,LOOK AFTER YOUR BODY, WITH LOVE AND CARE AND DISCIPLINE
THE BODY MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME
By the end of this module the learner will
There are three forces that affect every tissue and organ in the body – normal biological ageing, loss of fitness and disease.
Ageing is a normal biological process that affects every species. There are many different aspects of ageing and ageing can be observed in every tissue and organ in the body. However the evidence is that ageing by itself is not a major cause of problems until the late nineties and that most of the problems that occur are due to the two other processes, loss of fitness and disease. One feature of ageing that is important is what is called loss of reserve, loss of ability to adapt to challenges and, just like the vintage car, the body needs more frequent care and attention as time passes. For example the twenty year old can spend three weeks in bed following an injury and then bounce back but a seventy year old will lose more ability and take longer to recover, and this applies to all tissues and organs. Loss of fitness also affects ability and reduces reserve and most of the problems that occur before the nineties are caused by a combination of loss of fitness and disease
It is often difficult to distinguish betwen ageing, loss of fitness and disease but there are warning signals, for example any change that occurs over a period of hours, days or weeks in any bodily function such as breathing, bowel motion or vision is not usually due to normal ageing but due to disease and the advice of a doctor is indicated.
As part of our programme we have advice on what you should do on each of the principal body tissues and organs
Be cautious about offers of additional servicing
Not infrequently signs appear, or leaflets are posted through letter boxes, advertising a screening service or a medical testing service, often emphasising that it is a service not provided by the NHS. Once upon a time there was great enthusiasm for screening but it was believed that if you detected disease earlier it always improved survival and cure. There is however a phenomenon called lead time bias that gave screening an artificial optimistic image.
Imagine that there is a cancer that takes ten years from development to have fatal results with symptoms developing after five years. What happens with screening is that sometimes we are able to find the cancer at an early treatable or curable stage but there is also the possibility that finding a disease early may simply give the appearance of an effective treatment by increasing survival time but all that has happened is that the person knows they have had the disease for longer. If , for example the screening test finds this cancer after three years growth the survival will be seven years from the time of diagnosis even if the earlier diagnosis has had no benefit but there will have been no real increase in survival, merely having lived two years longer knowing one has cancer
People are now much more cautious about screening and the NHS offers screening tests for which there is strong evidence that the probability of benefit outweighs the probability of harm in statistical terms but each person offered screening will have to decide for themselves if this fits in with their preferences.
So if the NHS invites you for screening read the material they have sent and consider the offer seriously because what is offered is a screening programme based on strong evidence. If on the other hand you are offered private screening tests, a blood test or genetic test probably, the best course is to smile and decline with thanks.
THE BODY MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME
By the end of this module the learner will
- Have a deeper understanding about the relationship between ageing, loss of fitness, disease in affecting the various tissues and systems of the body
- A check list of parts that need regular care and maintenance
- An understanding of the risks of privately offered screening programmes
There are three forces that affect every tissue and organ in the body – normal biological ageing, loss of fitness and disease.
Ageing is a normal biological process that affects every species. There are many different aspects of ageing and ageing can be observed in every tissue and organ in the body. However the evidence is that ageing by itself is not a major cause of problems until the late nineties and that most of the problems that occur are due to the two other processes, loss of fitness and disease. One feature of ageing that is important is what is called loss of reserve, loss of ability to adapt to challenges and, just like the vintage car, the body needs more frequent care and attention as time passes. For example the twenty year old can spend three weeks in bed following an injury and then bounce back but a seventy year old will lose more ability and take longer to recover, and this applies to all tissues and organs. Loss of fitness also affects ability and reduces reserve and most of the problems that occur before the nineties are caused by a combination of loss of fitness and disease
It is often difficult to distinguish betwen ageing, loss of fitness and disease but there are warning signals, for example any change that occurs over a period of hours, days or weeks in any bodily function such as breathing, bowel motion or vision is not usually due to normal ageing but due to disease and the advice of a doctor is indicated.
As part of our programme we have advice on what you should do on each of the principal body tissues and organs
Be cautious about offers of additional servicing
Not infrequently signs appear, or leaflets are posted through letter boxes, advertising a screening service or a medical testing service, often emphasising that it is a service not provided by the NHS. Once upon a time there was great enthusiasm for screening but it was believed that if you detected disease earlier it always improved survival and cure. There is however a phenomenon called lead time bias that gave screening an artificial optimistic image.
Imagine that there is a cancer that takes ten years from development to have fatal results with symptoms developing after five years. What happens with screening is that sometimes we are able to find the cancer at an early treatable or curable stage but there is also the possibility that finding a disease early may simply give the appearance of an effective treatment by increasing survival time but all that has happened is that the person knows they have had the disease for longer. If , for example the screening test finds this cancer after three years growth the survival will be seven years from the time of diagnosis even if the earlier diagnosis has had no benefit but there will have been no real increase in survival, merely having lived two years longer knowing one has cancer
People are now much more cautious about screening and the NHS offers screening tests for which there is strong evidence that the probability of benefit outweighs the probability of harm in statistical terms but each person offered screening will have to decide for themselves if this fits in with their preferences.
So if the NHS invites you for screening read the material they have sent and consider the offer seriously because what is offered is a screening programme based on strong evidence. If on the other hand you are offered private screening tests, a blood test or genetic test probably, the best course is to smile and decline with thanks.