A Touch on Health and Disease

Health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being. It includes the absence of diseases and injuries. It has been used in a broad sense to refer to general well-being, health as an attribute of communities and specific improvements in the human condition. In its narrow sense, it is used to refer to the health of various creatures, but here we infer our own species as humans. The definition for health has changed over time. In keeping with the biomedical perspective, early definitions of health focused on the theme of the body's ability to function.

A long-standing definition of health is the absence of disease. The 20th century saw a major shift in the concept of health, where instead of merely existing without any diseases or infirmity, it began to be understood as 'a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being'. An even more in-depth definition of health may be that it is 'a resource for the living, a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities'.

Yet with a pandemic in our midst, we cannot ignore the subject of disease. Disease is a very interesting subject, as it affects humans in many different ways. Some diseases are deemed more severe than others based on the number of deaths they cause each year, such as tuberculosis and malaria. However these two 'severe' diseases have had great medical advances made in their treatment and research over the past few years, but are still rife among some countries due to poverty levels that make treating those afflicted with life threatening conditions difficult.

Other diseases are found to be less severe, but can cause great discomfort or affect a person's quality of life. Conditions such as hay fever and asthma are influenced by the environmental conditions or induced activity. Other diseases, such as the common cold and flu are something that affect most people at least once in their lifetime. These can be mild symptoms or may lead to complications (such as pneumonia) that might require hospitalization.

Diseases such as diabetes are seen by many people to be less severe but can have a huge impact on the life of the person inflicted with it. People who suffer from this condition will need to take daily insulin injections, along with lifestyle changes in order for them to be able to live a normal healthy life. There are also diseases that when contracted have no real treatment, such as motor neuron disease.

The worst disease that is found today (and in my opinion) is cancer. Cancer causes a lot of pain and discomfort to the person suffering from it, and many people die from the strain on their bodies caused by chemotherapy treatment. Yet we see many cancer patients being denied or deferred treatment as a new disease takes the room, and as you might have guessed it. COVID-19.