We complain about long lines to the doctors, we curse the absurd waiting times for urgent procedures or specialist examinations. And there is no reason to be surprised, because the Polish health service is far from ideal. But… when it comes to taking care of our own health, we also have a lot behind our ears.
When we manage to “cram” to the doctor, we do not follow his recommendations, we forget to take medications, or – horror of horrors – we do not want to go to the pharmacy to get the prescription (even when the drug is refunded)! And this is only the tip of the iceberg, because taking care of your health is not only limited to taking action when you are already sick.
There is no need to do without prophylaxis
No no. If we want to live a long life and, above all, in good health, we have to start thinking about it much earlier than the birth certificate would suggest. Because, ladies and gentlemen, you need to take care of your health with a proper diet, physical activity, quitting or at least limiting stimulants (“something for something”, as they say). There is also a need for regular checking, whether by chance somewhere in our body, often quietly and deceptively, there is no threat lurking.
A responsible patient is a conscious patient
Fortunately, checking our health is not a problem these days. We can easily take advantage of basic preventive examinations under our health insurance (such as blood counts or general urine tests), we also have screening tests. However … we kind of know about it and we realize that we have to, but when we look at the statistics, it turns out that we forget or even don’t want to research, because … “we don’t want to know the truth” (sic!) – yes, this argument appears all too often.
So if you did not have any tests in the last year, it is high time to do so. Not in a year, not in a month, but already. And if it turns out that you need to see a doctor, let’s listen to his recommendations. Because from the very moment we are sitting in the office, we will not be any healthier.