Get regular exercise and control your weight.
Don't smoke.
Do NOT drink a lot of alcohol. Avoid alcohol completely if you have a history of alcoholism.
Use the medicines your health care provider gives you as directed.
Eat a balanced and healthy diet.
Take care of your teeth.
Manage high blood pressure.
Follow good safety practices.
EXERCISE
Exercise is a key factor in staying healthy. Exercise strengthens the bones, heart, and lungs, tones muscles, improves vitality, relieves depression, and helps you sleep better.
Talk to your provider before starting an exercise program if you have health conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, or diabetes. This can help ensure that your exercise is safe and that you get the most out of it.
SMOKING
Cigarette smoking is the main preventable cause of death in the United States. One out of every 5 deaths each year is either directly or indirectly caused by smoking.
Secondhand cigarette smoke exposure can cause lung cancer in nonsmokers. Secondhand smoke is also linked to heart disease.
It is never too late to quit smoking. Talk to your provider or nurse about medicines and programs that can help you quit.
ALCOHOL USE
Drinking alcohol changes many brain functions. Emotions, thinking, and judgment are first to be affected. Continued drinking will affect motor control, causing slurred speech, slower reactions, and poor balance. Having a higher amount of body fat and drinking on an empty stomach will speed up the effects of alcohol.
Alcoholism can lead to diseases including:
Diseases of the liver and pancreas
Cancer and other diseases of the esophagus and digestive tract
Heart muscle damage
Brain damage
Do NOT drink alcohol when you are pregnant. Alcohol can cause serious harm to the unborn baby and lead to fetal alcohol syndrome.
Parents should talk to their children about the dangerous effects of alcohol. Talk to your provider if you or someone close to you has a problem with alcohol. Many people whose lives have been affected by alcohol benefit from taking part in an alcohol support group.
DRUG AND MEDICINE USE
Drugs and medicines affect people in different ways. Always tell your provider about all the drugs you are taking. This includes over-the-counter medicines and vitamins.
Drug interactions can be dangerous.
Older people need to be very careful about interactions when they are taking many medicines.
All of your providers should know all the medicines you are taking. Carry the list with you when you go for checkups and treatments.
Avoid drinking alcohol while taking medicines. This can cause serious problems. The combination of alcohol and tranquilizers or painkillers can be deadly.
Pregnant women should not take any drug or medicine without talking to their provider. This includes over-the-counter medicines. The unborn baby is even more sensitive to the harm from drugs in the first 3 months. Tell your provider if you have been taking any drugs just before becoming pregnant.
Legal drugs such as laxatives, painkillers, nasal sprays, diet pills, and cough medicines can also be misused.
Addiction is defined as continuing to use a substance even though you are experiencing problems related to the use. Simply needing a drug (such as a painkiller or antidepressant) and taking it as prescribed is not addiction.
You must be logged in to post a comment.