June went by so fast with many things happening
both at work, and home plus a vacation out of state; so fast that I didn’t get
to start writing about the relation between health and wealth like I have
wanted to since June 1st until this week. The last time I posted about Health was about the importance
of exercise and it was posted in April: http://bee-attatitude.blogspot.com/2014/04/42514-benefits-of-exercise.html.
My efforts in working out continues, as I have
friends that are exercise enthusiasts, such as Young Professor Drummer, David C
Cowan, who has encouraged me to do push ups to get stronger arm muscles. The most recent news is from friend,
Lennox Fleary, who just completed his first 90 days “Zeal for Life Challenge”. But that deserves another post; in the
mean time, check out Lennox’ story in his website http://www.lennoxfleary.com/zeal-for-life-challenge-completed/
Today, let’s talk about the relation between
health and wealth first, as it is overdue.
Why
write about wealth? Since my right brain has been trained as
a brain of an economist and a financial manager, I have often thought about
money and wealth. In fact, my
first published book was on Money and Banking in Thai language. My thoughts about money after academic
career was mostly on how to make it (by working and investing), how to make
good use of it, and how to be wise making it last long enough for me and my
loved ones to enjoy while making a difference in the community and the world we
live in.
My First Book-Money And Banking
As time passed, I became aware of issues and
importance of health in the equation of wealth as I took care of my mother and my
late husband in their sickness. Having to choose between continuing to work to
maintain medical benefits and spending more time to take care of the sick
family members are common problems for many families especially during the
period of recession. A few days
ago I saw a YouTube documentary about financially underserved communities produced
by “Spent, Looking for Change”, that shows stories of the plight of families
that we would not have thought likely to have these financial problems. One of the main problems is shown to be illnesses of family members that drove them to poverty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAxL4TB6pmQ
Academic
Thesis Proved Causal Relation of Health to Wealth
A few anecdotes for me are not enough to
convince me that health affects wealth on a national level. I need research works to support my instinct,
and indeed I found my answer from the economic thesis of Katarina Kobylinski, from
Faculty of Economic Science, University of Warsaw (2012) that there is not only
the correlation between health and wealth, but also the causality of health to
wealth, although the impact of health on wealth is not very strong when it is
considered across many countries.
Oral
Health and General Health
Ok, now that we put the reasons
for emphasizing the importance of health to wealth to rest, I want to share
with you about health that I have learned as a non-healthcare person. I would like to talk about dental and
oral health first because of my memories about my mother during her later
years. I remember that my mother
had problem with her denture, and could not eat well, which is not good at all
for an elderly. Nutrition is
important for the elderly to be strong and able to fight against such deceases
as flu or bad cold that could be deadly.
I was fortunate to have church
friends that are in medical fields and a dentist friend that is diligent in
making sure that his friends’ oral health is well taken care of. Dr. Chuck Kon is one of the best
dentists and good friend, so even though his office is in Colton, I’m willing
to drive over an hour to his offices for check ups.
I was able to gain some knowledge through his seminars after church
about the newly discovered effects of oral health to other areas of physical
health. He also inspired me to
read about oral health issues. The
following is a summary of what I have learned over past seven years:
1)
Mouth is a pathway to the body, so people
who have chronic gum disease known as gingivitis in its early stage and
periodontal disease in later stages are at a higher risk for heart
attacks. Bacteria from infected
gums can enter the bloodstream, attach to blood vessels and increase clot
formation. What this means is that
clot formation causes decrease of blood flow to the heart, which cause blood
pressure to go up, and increase the risk for a heart attack.
2)
Gum disease affects 80% of
American adults. If you see
bleeding or swollen gums, bad breath, sores in the mouth and receding gums,
those are the signs of gum disease.
How do you prevent gum disease?
Brushing and flossing after meals, and visiting your dentist regularly
will help maintain healthy oral health.
3)
90% of all systemic diseases,
including heart disease, have oral symptoms. A sore or painful jaw, for example, could be a sign of
impending heart attack.
4)
If you have heart disease,
let your dentist know, and share your complete medical history with him or her,
so he or she could become alert when you have oral pain, infection, or
inflammation. Proper diagnosis and
treatment of tooth and gums infections could lead to a decrease in blood
pressure medications and improved overall health.
Now back to a non-technical side of this
post: Over the years I noticed
that there are new dental procedures that can enhance your look and improve
your confidence. You can smile
more easily, which in my opinion, helps with mental health because you gain
more friends that way. You are
rich with friends and network of people that make your life worth living.
With all the empirical evidences and knowledge
that I just shared, I hope that you will take time to take care of your overall
health, and oral health. As Buddha
said, “Being healthy is the greatest fortune one can have”, I hope this post is
useful and you gain good fortune from applying this knowledge.
Good Bye for now, and remember to smile, you will
gain more face value!
