The covid crisis has caused most people to become more conscious and proactive about their health and seeking proper health care.  By health care, I refer to the maintenance and/or improvement of one’s physical and/or mental condition.  Let’s talk about why good health care and regular medical checkups are so important:

First of all, there are certain serious diseases with no symptoms that usually appear later in life and are often unnecessarily fatal because of late detection.  Diseases like diabetes can be controlled once diagnosed (though not cured) but can be fatal if left undetected and untreated.

We call these diseases ‘Silent Killers’.  Here are some examples:

1. Diabetes:

Diabetes means that your body’s ability to respond to insulin is impaired and your glucose (blood sugar) levels are outside of the normal range (ie blood sugar is either too high or too low, usually too high).  The only symptoms are excessive thirst, frequent urination and irritability which are often overlooked.  Of course, you can find out more about diabetes in general here, or type1 or type 2 diabetes specifically, part of the Well Heeled diabetes information posts.

2. Pancreatic Cancer:

Pancreatic Cancer is a very aggressive type of cancer that only shows symptoms once it has reached the advanced stage.  Symptoms are jaundice, upper abdominal pain and unexplained weight loss.

3. Myocardial Infarction (MI):

A Myocardial Infarction is a heart attack that occurs when part of the blood supply to the heart is interrupted.  One might experience chest pains, often mistaken for wind, shortness of breath or dizzy spells, but other than these there are no symptoms.

4. Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT):

DVT starts with a blood clot lodged in a deep vein, usually in the leg.  Sometimes the blood clot moves into the lungs (this is known as a Pulmonary Embolism) or blocks off the blood supply to the lungs which is fatal.   This disease tends to present suddenly, often with no symptoms.  Only a very few have any warning signs (eg a warm sensation, pain or swelling in the leg).

5. Kidney Diseases:

Kidney Diseases present no symptoms until the damage is extensive.  Kidney problems are common in Diabetic patients.  If you are diabetic make sure that you have your health care provider order a ‘urine microalbumin test’  to check that your kidneys are functioning properly.

6. Human Immunodeficiency Virus:

HIV is what causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome which is fatal.  HIV with early detection can be managed and controlled by the correct treatment.  There are no symptoms but some individuals who have been infected present with flu-like symptoms 2 – 4 weeks after infection.  These symptoms are usually overlooked or mistaken for a common cold or flu.

Even if you were born completely healthy and have made it through life with few health issues thus far, please don’t take your good health for granted.  Things like blood pressure and cholesterol levels can change suddenly, especially as we grow older.  Opinions vary as to how often one should have a routine checkup but common consensus says that once every 3 years (if aged between 21 and 50 years old) is sufficient unless there are other health issues or high-risk factors to take into consideration.  High-risk factors could consist of things like obesity or a family history of a genetically passed on condition.

Over and above routine health care checkups by a general practitioner, all sexually active individuals, particularly gay and bisexual men, should be routinely screened for STDs at least once a year.  Those that have multiple partners should be screened every 3 to 6 months.

This is extremely important as there are some STDs that are completely asymptomatic. This means that someone infected with one of these diseases could be spreading it unknowingly because they show no signs of infection themselves.

All women aged between 21 and 65 years of age are advised to go for an annual Pap Smear to Screen for Cervical Cancer and HPV.  Ask for your routine STD screening at the same time.

The following STDs are known to be asymptomatic and sadly are often undetected and undiagnosed until irreparable harm has been suffered:

1. Human Papillomavirus (HPV):

This is the most common of all STDs.  Even condom use is no guarantee against this virus.  One could be infected with HPV one’s whole life, never know it and nothing bad would ever come of it though it’s not worth taking a chance because some strains of HPV cause Cervical Cancer while others cause Genital Warts.

2. Chlamydia:

Chlamydia, also known as the ‘Silent’ infection is one of the most common STDs in women under 25.  Most women present no symptoms but some may experience a burning sensation when urinating.

By then, however, the infection has already moved up the urinary tract and is on it’s way into the body.  Some may also feel pain in their lower back or abdomen and tenderness during intercourse.

If untreated Chlamydia can result in Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID).  This can cause scarring which can block the fallopian tubes resulting in infertility.  It can also be transmitted to the baby during delivery and cause eye infections or pneumonia.

3. Gonorrhoea:

Gonorrhoea is very similar to Chlamydia and is also known to cause infertility.  However, in extreme cases, Gonorrhea can also cause potentially fatal infections in other parts of your body such as your blood, joints, heart and even brain.  If a pregnant woman is infected she runs the risk of miscarrying or birthing an underweight and premature infant.  The infection can be transmitted to the baby during delivery causing blindness and/or blood infection.

4. Syphilis:

Syphilis is easily curable with antibiotics and if diagnosed in the earlier stages one can be cured with no lasting ill effects.  If left untreated, however, this disease may cause major organ damage, blindness, dementia and even death.  It is a progressive disease that is divided into 4 stages, namely:

Primary:              a small painless and round lesion in the genital area.

Secondary:          a faint non-itchy rash and flu-like symptoms.

Latent:                 No visible signs or symptoms, the latent stage can last from 10 – 30 years

Tertiary:               At this stage, the disease attacks major organs such as the blood, brain, heart and central nervous system.

Although early Tertiary Syphilis can be cured the damage already done is irreversible.  This disease is also transmissible from mother to foetus in utero and the newborn is at risk of being infected with Congenital Syphilis (CS).

Conclusion

You’d be surprised how many lives can be saved by early diagnosis and treatment therefore, good health care is a must.  Even with that being difficult in recent times, with Covid and the strain on health services, there is still a need to maintain your health and wellbeing and if you have any concerns you should be contacting a medical professional regardless.