Health begins with you!

How ironic it is that people blame doctors for their deteriorated health conditions or the services they receive from clinics or the local hospital. To some extent, there may be truths to some of these complaints, i.e., doctors stretching beyond their specialty.
But then you may be mistaken given the technology where they now consult with medical specialists in off-island medical centers for expert advice.

Furthermore, it should be understood that a critically deteriorated health condition has the furthest chance of returning to normalcy and you can’t lay blame doctors for trying their best. For instance, when you suffer from renal failure do you really expect specialist in this field to prescribe medicine and services to return kidney functions to normal? It takes an act of God to get down to this level. Now, take a closer look at yourself in your mirror of life: Who do you blame for eating tons of salt and fatty food?
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I’ve also been asked why can’t we hire medical specialists? Well, let’s begin with the shared-cost of a pathologist between CHC and Guam Memorial Hospital. This medical specialty alone (salary) costs not less than $150,000 per year, excluding other expenses.

Bringing in medical specialists is very costly and will require a population of not less than 250,000 before we begin seeing a break even point in expenses. But there’s a greater answer to this: Earmarking more money for preventative health care via health education programs.

It is useless to bring in a cardiologist when the muscles of your heart have deteriorated beyond repair where the only answer is a heart transplant. The closest hospital venue for a heart transplant is Los Angeles. And, it isn’t a freebie either. It’ll cost your family not less than $300,000 or more for a new heart. Yes, I can understand the demands so forced upon our nimble minds from the
“Instant Culture” that modernity has brought upon these isles.

But health, my friends, begins with you in an equation where we seemingly blame doctors for our own inadequacies or failures to take heed of the preciousness of a healthy lifestyle.
If you still disagree, sit down and draw a T to analyze your habits. Don’t employ self-denial in what you eat daily and other very unhealthy habits like heavy smoking and binge drinking as though there’s no tomorrow. Admit it full square that we have been our own worst enemy!
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The local people are very consistent with self-denial of poor health habits. The only time that we part with cigarettes is when the doctor delivers the deathly message that we have contracted lung cancer. It is at this juncture where we stop smoking, a bit too late in the game, right?

When we contract high blood pressure, we deny the tons of salt and fatty foods that we consume in the privacy of our homes. We even re-prescribe medicine given by doctors to control blood pressure from inflicting either a heart attack or stroke. And even with this factual condition, we still sneak behind ourselves to consume more salt and fatty foods. Do you still want to blame doctors for your bad health habits? Excuse me?
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The local population is very sick! There’s the constant increase in cardio-vascular problems (hypertension, heart attack and stroke) diabetes and subsequent renal failure. Yet, we never come full measure with what it takes to lead a healthy life. Reason? The “instant culture” where we leave health in the hands of doctors. It’s a bad attitude in that health is a very personal thing which begins with you!