Beat Your Health Enemies with Knowledge

Do you have an enemy? Come on, everyone does. Or a rival, perhaps?

If you’re a working mom, the mini-van is the enemy you love to hate. Love it for the room to cram in six runny nose T-ball players and hate it for making you feel like your mother. For a runner, it’s the ticking of the time clock when kicking it to a sprint at the finish line to beat your personal best or the 70-year-old woman who’s been running slightly ahead of you the entire 5K race. If you’re a chicken, it’s KFC.

I have an enemy. It’s cancer. It’s heart disease. It’s the deepening furrows on my brow. And I treat them as I would a business rival: gather all of the competitive intelligence about how they operate, who’s a part of the target audience and do a SWOT analysis.

Am I crazy? Some would say yes, but consider this: When you bought your last car, did you look at Consumer Reports, go online to research pricing, safety ratings, repair records? What’s your body’s disease risk rating?

Knowledge is power. That doesn’t mean that just because we know more we have to subsist on broccoli, tofu, and brown rice. Dark chocolate is good for your heart, right?

Consider the fact that if you’re a woman, until the age of 39 you have a low probability of a cancer occurrence -- just 1 in 50. But, after the age of 59, that probability skyrockets to 1 in 9. When it comes to heart disease, 75 percent of women over age 60 are affected. But don’t think heart disease hits just those in their golden years, as nearly 40 percent of women age 40 to 59 know first-hand. Are you starting to feel more powerful?

Empowering you to prevent disease and live longer is why Martin Memorial hosts screenings and forums throughout the year. Like the “Heart of a Woman” heart disease forum being held February 15 and the “A Matter of the Heart” cardiovascular screening March 15, along with many others. The forums are your opportunity to ask questions of doctors in the know and gather information to reduce your risk factors.

For complete details and to register, visit our Calendar of Events on http://www.mmhs.com/. Plan your next power play.

--Lisa McCluskey
Director of Marketing Communications