People have different lifestyles, whether it’s hobbies they enjoy, foods they like to eat, types of exercise, or ways of relaxing. For those still in the working age, they have to face the outside environment, and work-related stress inevitably affects their health without them realizing it. Meanwhile, those who work from home may face problems due to reduced physical movement, which impacts overall health.
General health check-ups are essential for everyone
Since people’s lifestyles and behaviors vary, such as in eating habits, many have turned to clean eating, which is suitable for weight control and beneficial for health in many ways. Shopping habits have shifted from crowded malls to online shopping. Many people allocate time for exercise, gym workouts, and meditation to relieve stress, which helps reduce the risk of diseases. However, regardless of these efforts, our bodies inevitably deteriorate with age, and some people have genetic diseases, chronic illnesses, or underlying conditions that require continuous treatment.
Due to different health issues and diverse lifestyles, lifestyle-based health check-ups are an option that helps us keep up with changes in our bodies, allowing us to plan better health care. When we know our lifestyle type, we can understand our risks. The future trend in health and medicine will focus on maintaining good health for everyone to reduce the risk of illness.
Which group do we belong to, and what kind of lifestyle do we have?
1. Hardworking group, working overtime includes working-age adults who are building their careers. They often focus and dedicate time to work, living a fast-paced life with little time to properly care for their health. This group tends to accumulate stress, lacks exercise, regularly eats ready-made or takeaway food, and thus has a higher chance of cardiovascular diseases, stroke, office syndrome, urinary tract infections, and acid reflux, among others.
2. Party lovers who love drinking alcohol passionately. Some also smoke, which causes this group to have poorer liver, kidney, and lung health, with more degeneration and higher disease risk than others.
3. Exercise enthusiasts have high health consciousness. However, sometimes this confidence leads to misunderstandings, such as thinking that regular exercise or marathon running means they are healthy and showing no suspicious symptoms of illness, so they tend to neglect health check-ups. In reality, we can never be sure if the exercise we do is suitable or if the results are as good as we think. For example, someone who regularly runs may find out during a health check that they have very high blood fat because they never controlled their diet. A CT Coronary scan might reveal significant calcium deposits in the coronary arteries, requiring immediate specialist heart treatment. Often, blood test results like LDL cholesterol may not yet be alarming, but more detailed specialized tests can reveal vascular disease risks.
The question is, why do frequent exercisers who appear strong have hidden diseases? The causes come from various factors such as genetics, previous poor eating habits, past smoking, and only recently changing their lifestyle. Good health results from accumulated behaviors, not just changes made this year that immediately improve health next year. Some people have lived poorly during their youth, so regaining good health requires time and special care.
In the case of bodybuilders, some inject hormones harmful to health, resulting in abnormally high hormone levels. Some may mistakenly believe they are healthy because previous tests showed high hormone levels without symptoms, but if they do not change their behavior or receive treatment, it will definitely cause harm in the future.
4. Genetic risk group has a higher risk of diseases than other groups because, besides lifestyle behaviors, they have hereditary diseases to watch for, such as family history of cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. This group should have regular health checks, especially for risk diseases, to prepare and intensify health care plans, preventing and reducing risks and delaying disease onset.
5. Elderly group must take good care of their health, with more frequent and detailed body check-ups due to inevitable deterioration of the body and internal organs. Metabolism usually slows down, organ functions begin to decline with age, increasing risks of osteoporosis, knee joint degeneration, memory loss, and neurological diseases.
6. Health food enthusiasts include those following keto, low-carb, or intermittent fasting diets. More than 50% often consume these diets incorrectly. For example, keto means eating good fats, but some eat all kinds of fats, resulting in high cholesterol and bad fats. Keto must be done correctly and not continuously for a long time because it can cause nutrient deficiencies. Many people who stop keto and return to old eating habits risk yo-yo effects. Therefore, regardless of the weight loss method, once weight is reduced, behaviors should be adjusted, possibly switching to clean eating, which can be sustained without harm, along with regular exercise.
No matter what your behavior is, you can stay safe and disease-free by taking good care of yourself in all aspects, having proper life knowledge, eating a balanced diet with all five food groups in appropriate amounts, exercising at least 150 minutes per week, getting enough rest, and importantly, regularly checking your health and updating your health status according to your lifestyle. This will help reduce disease risks because regular health check-ups help detect abnormalities early and allow easier treatment than when diseases are advanced.
Dr. Thaneesa Phanumatrusamee
Family Medicine Specialist
General Health Check-up Center, Phyathai 1 Hospital
