had to have some stitches for a large cut on the side of his head, but fortunately it was nothing more serious than that.

My friend Paul was playing football. The players were running for the same ball and collided. The next day his eye was really swollen and he had a terrible bruise on his head. He made an appointment to see the doctor.

My friend Ann had a terrible toothache, so she made an appointment to see the dentist. He had a look at the tooth and decided that she needed a filling. The cavity was a big one, so he had an injection first. Afterwards it felt so much better.

The fundation for good health

In the second half of the 20th century, good health is accepted as normal by most people who live in developed countries. This has resulted partly from improved standards of prenatal and child care and hygiene, partly from better educational methods and communication.

Unfortunately, many people take good health for granted and fail to treat their bodies with sufficient care and consideration.One of the first duties we owe to ourselves is to keep our bodies in perfect health. If our body suffers from any disorder, our mind suffers with it, and we are unable to make much progress in knowledge, and we are unfit to perform those duties which are required of us in social life.

There are certain laws of health which deserve particular attention and they are so simple that even a child can learn them. A constant supply of pure fresh air is indispensable to good health. To secure this, nothing impure should remain either within or near our homes, and every room in the house especially the bedrooms, should be properly ventilated every day.

Perfect cleanliness is also essential. The whole body, should be washed as often as possible. The skin is full of pores, cells, blood vessels and nerves. It "breathes" the way the lungs do. Therefore it should always be clean.

Besides its importance to health, there is a great charm in cleanliness. We like to look at one who is tidy and clean. If the skin is kept clean, the teeth thoroughly brushed, the hair neatly combed, and the finger-nails in order, we feel pleased with the person, even though his (her) clothes may be coarse and many times mended.

A certain amount of exercise is necessary to keep the body in perfect condition. All the powers (mental and bodily) we possess are strenthened by use and weakened by disuse. Therefore labour and study should succeed each other. The best way of getting exercise is to engage in some work that is useful and at the same time interesting to the mind. It is most essential for the old and the young to do morning exercises with the windows wide open in your room or, if possible, in the open air.

Remember that exercises warm, invigorate and purify the body. Rest is also necessary to the health of both body and mind. The best time for sleep is during the darkness and stillness of the night.

Late hours are very harmful to the health as they exhaust the nervous system. We should go to bed early and get up early. It is a good rule to "rise with the lark and go to bed with the lark".

Most essential to our body is food. Our body is continually wasting, and requires to be repaired by fresh substance. Therefore food, which is to repair the loss, should be taken with due regard to the exercise and waste of the body.

Be moderate in eating. If you eat slowly, you will not overeat. Never swallow your food wholesale – you are provided with teeth the purpose of chewing your food – and you will never complain of indigestion. We should abstain from everything that intoxicates. The evils of intemperance, especially of alcohol, are too well known.

Intemperance excites bad passions and leads to quarrels and crimes. Alcohol costs a lot of money, which might be used for better purposes. The mind is stupefied by drink and the person who drinks will, in course of time, become unfit for his duties. Both health and character are often ruined.

Thus we must remember that moderation in eating and drinking, reasonable hours of labour and study, regularity in exercise, recreation and rest, cleanliness and many other essentials lay the foundations for good health and long life.