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Health issues can heavily weigh down an individual’s ability to live a normal life. It impacts their mental health, their energy, their finances, and every last aspect of their lives, especially with adolescents and young adults. While the coverage of health insurance can efficiently cover your medical needs and expenses, there is a lot you can do by taking matters into your own hands.
This is a serious issue among young people since about 1.5 million teenagers and young adults have lost their lives to chronic illnesses. Hence, it is up to you to control, if not prevent, these chronic illnesses for your own sake. Here are the six most common health problems seen among adolescents and young adults, and how you can help yourself in the long run.
Six Common Health Problems in Teenagers and Young Adults
There are numerous health issues that could plague the lives of people, but the following six health problems are most prevalent among teenagers and young adults.
Diabetes
As a young adult or teenager, you could develop type 2 diabetes. This could be due to genetics or bad lifestyle decisions. Type 2 diabetes could lead to various repercussions. One of them could be obesity, which could be greatly troublesome to deal with. Obesity as a symptom of diabetes is generally the outcome of an unhealthy way of life.
Moreover, through a prolonged period of time, diabetes does directly affect the functions of a number of organs. This could lead to organ failure or other issues such as kidney infections, fatty liver, gangrene, etc.
Heart Disease
Cardiovascular issues are rapidly increasing among the youth as each day passes. People who suffer from obesity or high blood pressure are very likely to develop heart disease. Additionally, those with high cholesterol and who habitually smoke put themselves at risk for heart disease.
Being severely overweight, not keeping control over one’s habits, not maintaining a healthy lifestyle, etc. could directly throw you into the radar of developing heart disease, and hence, the youth today have to be very careful when it comes to their health.
Cancers
Different kinds of cancers are prevalent among young individuals of different ages. Thyroid cancer, lymphoma, primary bone cancer, etc. are commonly diagnosed in people between ages 15 years to 24 years.
Malignancies like these can be found in young adults and teenagers with peculiar genetic, biological, and molecular structure. The field of medicine is constantly evolving in order to create medicines that could help young adults and teenagers deal with, and possibly recover from, cancers such as breast cancer, cervical cancer, leukaemia, lymphoma, sarcoma, etc.
Lung Disorders
Chronic lung diseases can affect your daily function and it can change your life as you know it. To name a few, pneumonia, sinusitis, bronchitis, rhinitis, asthma, etc. can heavily impact your life.
Such chronic lung diseases can cause you to cough, wheeze, experience respiratory distress, and other troublesome issues which can hamper your daily life and activities. Passive and active smoking usually leads to health issues like these.
Blood Pressure
This one is a slightly surprising issue for young adults and teenagers to suffer from, since hypertension and low blood pressure are usually seen among older adults. However, due to a stressful lifestyle and the prevalence of such issues in genetics, blood pressure issues are becoming increasingly common.
Serious health issues such as cardiovascular diseases and neurological diseases can follow suit. Hence, taking all the preventive measures possible is absolutely necessary.
Mental Health Disorders
Mental health disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent in adolescents and young adults. The stress and anxiety that lifestyles today bring upon a young person lead to all kinds of mental health disorders. Generational trauma, stress, lifestyle issues, financial issues, lack of self-care and self-preservation, etc. can negatively impact one’s mental health.
Additionally, the stigma surrounding mental health disorder furthermore adds to the issues. Mental health problems like these can lead to a person developing the habit of smoking, an addiction to drugs, self harm, etc. as a coping mechanism.
What You Can Do to Help Yourself
Here’s what you can do to prevent or keep your illness under control, right from maintaining a disciplined lifestyle to the benefits of health insurance coverage. Please remember that these are generic parameters and it is imperative for you to consult a doctor to know the right way to go about any health issue.
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Take Control
Through medication and lifestyle changes, issues such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity can be controlled.
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Move Your Body
Daily exercise for at least 30 minutes wherein you make sure to move every muscle group can go a long way when it comes to health issues.
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Decrease Alcohol Intake
No matter the health issue, make sure to decrease your alcohol intake down to a maximum of one or two drinks per day.
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Stop Smoking
If you harbour the habit of smoking, giving up on it entirely would work wonders to prevent or control health issues.
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Follow a Healthy Diet
A balanced diet of whole grains, protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals, etc. will make sure to keep you physically and mentally satiated in a healthy manner.
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Maintain Ideal Weight
Obesity, when not a symptom of another health issue, could lead to various diseases and disorders, right from respiratory problems to hormonal issues.
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Ask For Help
Do not hesitate to approach a professional to ask for help, be it a psychologist, psychiatrist, dietician, doctor, physiologist, etc. It will only do you good.
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Get Health Insurance
The best way to deal with the monetary/financial side of living with chronic illnesses is to get health insurance. Expenses surrounding hospitalisation, treatments, surgeries, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, etc. can be covered, decreasing your stress significantly.
The Inference
Chronic illnesses are becoming alarmingly common in age groups 15 years to 24 years. This set of years is pivotal since major career development, lifestyle changes, and psychological transformations occur during this time. Hence, looking after your health and its subsequent issues is a must.
Be it diabetes or mental health issues, there is always a solution or a way to curb it. You could make your life a hundred times easier by letting go of bad habits, maintaining discipline, taking help from the right professionals, and having a financial life guard like health insurance. Remember, there’s always a way out and it’s not too far away.