Friday, June 25, 2010

Health is not a lack of disease

Posted by Tracy Wainwright at 6:36 PM
This is also an important part of understanding health. Many people think that they are healthy simply because they have not been diagnosed with something. Others think that their ability to be healthy is out of their control because they have been diagnosed with something. Neither of these is true.
Much of what I have learned about health (like many other areas) have come through trial and error. And education. Much of that education came after I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes with my first pregnancy. I had been vowing to lose ten pounds (then fifteen, then twenty) for a long time. I wanted to be smaller, and I guess healthier, but I never really looked into what it would take to do so. When I was diagnosed, however, I was prompted to find out what I needed to do to get healthy. So, ironically, I became the healthiest I had ever been while I was managing gestational diabetes. This came in handy when I dealt with it again in my second and third pregnancies, and especially when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in between my third and fourth pregnancies. Because of this, I have learned that a diagnosis of a life-long disease does not mean that I have to give up on being healthy. On the contrary, for me it was the catalyst I needed to become healthier.
I know the same is true for many other women. I know many moms who cope with illnesses such as fibromyalgia, Graves’ disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other diagnoses who live very healthy lives. They manage their illness and do not allow it to define them or their overall health.
If health is not found solely in the numbers and is not a lack of disease, then what is it? That’s the crux of this chapter. I don’t claim to be a medical professional or an expert in any specific area of health, but I can share what I’ve learned through research, experience and talking with health professionals about what it takes to get and remain healthy.

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Friday, June 25, 2010

Health is not a lack of disease

This is also an important part of understanding health. Many people think that they are healthy simply because they have not been diagnosed with something. Others think that their ability to be healthy is out of their control because they have been diagnosed with something. Neither of these is true.
Much of what I have learned about health (like many other areas) have come through trial and error. And education. Much of that education came after I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes with my first pregnancy. I had been vowing to lose ten pounds (then fifteen, then twenty) for a long time. I wanted to be smaller, and I guess healthier, but I never really looked into what it would take to do so. When I was diagnosed, however, I was prompted to find out what I needed to do to get healthy. So, ironically, I became the healthiest I had ever been while I was managing gestational diabetes. This came in handy when I dealt with it again in my second and third pregnancies, and especially when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in between my third and fourth pregnancies. Because of this, I have learned that a diagnosis of a life-long disease does not mean that I have to give up on being healthy. On the contrary, for me it was the catalyst I needed to become healthier.
I know the same is true for many other women. I know many moms who cope with illnesses such as fibromyalgia, Graves’ disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other diagnoses who live very healthy lives. They manage their illness and do not allow it to define them or their overall health.
If health is not found solely in the numbers and is not a lack of disease, then what is it? That’s the crux of this chapter. I don’t claim to be a medical professional or an expert in any specific area of health, but I can share what I’ve learned through research, experience and talking with health professionals about what it takes to get and remain healthy.

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