Don’t trouble trouble unless trouble troubles you

I bumped into a friend at a local coffee shop ... a doctor that I knew for many years now. We chatted and I asked his opinions on an article that I read about a group of medical practitioners encouraging people NOT to go for medical check-ups.

The good doctor said this  ... “Don’t trouble trouble unless trouble troubles you” ... he then stressed ... “This is my personal opinion NOT my professional opinion”. Well, I am sure you understand what he said and what he meant. I don’t think I will find many medical professionals who share the same opinion.

Many medical practitioners and health specialists will say that people who are in their later years should have thorough medical examinations more frequently ... older people should constantly monitor their health as they grow older, they advised.

I disagree ... but that is just my personal opinion. I am not here to advise you not to go for medical check-ups ... if you want to find out what health issues you have, it is entirely up to you.

My point here is ... do older people really need to purposely go find out what is wrong with them? That is what medical check-ups are for ... to find out what is wrong with your health ... right? Really, if you do a medical examination, you are bound to find something wrong ... I am not joking.

The way I see it ... for old uncles like me, a thorough medical examination will definitely show a list of health issues. Some may not be serious ... just aches and pains. Well, actually that is a good sign ... put it this way, when you have lived more than half a century, if it is not painful it is probably not working anymore. But then there will be some issues that can be considered quite serious ... though may not be life threatening yet but can be quite worrying. So, do you want to know?

It is not that I am asking you not to care about your well-being ... I am sure you are very much aware of what to do and what to avoid. Like me, I am sure you will watch your diet, do the exercises, play some active games, run a few miles, trek a few mountains, try to stay as healthy as you can ... I think that is good enough. Don’t worry, trust your body ... it is an amazing piece of machinery ... if something is not right, it will tell you ...  then you can deal with it.

Really, everyone has health issues that lay hidden inside us ... there are always there. They may not threaten you if you don’t know where they are. But if you look for them, you WILL find something ... all too often, you will find trouble.