Don't become a victim, take control of your health
|
Imagine getting to work to find the desk next to you empty. Yesterday you chatted to your colleague and grabbed some coffee together. Today, they’re not in. Perhaps they’re late or have headed into a meeting. You’re so focused on your work that it takes a while to realise that the background noise in the office has changed. Someone is crying; other people abandon their work and start talking softly. Eventually your manager sends an e-mail. Your colleague suddenly passed away. A few days later you hear what caused their death. The autopsy confirmed that your colleague had suffered a massive stroke, despite looking relatively healthy. Now imagine the deceased colleague is you. |
How many times have you heard someone joke that you nearly gave them a heart attack or stroke when you surprise them? The problem isn’t that, as a society, we lack awareness of the fact that the blood flow to your brain or heart can stop and cause severe damage (stroke and heart attack).
Instead, we’re not aware that we are in danger. We either believe we and our friends are immune, or that modern medicine and your Bankmed membership means that Healthcare Professionals can save us and that our lives will continue as usual after these traumatic heart or brain injuries.
No matter your health, you could have a stroke or heart attack. There are various risk factors, including smoking (and no, vaping isn’t necessarily better for you), eating too much salt, inactivity, poor diet, diabetes, and drinking too much alcohol.
High blood pressure and high cholesterol are serious
Most heart attacks and strokes are caused by high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, being overweight and not exercising or eating right. High blood pressure and high cholesterol slowly cause serious damage, often without you experiencing any symptoms.
According to Dr Niri Naidoo, a medical doctor and Bankmed's Clinical and Operations Executive, many serious cardiac events can be avoided by members seeking treatment for hypertension (high blood pressure) and hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol) and then following through with the recommended treatment. Bankmed’s care programmes gives you cover for proven and effective treatment for chronic conditions.
Part of following your treatment plan is to take your chronic medication exactly as it is prescribed. In other words, you have to take the right amount of the right medication at the right time and you have to keep doing it on an ongoing basis. The only way to know if you receive the right dosage is to keep monitoring your blood pressure and cholesterol and discussing the results with your doctor.
Bankmed covers the cost of your approved medications; what’s your excuse for putting your life in danger?
Read how you can improve your lifestyle to improve your life expectancy.