Physical, mental, and emotional health. When all three are in balance, we can say that we enjoy good health, but this balance does not come easily. From the perspective of biological medicine, we understand thatit is up to us as individuals to commit ourselves in all areas of our lives in order to achieve the well-being we desire.
However, illness seems to be inherent to human beings. In fact, diagnoses of autoimmune diseases and allergies, for example, are on the rise. This seems contradictory because we know more and more about our health, medicine is more advanced, and our protection systems are better.
What is the cause? Health depends not only on our habits but also on our genetic predisposition or external factors that alter the functioning of our body, such as endocrine disruptors or pesticides.
At Biosalud Day Hospital, we see some clear trends for health in 2020. Here's how you should take care of yourself this year.
The World Health Organization set 2020 as the deadline for eliminating mercury thermometers and other items containing this chemical, which is so dangerous to health. In particular, intrauterine development and the early years of life can be affected by exposure to small amounts of this element.
The main route of exposure to mercury is through the consumption of fish and shellfish, although, according to the WHO, there are other sources of exposure such as amalgam dental fillings, batteries, blood pressure monitors, and light bulbs.
The brain and kidneys are the organs most affected by mercury contamination. This element is also linked to depression, allergies, and autoimmune diseases. In principle, our bodies process heavy metals, but for some people, contact with mercury, chromium, or aluminum can lead to illness.
One way to find out if mercury could be affecting your health is to obtain reliable information about the toxicity levels in your body through tests such as HeavyMetalsCHECK.
Sugar, gluten, alcohol... there is a lot of confusing information about how certain foods affect us. The concepts of allergy and intolerance are becoming more widespread, and many people are eliminating foods from their diet because they make them feel unwell, without linking them to any specific condition. For example, there is non-celiac gluten sensitivity, which causes certain intestinal problems but disappears when gluten is eliminated from the diet.
Many people wonder whether it is safe to eliminate foods when the direct cause between their intake and the disease is unknown. Studies such as Non-celiac gluten sensitivity and rheumatological diseases propose the hypothesisof anassociation between non-celiac gluten sensitivity and fibromyalgia, spondyloarthropathies, and autoimmune diseases, and describe clinical observations that support this hypothesis, highlighting the clinical benefit of treating gluten sensitivity.
The article Evidence-based healthy eating, by AJ. Calañas-Continente, published in 2005, reminds us that five of the ten risk factors for chronic diseases are related to diet: hypercholesterolemia, obesity, and insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Nowadays, we don't trust a service if there are no reviews, although the truth is that in the healthcare sector it's a delicate issue: firstly, becausethe content should always be validated by specialists, and in any case, it should never replace a medical opinion given during a consultation. Secondly, because the patient-doctor experience depends on many factors, and we know that the internet offers opportunities for fake profiles and unfounded opinions, among other risks.
In any case, the digital environment offers us many possibilities for information and direct communication. Especially in chronic patients, the possibilities for monitoring and control allow for an improved quality of life and can even lead to home hospitalization.
Although there is a growing trend toward personalized medicine, there are actually very few centers where it is truly practiced—and it begins with medical checkups. If we know our actual state of health, we can take action by adopting habits that prevent the onset of disease. By comprehensive checkup, we mean those that perform a complete screening of the most important health parameters and biomarkers to determine thestate of health of our body from four perspectives: structural, functional, biochemical, and biophysical.
These checkups allow us to rule out pathological processes or detect them in their early stages. At Biosalud Day Hospital, we also take into account genetic predisposition to disease and heavy metal toxicity, among other factors.
2020, the year of nursing
Does this have anything to do with our health? Yes, if there is one figure that represents care or information about healthy lifestyle habits, it is the nurse. Furthermore, nurses are considered the heart of healthcare teams. This recognition highlights the need for training nursing professionals and their hyper-specialization as a way to make medical treatments more effective.
