Living to manage diseases or managing diseases to live?

Living with a life long illness is an arduous task. Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension (high blood pressure), Glaucoma (Increased Eye Pressure),Alzheimer’s Disease and Hyperlipidaemia (High cholesterol and triglyceride  levels) are few such Life long illnesses  which interfere with human life. If you are suffering from any of these diseases you need to carefully  deal with those. It is a great challenge for the Patient as well as the Doctor.

If you have any of these diseases you need to seek and follow the advice of your doctor. Since most of these diseases may cause end organ damage and many complications and decreases quality of life it is always better to meet   your doctor and check/ screen to find out whether you have these diseases or not and encourage your loved ones too to do the same.

“You should be able to organise and manage your Life effectively and efficiently. You should also be able to manage your problems and emotions well. You should be able to manage your time. You should be able to manage your diseases and you should be able to manage your health too”.  Furthermore  you should have a  well balanced Work life, Family life, Social Life & Spiritual Life. 

To prevent  or  manage life long diseases you need to have Self Discipline & Self control.Your doctor will have a treatment goal for you. Seek and follow his/ her  advice and adhere to his/ her treatment plan.

 Also get the advice from  your doctor on the number of hours of sleep you will need  to be healthy.   Make sure  that  you take the medications as prescribed by your doctor and follow his or her instructions. Take medications on time.  If you forget and  skip a dose ask your doctor what to do. When purchasing medicines check for the expiry date. Insist on the Pharmacist to issue the medicines as prescribed by your doctor and request them not to substitute. Do not increase or reduce the dose of the medication without your doctor’s advice. Do not discontinue the medication without your doctor’s advice and do not take  medication that are prescribed for others and  avoid Doctor shopping. Do not interpret  laboratory test readings on your own or by any non medical professionals. Always seek your doctor’s advice.

Do not take Over the counter (OTC) vitamin supplements unnecessarily. But you need to regularly take the medicines prescribed by your doctor including vitamins and food supplements. 

Do not take medications that are advertised without your doctor’s advice. The above advices  could be also be followed by sufferers of any other disease.  

I would like to recommend that “counseling for the Patients on disease prevention and disease management” should be given a high priority. It is also recommended to establish counseling centers in all wards around the islandwide hospitals, in which the patients suffer from lifelong illnesses.

With escalated cost of living in our country, people are leading a stressful life. COVID-19  pandemic has resulted in people losing their jobs or  having Pay cuts. So with the limited income that they get  they find it hard to cope up with. Since not everyone could afford their  medication for the life long diseases, It also aggravates their disease condition and make them depressed. This leads them to consume liquor and cigarette smoking. Some also opt for Narcotics. These factors slowly but steadily worsens their health and wealth which results in disharmony in their families. Then these people collectively create disharmony in our country.   Hence they do not lead an active life. This has an impact on their health and quality of life. Also this has an impact on our National Productivity & Income.

Hence, it is my humble request to our  leaders and relevant authorities to identify the “ Root cause of the problem” and take corrective actions and not to make decisions based on seeing  the tip of the iceberg.  

You may have life long diseases or your family members, relatives or friends may have such diseases.. Though these life long diseases cannot be reversed the complications may be prevented with the help of your medical professionals. Do not take chances with your health and life. Take action now.  I would advice you  that it is better to  always seek and respect  medical advice. Take care of your self.  Take care of your health, Take care of your family, society and our motherland. 

In conclusion,If you are suffering from life long diseases, all what you need to do is to follow your Doctor’s Medical advice on diet, exercise,medication and positive thinking and positive living. You should have the “power to stay on therapy” and “better coping up skills”  That is the only way forward to lead a  positive and healthy life, inspite of the fact that you have any life long disease.

(The writer is a Consultant in Change, Conflict and Crisis Management. He is also an Inspirational speaker, Life Education and Life Management Coach. He could be contacted via [email protected]).