5 most important health concerns everyone needs to know

Good Health is a state of physical, mental, and social well-being in which disease and infirmity are absent.

Hence it is very prudent for you to take your health very seriously.

Below are some of the important health concerns that you probably should pay attention to.

Your blood pressure

Blood pressure is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system.

There are two (2) types of blood pressures, that’s the high blood pressure and the Low blood pressure.

High blood pressure is said to be high when the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels, is consistently too high, and be related to unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol, being overweight and not exercising enough.

This can increase your risk of developing a number of serious long-term health conditions, such as coronary heart disease and kidney disease.

Low blood pressure is said to be less common and can be caused by some medicines and underlying conditions.

It is measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg) and is given as systolic and diastolic pressure; systolic pressure is when the heart pushes blood out while diastolic pressure is when the heart rest between. Beats.

i.e., If your blood pressure is "140 over 90" or 140/90mmHg, it means you have a systolic pressure of 140mmHg and a diastolic pressure of 90mmHg.

Note that the ideal or normal blood pressure reading needs to show a top number that’s the systolic pressure between 90 and less than 120 and a bottom number diastolic pressure which is between 60 and less than 80.

Your cholesterol level

Cholesterol is a fatty, waxlike substance found naturally in all the cells of your body. Your body needs cholesterol to manufacture hormones and synthesize vitamin D, among other functions. While cholesterol can be beneficial to the body, it also can be harmful when its high.

Bear in mind that your cholesterol level is sensitive to your diet and exercise, if you have a high cholesterol then you must watch foods like red meat, cheese, fried foods, processed foods, pastries, cakes and cookies, also consider the oil you use in cooking.

Family History

Even though you cannot change your genetic makeup, knowing your family history can help you reduce your risk of developing health problems. Diseases such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, heart disease etc runs in families.

Your blood Group Type

A blood type is a classification of blood, based on the presence and absence of antibodies and inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells. We have four main types of blood groups, they are the A, B, AB and O blood types and to the A and B antigens, there is a protein called the Rh factor, which can be either present (+) or absent (–), which means in total there are 8 blood groups.

Knowing your blood type is an important tool for understanding how your body reacts to food, your susceptibility to disease, your natural reaction to stress, how you age etc.

Your Allergies

This is a condition in which the immune system reacts abnormally to substances.

Such as:

Drug Allergy – that’s the immune system reacting to certain medications. In many cases, the allergic reaction is mild, Severe cases can lead to shock and may be life-threatening.

Food Allergy - unpleasant or dangerous immune system reaction after a certain food is eaten.

Contact Dermatitis - The substance might irritate the skin or trigger an allergic reaction.

Latex Allergy - system reaction to proteins in natural rubber latex, a product made from rubber tree fluids.

Animal Allergy – its a reaction to proteins in an animal's skin cells, saliva or urine. It occurs more often in people with asthma and can run in families.