What is Stress?

          Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional, or psychological strain. It also means your body’s response to a situation that requires attention or action. The way you respond to stress however makes a big difference to your overall well-being.

Examples of Stress are:

1. Too much responsibility
2. Having a heavy workload
3. Working for long hours
4. Working under dangerous condition
5. Taking care of an Elderly or sick family member
6. Loss of job
7. Divorce
8. The death of loved one etc

Sometimes the Stress comes from inside rather than outside. You can stress yourself out just by worrying about things.

Some of the period of time you may start to notice one physical signs;

1. Change in mood
2. Tiredness
3. Difficulty in sleeping
4. Clamoring or sweaty palms
5. Decreased sex drive
6. Diarrhea
7. Digestive problems
8. Dizziness
9. Feeling anxious
10. Frequent sickness
11. Grinding teeth
12. Headache
13. Low energy
14. Muscle tension especially in the neck and shoulders.
15. Physical aches and pain

When stress becomes longtime and is not properly addressed,it can lead to Chronic health issues. The serious health conditions are;

1. Depression
2. Heart diseases
3. High blood pressure
4. Diabetes
5. Anxiety
6. Obesity
7. Flare-up of asthma or arthritis
8. Mental problem
9. Skin problems such as ache psoriasis and eczema

How to manage stress

1. Take good care of yourself
   • Exercise
   • Eat healthy
   • Get plenty of sleep and give yourself a break if you feel stressed out.
2. Take care of your body
   • Stretch
   • Eat healthy, balance meals
   • Avoid excessive alcohol/substance use
   • Continue with your routine preventive measures such as cancer screening, vaccinations as recommended by health care personnel.
   • Get vaccinated against covid 19 as soon as possible
   • Make time to unwind. Try to do some other activities you enjoy.
   • Talk to others, talk to people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling
   • Connect with your spiritual leaders.
   • Take a break from watching, reading or listening to news, including those on social media. Disconnect yourself from TV, phones and computer for a while.
   • Recognize when you need help, talk to your psychologist, socio workers or professional counselors.

How can you live healthy in 2023?

We can achieve this by carrying out general medical check-up. General check-up helps us to identify any early signs of health issues before they become a problem. It also help us to avoid a wide numbers of diseases.

Maintenance of health matters because everything we do and every emotion we feel relates to our well-being. Therefore, it is important for everyone to achieve optimal wellness in order to subdue stress, reduce diseases and even death.

Common Medical Check-up or test to carry out are;

• Heamogram
• Blood sugar
• Cholesterol
• Pulmonary function test
• Liver profile
• Thyroid profile
• Vitamin check
• Ct calcium score
• ECG
• Chest X-ray
• Cardiac test
• Lungs function test
• 2D ECHO
• USG Abdomen
• Pelvis and more

Health Tips for 2023

1. Eat a healthy diet; fruit, vegetables and grains.
2. Consumption of less salt and sugar
3. Reduce intake of harmful fat
4. Avoid harmful use of alcohol
5. Don’t smoke
6. Regular exercise
7. Check your blood pressure regularly
8. Get vaccinated e.g meningitis
9. Drink safe or pure water
10. Clean your hand regularly and properly
11. Personal hygiene
12. Take your drugs as prescribed by Doctor (accordingly)
13. Cooking of food properly
14. Store your food properly
15. Separate your raw food from cooked food
16. Smile always
17. Learn to say no to the things you did not want
18. Connect with happy people
19. Listen to inspiring music
20. Get enough sleep
21. Meditate on/read your bible.