By Clive Lilwall
We are besieged with health worries. Even a seemingly small problem can develop into an obsession. Is that mole growing? Maybe it's the onset of melanoma. Is that bump a tumor -- maybe early signs of breast cancer? My heart seems to be working overtime; maybe fighting off a heart attack? According to the Reader's Digest Book of Facts the heart beats more than two billion times during an average lifespan. Could yours be wearing out prematurely?
Like paranoid medical students, the more we know about the complexity of the human body, the more some of us worry about malfunctions. The statistics are awe-inspiring. There are trillions of cells in the human body, controlled by 100-200,000 genes in 46 chromosomes. Two hundred and fifty million molecules of hemoglobin course through our blood system -- five million red blood cells in the tiniest drop of blood that we spill. Signals move along our nerves at up to 600 feet per second. The more we know about our bodies, the more some of us worry, because we have become aware of the thousands of things that can go wrong.
Medical science is vastly increasing knowledge of how our bodies work. It used to be that the doctor was the revered source of information for all medical knowledge. Now we're likely to get medical information from numerous sources: our doctors, books and magazines, the Internet, and of course from our friends and relatives who love to give detailed descriptions of their ailments and the miracle remedies they've used. While we marvel at the intricacies inside us, we also worry at the inevitability of breakdown of the breathtakingly complex machinery that we call our body. This isn't surprising. The medical and pharmaceutical industries want us to be aware of the slightest malfunction. The result is that so many of us are becoming hypochondriacs. The human body is so complex that we will never understand completely how its systems work and coordinate with each other and the external environment. However, maintenance of the body isn't that complicated. Supply it with sufficient nutritious food and water and protect it from danger and it can last well over 70 years. The human race has lived for thousands of years without the benefits of modern medicines. Admittedly, you are liable to contract some diseases simply because of your genes. But a great deal of disease can be avoided by simply having a good diet, taking enough exercise and not worrying so much about your health.
We are besieged with health worries. Even a seemingly small problem can develop into an obsession. Is that mole growing? Maybe it's the onset of melanoma. Is that bump a tumor -- maybe early signs of breast cancer? My heart seems to be working overtime; maybe fighting off a heart attack? According to the Reader's Digest Book of Facts the heart beats more than two billion times during an average lifespan. Could yours be wearing out prematurely?
Like paranoid medical students, the more we know about the complexity of the human body, the more some of us worry about malfunctions. The statistics are awe-inspiring. There are trillions of cells in the human body, controlled by 100-200,000 genes in 46 chromosomes. Two hundred and fifty million molecules of hemoglobin course through our blood system -- five million red blood cells in the tiniest drop of blood that we spill. Signals move along our nerves at up to 600 feet per second. The more we know about our bodies, the more some of us worry, because we have become aware of the thousands of things that can go wrong.
Medical science is vastly increasing knowledge of how our bodies work. It used to be that the doctor was the revered source of information for all medical knowledge. Now we're likely to get medical information from numerous sources: our doctors, books and magazines, the Internet, and of course from our friends and relatives who love to give detailed descriptions of their ailments and the miracle remedies they've used. While we marvel at the intricacies inside us, we also worry at the inevitability of breakdown of the breathtakingly complex machinery that we call our body. This isn't surprising. The medical and pharmaceutical industries want us to be aware of the slightest malfunction. The result is that so many of us are becoming hypochondriacs. The human body is so complex that we will never understand completely how its systems work and coordinate with each other and the external environment. However, maintenance of the body isn't that complicated. Supply it with sufficient nutritious food and water and protect it from danger and it can last well over 70 years. The human race has lived for thousands of years without the benefits of modern medicines. Admittedly, you are liable to contract some diseases simply because of your genes. But a great deal of disease can be avoided by simply having a good diet, taking enough exercise and not worrying so much about your health.
Clive Lilwall taught communications at Durham College, Oshawa, Ontario. He is the author of "How to Stop Your 67 Worst Worries." If you are leading a life of worry and want solutions, read "How to Stop Your 67 Worst Worries." The good news is that you can often conquer worry simply by changing your ways of thinking about life. Visit http://www.worryfixer.com
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