Healthy and safe living
Understanding health and good living
GRADE 10 (LIFE ORIENTATION)

Content of this lesson
 That is health?
 Mental and emotional health.
 Preventing diseases of lifestyle.
 Common lifestyle diseases: Hypertension, Heart disease, Cancer.
 Common chronic conditions: Asthma, Diabetes.
 Health in our environment.
 Basic health rights.

WHAT IS HEALTH?
Good health is a state of physical, mental and emotional
well being. It is not just the absence of disease in the
body, but also about being able to live a full life.
As we all become m ore independent , each person need
to take full responsibility for health of their bodies and
mind and for decision making that are essential for your
overall wellness.

PHYSICAL HEALTH
 Physical health means that your body functions efficiently. This means that your heart and lungs pumps
efficiently, you organs work without strain, your immune system is working well and you have supple
muscles and strong bones.
 There any factors that influence the health of our bodies some are within our control: while others (
such as genetic inheritance) we have to make the best of.
 Even though you might be born with a sound and healthy body, neglecting and abusing your body over
the years can sped up the decline of your vital organs, causing harm to your health.

MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH
 Our minds and bodies are integrally linked, what affects one is m ore likely to affect the other. Medical
research studies are establishing clear links between a positive and happy outlook on life and good
physical health.
 Having effective strategies to cope with life’s ups and downs, being in loving and supportive
relationships and taking time to relax and playing, all contributes toward an optimistic outlook to good
health.
 There a lot of coping strategies that are a healthy way of dealing with situations that treated a persons
health, most importantly some coping strategies bring the worst in people those are not good ans can
course harm mentally such as (Denial)

Mental coping strategies.
 Breathing exercise
 Relaxing and stretching exercise
 Getting a lot of sleep
 Healthy food
 Think positively

Depression
 It is estimated that 30% of people experience depression as some point of their lives.
 Depression ranges in intensity from feeling down to serious illness.
 It is natural to feel sad and miserable at times, but an intensely low mood that affects body and
mind and it persists over a long period of time, could be clinical depression.
 This in an illness that is associated with an upset in the body’s chemistry and can be triggered by
loneliness, stress and trauma.
 It can also be triggered by the following: very low self esteem, consistent tiredness and lack of
energy, disturbed sleeping patens, mood swings and suicidal thoughts.

Continuation on Depression
 A person with clinical depression cannot snap out of it: they neen professional help and in some
cases medication. If left untreated a person can often feel unworthy causing harm to
themselves, it is important to give others a chance to help before things get too far.
 For some people feeling down it is possible to change your outlook and re-energise yourself like:
 Eat regularly: healthy foods
 Do something new: make room for things that you enjoy.
 Avoid alcohol cigarette or drugs; spend time with friends.
 A lot of people that have overcame depression find that once they overcome feelings of guilt
and sadness they become stronger and wiser.

Preventing diseases of lifestyle
 What is preventive health?
 Preventive health care means that you are leading a lifestyle that avoids, where possible, things
that are know to be harmful or contribute towards disease,
 Although life style disease often occur in older people it is important to be aware of them
because the effect of abusing our bodies build up over time.
 Heart attacks, strokes are now seen in people in the prime of their lives, when they are most
needed by their families and making important contributions in their community.
 If you have some unhealthy habits try to work on improving them one at a time, set yourself
realistic targets, but stay motivated and determined to improve.

What is lifestyle diseases
 Lifestyle diseases reduces our life span prematurely and are caused by the unhealthy way we live in the modern
society.

 People who move to urban areas or in industrialised countries rapidly acquire there diseases, which tells us that
they are preventable.
 We are paying the prise for adopting a westernized life style.
 The relationship between behaviour, risk factors and disease.

Life style diseases conti…
 Being aware, prevention is better that cure.
RISKY BEHAVIOUR
• Smoking
• Unhealthy diet
• No exercise
• Stress
RISK FACTORS
• Tobacco
addiction
• Raised
cholesterol
• Obesity
• Diabeteis
• High blood
pressure
DISEASES
• Lung cancer
• Stroke
• Narcolepsy
• Heart
attacks
• Diabetic
complication
s
• Kidney
failure
• Liver disease

Common chronic diseases
 What is Asthma?
 a respiratory condition marked by attacks of spasm in the bronchi of the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing. It
is usually connected to allergic reaction or other forms of hypersensitivity.
 The cause
 The inside walls of an asthmatic's airways are swollen or inflamed. This
swelling or inflammation makes the airways extremely sensitive to irritations
and increases your susceptibility to an allergic reaction.
 As inflammation causes the airways to become narrower, less air can pass
through them, both to and from the lungs. Symptoms of the narrowing include
wheezing (a hissing sound while breathing), chest tightness, breathing
problems, and coughing. Asthmatics usually experience these symptoms most
frequently during the night and the early morning.

Health in our environment

Healthy environments
 Our health is to a large extent determined by the quality of our environment, both indoor as outdoor.
 When analysing relations between environment and health, it is of vital importance to consider a broader
definition of environment not only the quality of the air, water and ground, but also indoor air quality, food and
the living and working environment need to be taken into account.
 Environmental disruptions, such as dispersion of dangerous substances, acidification, over fertilization,
photochemical air pollution, climate change, ground pollution and nuisance have impact on human health.
Aspects of environmental quality and life style that are not voluntarily chosen (e.g. passive smoking, noise
nuisance, stress) are also important. A basic principle of environmental policy is to limit the negative influence
of these disruptions on human health to non-harmful levels.
 However, the relation between environment and health is extremely complex. Although many health problems
are tought to be associated with environmental pollution, it is difficult to assess the seriousness, extent and
causes of environment-related diseases.

Health as means of hygiene
 Hygiene is a set of practices performed for the preservation of health. While in modern medical sciences there is
a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary
between different cultures, genders and etesian groups.
 Medical hygiene pertains to the hygiene practices related to the administration of medicine, and medical care,
that prevents or minimizes disease and the spreading of disease.
 Hygiene in home and everyday life settings plays an important part in preventing spread of infectious diseases. It
includes procedures used in a variety of domestic situations such as hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, food and
water hygiene, general home hygiene(hygiene of environmental sites and surfaces) care of domestic animals,
and home healthcare (the care of those who are at greater risk of infection)

Hygiene in environments

Types of Asthma
 Child-Onset Asthma-Asthma that begins during childhood is called child-onset asthma. This type of asthma
happens because a child becomes sensitized to common allergens in the environment - most likely due to
genetic reasons
 Adult-Onset Asthma-if you cough, wheeze or feel out of breath during or after exercise, you could be suffering
from exercise-induced asthma.
 Exercise-Induced Asthma-Cough-induced asthma is one of the most difficult asthmas to diagnose. The doctor
has to eliminate other possibilities, such as chronic bronchitis, post nasal drip due to hay fever, or sinus disease.
In this case the coughing can occur alone, without other asthma-type symptoms being present
 Cough-Induced- type of asthma is triggered by something in the patient's place of work. Factors such as
chemicals, vapours, gases, smoke, dust, fumes, or other particles can trigger asthma.
 Occupational Asthma-Nocturnal asthma occurs between midnight and 8 AM. It is triggered by allergens in the
home such as dust and pet dander or is caused by sinus conditions.
 Steroid-Resistant Asthma (Severe Asthma)-While the majority of patients respond to regular inhaled
glucocorticoid (steroid) therapy, some are steroid resistant. Airway inflammation and immune activation play an
important role in chronic asthma.

CLASS ACTIVITY
 What is the content of the lesson?
 How does it contribute to knowing about health?
 What are the dangers of stress?
 What is depression?
 Name and explain coping strategies?
 What are coping strategies and how are they relevant to everyday life?
 Name and explain physical health.

Refferences
 Callahan D. (1973). "The WHO definition of 'health'". The Hastings Center Studies 1 (3): 77–87.
doi:10.2307/3527467. JSTOR 3527467.
 Jump up ^ Jadad AR, O'Grady L. (2008). "How should health be defined?". BMJ 337: a290.
doi:10.1136/bmj.a290. PMID 18614520.
 Jump up ^ Bellieni CV, Buonocore G. (2009). "Pleasing desires or pleasing whishes? A new
approach to pain definition". Ethics Med 25 (1).
 World Health Organization. The world health report. Geneva.
 Jump up ^ Georgia State University. 1998. Health Triangle Slides.
 Jump up ^ Nutter S. (2003) The Health Triangle. Anchor Points, Inc., ISBN 0974876003.
 Jump up ^ World Health Organization. The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. Adopted at the
First International Conference on Health Promotion, Ottawa, 21 November 1986 –
WHO/HPR/HEP/95.1.