If we look at the most common illnesses that cause chronic disease, it is important to know that all of them are more treatable when diagnosed early. Surprisingly, we do not screen for these diseases to help us not only live longer lives but also less stressful lives at a lower cost of treatment as well.
The most common chronic illnesses are heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive lung disease, diabetes, chronic liver disease, and chronic kidney disease. All of these conditions share the fact that if they are diagnosed early that the treatment is more effective and less expensive. In fact, if you follow the treatment plan from your clinician, you may be able to delay the disease onset by years or perhaps even prevent it altogether.
If you have one of these diseases, you may not be able to work, or you may have to limit the number of hours that you can work. This makes it challenging to support your family or manage your finances. The more sick you get, the more expensive the treatment becomes. Even if your insurance covers the medication, you will still end up spending a significant amount of your money contributing to your treatment. In addition, you may become a burden to your family as they take on expenses and the daily care of you while you are sick. Eventually, you will lose your independence, which limits your quality of life dramatically and may prevent you from maintaining your ability to earn income, social and family relationships.
In the next couple of weeks, we will talk about how you can not only help prevent these diseases but also how Health Guardian can help you screen for these conditions before they take over your livelihood.