Note: This is a bit of a long post below (but really important if you like your health).
And I know some of us don't like reading long posts. So for those that don’t like long reading, here’s a video for you, it basically says the same things, in a more enjoyable way if you don’t like reading.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIPo5j_euSk?si=tCVbvyVObGkxk6ld



However, for those of us that enjoy reading, let’s dive in below.

If you’re in your 30s and 40s, and you want to have a smooth ride in your older years in terms of health, you should read this post to know why you should start acting now.
(Especially if you’ve not been taking your health seriously before.)

This is something that many people either do not know, or most people tend to overlook, particularly if you’re in your 30s and 40s.
And it has significant consequences in your older years if you overlook it.

So this is just a reminder to all of us in our 30s and 40s, to make you stop, and think.

Why??
Because, for most people, your 30s and 40s are one of the busiest periods of your life. You’re so busy running around different things- with kids, work, career, trying to achieve things, or make money, sometimes taking care of ill parents or ill family members, that it’s very easy to forget about your own self.
And that’s a mistake.
Big mistake.
Why?
Because the 30s and 40s are an important critical period for your life and health. This is because, many times, the major chronic illnesses of the middle ages and old age that we hear about (like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, kidney diseases, etc), don’t just drop out of the blue, they gradually build up over time, and if you recognize it on time and change direction, you can actually prevent it, or at least slow down its onset from coming. And even if it’s unavoidable for some reason in your body, you can at least reduce its severity if it does come up.

A reminder for all of us:
I created this post as a reminder for myself as much as for others, because many times as a doctor you get so carried away taking care of others that you forget to take care of yourself.
So I wrote this to serve as a reminder to myself and other doctors, and more importantly, to everyone of us in our 30s and 40s, or even into the 50s, especially if you’re too busy occupied with life to remember these things.

Or if you’re not even aware at all that it’s an important period in your life healthwise, (you’re just cruising life as normal), as many people are not aware.
But it doesn’t mean that it’s only for those of us in our 30s and 40s, if you’re younger or older, you can still take away important lessons from this and make necessary adjustments. Or you can learn and advise your family members and friends that fall in that range.

So let’s get down to brass tacks.

So why are the 30s and 40s a critical period in your life for your health?

For a number of reasons:

Your 30s and 40s is the critical time to pivot if you’re not on the right track, if you’ve not been doing the right things all these years.
It’s like the last stretch of smooth healthy road most people have, even if they’ve not been doing the right things in their younger years, before they start running into the troubled waters of the diseases of the older years.
Especially if some of those diseases of older years are linked to things they might have been doing knowingly or unknowingly in their younger years.
Since most of those chronic diseases of old age tend to start popping up in the 40s and 50s for many people.
So your 30s and 40s are like the last smooth stretch of good health of youth most people enjoy, and where they have the chance to change direction and reduce the chances of those diseases of old age coming up.

And also,
Because it sets the stage for how your older years will be, it’s a critical phase of your life that determines a lot of how the rest of your life will be, especially your older years.

Reason being that, for most people, as a youth you’re literally invincible.
You can do a lot of bad habits and not feel the effects because your body is still young and fresh and untested.
You can party all night and resume at school or work the next day, work throughout that day, and still go and party again all through the next night, and still go and resume work again the following day, and have relatively little effects on your body, cos your body is still really young. (Still not advisable to do this though ;-D).

Or, You can drink alcohol loads and not have significant effects on your liver, because your liver is still fresh and has a lot of reserve.

You can think of it like a brand new car, initially…
Think of it like a brand new car, that’s not so well maintained. It can still tolerate quite some abuse for some years before the effects of the bad maintenance start to accumulate and show on the car.
But in the initial years of the car, you might not notice it so much even if you don’t care for the car very well. Like, if you don’t change oil frequently or do other maintenance things as at when due, many times the car will still run fine, because it’s still new. As long as you don’t have a catastrophic crash or major crash at once, the car will still keep on running and serving you.

But as time progresses and the car gets older, the effects of all those wear and tear begins to accumulate and start showing. All those changing of engine oil that you refused to change when due, or other maintenance things you didn’t do when you should have done them, the effects will begin to show up gradually.
And if you don’t change course, the car will run down faster after a few years because of accumulated insults over time.

Same thing applies with our bodies.
In the teens and early 20s, our bodies are almost invincible and can handle a lot of abuse, as long as it’s not major catastrophic damage.
So you won’t see the effects at that time.
And you can get away with a lot, generally speaking.

But as you mature and progress along in age, and enter your 30s and 40s, those bad habits start to accumulate.
Now that 30s and 40s represent a chance for you to recognize that you’re on a bad course heading towards problems, change course and can avert disaster.
But if you don’t recognize it and continue along that path, you’ll likely end up with major problems down the line.
Especially the most common chronic illnesses of this generation – diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, stroke, and even some cancers.

Why’s that??
Because a lot of the time, many of the major chronic illnesses don’t just appear suddenly out the blue, they’ve gradually been building up over time, or the risk factors have been gradually accumulating in the person’s body over time, until they eventually get big enough and manifest as serious disease. And by that time, if it’s well established it might be too late to change course.
Meanwhile, if you had identified that you were at risk for it earlier on and made the right changes, you may be able to prevent it completely or at least slow its onset and delay it by some years, and even when it comes, it may be milder than if you were charging at it head on without regard for anything.

Another example: Like a car driving towards a rock.

As another example, it’s like driving in a car on a road heading directly towards a rock.
If you recognize it and change course, you may be able to avoid it completely. And even if you’re not able to avoid it completely, you may be able to slow down and at least hit it gently, or hit only the bumper. But if you don’t recognize it and keep charging ahead at the full speed you’ve been driving, you’re more likely to bang into it head on, at full speed, and the results may be catastrophic.

It’s part of the reasons why some of the most developed countries abroad have improved life expectancy to their 80s and 90s.
So it’s more common to see people in their 80s and 90s bouncing about and still fit abroad, and in fact 70 is now being seen as the new young in some places abroad, because their parents are still around and kicking in their 90s.
Because they’ve realized some of these things, and started to put them into practice.
Of course generally better healthcare and health facilities plays a very important role too, possibly a more important role even, but the lifestyle changes have definitely helped them stay longer too.
Because if your body is already heavily run down from many comorbidities, there a limit to what medicine and healthcare can do for you, even in the best of facilities.

And if you happen to be in a place that generally doesn’t have very good healthcare, (or maybe has very expensive healthcare), it becomes even more imperative to take care of yourself as much as possible, to do the one you can do for yourself, as you don’t readily have very good healthcare to rely on.

So that’s why I’m putting out this post, so people can remember to pause amid the hustle and bustle of life, take a look at their lives, identify areas where they are going wrong, and do what they can to optimize it, so that they can increase their chances of having a smooth old age.

Special Note:
Answer to those that say doing these things is not a guarantee of good health:

Now I know some people will say that doing healthy things is not a guarantee of good health, and some people don’t do any of those healthy things and live till a ripe old age.
Yes, I agree that doing the things that keep you healthy are not necessarily a guarantee of a perfectly healthy old age. Some diseases can still pop out of nowhere, and even some people that do not do these things can still have a healthy old age (we all know one uncle that smoked till his 80s or 90s).
But what I’m sure of is that if you do these things, your chances of living to a ripe old age in good health are farrr much more than someone that does not.

It’s like someone that crosses the road with his eyes open looking left and right, compared to someone that crosses the road with his eyes closed. Both can still get to the other side of the road without being knocked down, and both can still be knocked down by a car, but the chances of one being knocked down by a car is far higher than the other one, and you know which one you’ll rather be.

Even I, that used to be a bit laid-back and carefree in my teens and 20s, know which one I’ll choose, which one is better.
And I’ve started taking my health much more seriously.
And why is that??

Why I’ve started taking my health much more seriously, consciously. (And why you should too).

For 2 main reasons that I’ve realized from my years of experience working as a doctor:

1. Living in old age going in and out of hospital is NOT fun at all, being pricked by needles upandan and running tests everyday.
Even if you have a lot of money, you’re not really going to enjoy it so much if you have significant illnesses.
So if there are things you can do to reduce the chances of that happening, why not

2. I’ve also come to realize, health is really really very important, probably one of the most important things in life.
It’s not until you or someone really close to you has had a major health issue or close shave, that you’ll realize just how important health is. Literally every other thing a person is doing has to be put on hold if the person develops a major illness, until the person is out of it.
You really cannot appreciate health until you or someone very close to you has lost it substantially, and I don’t mean minor illnesses, I mean major life threatening illnesses, that’s when you’ll appreciate the importance of health.
Those that say health is wealth are correct but I think not correct enough, health is actually more than wealth. Only if you’ve been in those shoes will you realize it.
It’s a perfect case of “if you know, you know”.
So the little you can do on your own to improve the chances of health, the better for you.

Conclusion
So that’s about that.
The point of this whole writeup is to remind you to start paying close attention to your health if you’re in your 30s and 40s, as they’re an important period in your life if you want to age smoothly.

For those things you need to start doing or paying attention to if you’re in your 30s and 40s, I’ll put them in a separate article so this post does not get too long.
(It’s already long enough.)

So if you’re interested in the things you should be doing now in your 30s and 40s, to have a nice smooth older age, I’ll be making a post and video on that tomorrow or next tomorrow, and the link will be added to this post, at the end of the post.

For now, enjoy yourself, and remember not to get too carried away with life and its issues, to forget to take care of yourself.

‘Cause it’s very important.
And you can send this to anyone you know in their 30s and 40s to remind them, especially those you know are likely to be too busy with life to think of these things normally.

And also send them the next post when it’s available, on the things they need to start doing to stay healthy. (If they’re not already doing it).
You’ll be helping them stay healthier longer, and helping them achieve a smooth older age, and they’ll thank you for it.
So have a nice day, and remain healthy.
Cheers.


Source:
https://healthland.ng/why-you-should-start-taking-your-health-seriously-if-youre-in-your-30s-and-40s/



*****
Dr Abosi is a Consultant General Surgeon in Lagos, and the founder of Healthland.ng, a site dedicated to improving the health of Nigerians and Africans through quality authentic health information from true experts.

Reserved for any key clarifications and answers necessary.
Meanwhile,
Attention Nlfpmod, do help Nairalanders and Nigerians keep healthy by moving this to frontpage to remind everyone to stay healthy in these rugged times, while they're hustling to keep up with the challenging economy.