Prevention and Protection of Health

[livingdeb]

For odd reasons, I'm now taking a short college course in Personal Health.

The first chapter (of Dianne Hales' An Invitation To Health: Live It Now) has an interesting section on prevention and protection. Obviously prevention is way more fun than getting sick or injured and then having to treat it. But if you insist on doing risky behavior, you can still use protection.

Here are some examples:

* STIs - prevent them with abstinence, but if you don't want to do that, use condoms

* auto accidents - prevent some by staying off the roads when road conditions are hazardous, but if you don't want to do that, you could at least wear a seatbelt and use defensive driving techniques.

Interestingly, they say that some people consider immunizations to be preventative, but you could also look at them as protecting you when you insist on hanging with people and the things they've touched.

The book recommends making "changes in six main risk factors: tobacco use, alcohol abuse, accidents, high blood pressure, obesity, and gaps in screening and primary health care." Do you have any favorite forms of prevention and protection you like?

My favorite forms of prevention involve catering to my pickiness:
* not smoking
* not drinking (admittedly, some research has shown that moderate drinking is healthier than abstinence for those without alcohol addiction)

Protections I like include:
* immunizations
* ear plugs
* ibuprofen (protects me from getting even bigger headaches)
* multivitamin pills (since I insist on not eating enough produce)
* sunscreen (since I insist on going outside)
* vitamin D (since I insist on using sunscreen)
* things like goggles, helmets, and shoulder pads in certain situations
* seat belts and air bags
* a walking stick when my ankle or knee is hurting but I insist on walking anyway

Invitation of the Day

Does Black Friday make you blue?

Does the thought of standing in line for BIG DEALS, fill you with ennui?

Does the rampant commercialization of the holidays haunt your dreams?

Do clowns speak to you in french about their existential crises?

Fear not, Stupid Mall Fest can free you from the shackles of post-modern holiday angst with gumbo, and pie.

-Michelle D.

I highly recommend you hold your own Stupid Mall Fest if you're so inclined.

Comments

It's good to be healthy

[jay williams (from livejournal.com)]

As a former physical educator, I always like to hear about classes on health. However, this late in the game, I am more likely to just read an article rather than take a class. So I'm impressed you have made the effort. Of course, also as a Phys Ed person, I have to stress that they should stress physical activity more if they really want to impress. But that may just be my bias. I'm not taking a class, but I do hit the gym at UT just about every day. Keep up the good (class) work.

Re: It's good to be healthy

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you were formerly a physical educator. I, um, once led aerobics classes at summer camp.

The book for this class seems pretty good. They even stress physical activity (and I'm not even to the exercise chapter yet).

Otherwise the class is pretty terrible. We are tested on things like what is the name of the guy who made up theory X and what is the name of the food poisoning you might get if you have dangerous cooking technique Y. Absolutely nothing on looking into your own health. Which doesn't mean I can't do that on my own, of course.