Health generally, refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, pain, including mental pain, or injury.
I The World Health Organization’s definition of health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Health can be promoted by through healthful activities, such as regular physical exercise and adequate sleep, and by reducing or avoiding unhealthful activities or situations, such as smoking or excessive stress.
Some factors affecting health are due to individual choices: engaging in a high-risk behavior, while others are due to structural causes, such as access to health care.
There are other factors beyond both individual and group choices, such as genetic disorders.
Health has been focused on the theme of the body’s ability to function; health is seen as a state of normal function that could be disrupted from time to time by disease: a state characterized by anatomic, physiologic, and psychological integrity; ability to perform personally valued family, work, and community roles, with the ability to deal with physical, biological, psychological, and social stresses.
WHO has revised the definition of health- the extent to which an individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs and to change or cope with the environment.
Health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living; it is a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.
Health refers to the ability to maintain homeostasis and recover from adverse events.
Mental, intellectual, emotional and social health referred to a person’s ability to handle stress, to acquire skills, to maintain relationships, all of which form resources for resiliency and independent living.
Determinants of health include the individual’s background, lifestyle, economic status, social conditions and spirituality.
Studies have shown that high levels of stress can affect human health.
The context in which an individual lives is of great importance for both his health status and quality of life.
Health is maintained and improved through the advancement and application of health science, but also through the efforts and intelligent lifestyle choices of the individual and society.
The main determinants of health include the social, economic, the physical environment, and the person’s individual characteristics and behaviors.
The key factors that influence whether people are healthy or unhealthy include the following:
Education and literacy Employment/working conditions Income and social status Physical environments Social environments Social support networks Biology and genetics Culture Gender Health care services Healthy child development Personal health practices and coping skills
Key determinants of an individual’s health.
Biomedical: all aspects of health, physical and mental, developed within the human body as influenced by genetic make-up.
Environmental: all matters related to health external to the human body and over which the individual has little or no control
Lifestyle: the aggregation of personal decisions, over which the individual has control, that can be said to contribute to, or cause, illness or death.
The maintenance and promotion of health is achieved through a combination of physical, mental, and social well-being components, the health triangle.
Health is not just a state, but also a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living.
Health emphasizes social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.
People can improve their health via exercise, enough sleep, spending time in nature, maintaining a healthy body weight, limiting alcohol use, and avoiding smoking.
Health and illness can co-exist, as even people with multiple chronic diseases or terminal illnesses can consider themselves healthy.
The environment is an important factor influencing the health status of individuals: natural environment, the built environment and the social environment.
Clean water and air, adequate housing, and safe communities all have been found to contribute to good health, especially to the health of infants and children.
A lack of neighborhood recreational spaces including natural environment leads to lower levels of personal satisfaction and higher levels of obesity, linked to lower overall health and well-being.
It has been demonstrated that increased time spent in natural environments is associated with improved self-reported health, suggesting that the positive health benefits of natural space in urban neighborhoods should be taken into account in public policy and land use.
Genetics, or inherited traits from parents, play a role in determining the health status of individuals and populations, and encompass both the predisposition to certain diseases and health conditions, as well as the habits and behaviors individuals develop through the lifestyle of their families.
Genetics may play a role in the manner in which people cope with stress, either mental, emotional or physical.
Approximately 36 million people die each year from non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease.
Among communicable diseases, both viral and bacterial, AIDS/HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria are the most common, causing millions of deaths every year.
Approximately 7.5 million children under the age of 5 die from malnutrition, usually brought on by not having the money to find or make food.
Lifestyle choices are contributing factors to poor health in many cases: smoking cigarettes, poor diet, whether it is overeating or an overly constrictive diet.
Inactivity can also contribute to health issues and also a lack of sleep, excessive alcohol consumption, and neglect of oral hygiene.[
There are also genetic disorders that are inherited.
Although the majority of these health issues are preventable.
A major contributor to global ill health is the fact that approximately 1 billion people lack access to health care systems.
Mental health is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community: Mental health is not just the absence of mental illness.
Mental illness is a spectrum of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral conditions that interfere with social and emotional well-being and the lives and productivity of people.
A mental illness can seriously impair, temporarily or permanently, the mental functioning of a person.
Approximately twenty percent of all adults in the US are considered diagnosable with a mental disorder.
Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the United States and Canada. Examples of these disorders include schizophrenia, ADHD, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and autism.
Factors contribute to mental health problems, include:
Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry Family history of mental health problems Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse
A healthy diet includes a variety of plant-based and animal-based foods that provide nutrients to the body.
Nutrients help build and strengthen bones, muscles, and tendons and also regulate body processes.
Water is essential for growth, reproduction and good health.
Macronutrients are consumed in relatively large quantities and include proteins, carbohydrates, and fats and fatty acids.
Micronutrients – vitamins and minerals – are consumed in relatively smaller quantities, but are essential to body processes.
The Mediterranean diet is commonly associated with health-promoting effects, and is sometimes attributed to the inclusion of bioactive compounds such as phenolic compounds, isoprenoids and alkaloids.
Physical exercise enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness.
It strengthens bones and muscles and improves the cardiovascular system.
There are four types of exercise: endurance, strength, flexibility, and balance.
The CDC states that physical exercise can reduce the risks of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, depression, and anxiety.
It is often recommended to start physical exercise gradually as one goes.
Sleep is an essential to maintain health.
In children, sleep is also vital for growth and development.
Ongoing sleep deprivation has been linked to an increased risk for some chronic health problems.
Sleep deprivation has been shown to correlate with both increased susceptibility to illness and slower recovery times from illness.
In one study, people with chronic insufficient sleep, set as six hours of sleep a night or less, were found to be four times more likely to catch a cold compared to those who reported sleeping for seven hours or more a night.
Insufficient sleep may also play a role in weight gain or, conversely, in impeding weight loss.
Shiftwork that involves circadian disruption is probably carcinogenic to humans, speaking to the dangers of long-term nighttime work due to its intrusion on sleep.
Individuals who habitually sleep outside the normal range may be exhibiting signs or symptoms of serious health problems or, if done volitionally, may be compromising their health and well-being.
Sleep needs Newborns (0–3 months) 14 to 17 hours Infants (4–11 months) 12 to 15 hours Toddlers (1–2 years) 11 to 14 hours Preschoolers (3–5 years) 10 to 13 hours School-age children (6–13 years) 9 to 11 hours Teenagers (14–17 years) 8 to 10 hours Adults (18–64 years) 7 to 9 hours Older Adults (65 years and over) 7 to 8 hours
Health science has two main approaches to health science: the study and research of the body and health-related issues to understand how humans function, and the application of that knowledge to improve health and to prevent and cure diseases and other physical and mental impairments.
The science depends on many sub-fields, including biology, biochemistry, physics, epidemiology, pharmacology, medical sociology.
Applied health sciences endeavor to understand and improve human health through applications in areas such as health education, biomedical engineering, biotechnology and public health.
Health interventions are based on the principles and procedures developed through the health sciences are provided by practitioners trained in medicine, nursing, nutrition, pharmacy, social work, psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy and other health care professions.
Clinical practitioners focus mainly on the health of individuals.
Public health practitioners consider the overall health of communities and populations.
Workplace wellness by companies the value the improved health and well-being of their employees, as are school health services to improve the health and well-being of children.
Advanced industrial countries, with the exception of the United States, and many developing countries provide medical services through a system of universal health care that aims to guarantee care for all through a single-payer health care system, or compulsory private or co-operative health insurance.
This is intended to ensure that the entire population has access to medical care on the basis of need rather than ability to pay: delivery may be via private medical practices or by state-owned hospitals and clinics, or by charities, most commonly by a combination of all three.
Primary care medical services are provided by physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, or other health professionals who have first contact with a patient seeking medical treatment or care.
These contacts occur in physician offices, clinics, nursing homes, schools, home visits, and other places close to patients.
About 90% of medical visits can be treated by the primary care provider: treatment of acute and chronic illnesses, preventive care and health education.
Secondary care medical services are provided by medical specialists for a patient referred by a primary care provider who first diagnosed or treated the patient.
Referrals are made for those patients who require the expertise or procedures performed by specialists.
Tertiary care medical services are provided by specialist hospitals or regional centers equipped with diagnostic and treatment facilities not generally available at local hospitals: trauma centers, burn treatment centers, advanced neonatology unit services, organ transplants, high-risk pregnancy, and radiation oncology.
In the Western world there are centuries of tradition for separating pharmacists from physicians.
This In Asian countries, it is traditional for physicians to also provide drugs.
Public health-the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals.
Public health is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis.
Public health includes: epidemiology, biostatistics and health services, environmental health, community health, behavioral health, and occupational health.
Public health interventions is to prevent and manage diseases, injuries and other health conditions through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behavior, communities, and environments.
Public health interventions aim is to prevent health problems from happening or re-occurring by implementing educational programs, developing policies, administering services and conducting research.
In many instances, treating a disease or controlling a pathogen can be vital to preventing it in others, such as during an outbreak.
Preventing the spread of communicable diseases are examples of common preventive public health measures, as are educational campaigns to promote vaccination and the use of condoms.
Public health takes actions to limit the health disparities between different areas of the country and, in some cases, the continent or world.
Applications of the public health system include the areas of maternal and child health, health services administration, emergency response, and prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases.
Due in part to the policies and actions via public health, the 20th century decrease in the mortality rates for infants and children and a continual increase in life expectancy in most parts of the world.
It is estimated that life expectancy has increased for Americans by thirty years since 1900, and worldwide by six years since 1990.
These include personal actions for preventing or minimizing the effects of a disease, usually a chronic condition, through integrative care.
Personal hygiene practices to prevent infection and illness: bathing and washing hands with soap; brushing and flossing teeth; storing, preparing and handling food safely, etc.
Sleep patterns, exercise behavior, nutritional intake and environmental exposures inform personal decisions and actions, clinical decisions and treatment.
Personal health also depends on the maintenance of social relationships, volunteering, and other social activities linked to positive mental health and also increased longevity.
Frequent volunteering is associated with reduced risk of dying compared with older persons who did not volunteer, regardless of physical health status.
It is reported that volunteering retirees had significantly better cognitive performance scores, fewer depressive symptoms, and better mental well-being and life satisfaction than non-volunteering retirees.
Prolonged psychological stress may negatively impact health, and has been cited as a factor in cognitive impairment with aging, depressive illness, and expression of disease.
Stress management is the application of methods to either reduce stress or increase tolerance to stress.
Relaxation techniques are physical methods used to relieve stress.
Psychological methods to reduce stress include cognitive therapy, meditation, and positive thinking.
Improving relevant skills: problem solving and time management skills, reduces uncertainty and builds confidence, which also reduces the reaction to stress-causing situations where those skills are applicable.
Many jobs also present risks of disease, illness and other long-term health problems:common occupational diseases are various forms of pneumoconiosis, including silicosis and coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, asthma, skin diseases, including eczema, dermatitis, urticaria, sunburn, skin cancer, carpal tunnel syndrome and lead poisoning.
Contemporary problems, such as the growing rate of obesity and issues relating to stress and overwork in many countries, have further complicated the interaction between work and health.
Many governments view occupational health as a social challenge and have formed organizations to ensure the health and safety of workers.