Knock-knock! Who’s there? Sickness. Sickness who?

It was a regular windy, smoggy night of -20oC in Ulaanbaatar city. A group of giggling girls passed by; the expensive fragrance, the trendy heels and the wavy brunette hair was quite noticeable.

It was not the pretty faces that made me stop, it was the fact that I was freezing with my cashmere scarf, woolen hat and coat.

Theywere not wearing hats or scarves to cover them from the chilly wind. I was mesmerized by this image; and soon I realized, it was quite a common scene in Mongolia. Many people complain about disease; however, from the above scenario, it seems like people welcome sicknesses with wide open arms.

Although illnesses are preventable, due to neglecting early symptoms, unhealthy lifestyle choices, and poor time management, many people get sick.

Ironically, sickness sends many indicators to show the individual the are coming. Some common signals include headaches, back pains, coughing and sneezing regularly, sore throats, weaker immunity, runny or stuffy nose, losing appetite, sweating or feeling cold, vomiting, and muscle pains.

Surprisingly, many people either ignore these symptoms or improperly diagnose themselves.

Misheel[1], a 23 year old recent graduate student, who works at a local renewable energy company stated: “After I catch the flu or cold, I go to the pharmacy and purchase some medicines on my own.”

This is only one example that indicates the first solution the majority of the population comes up with is taking antibiotics or other medications without doctor’s prescriptions. Health professionals conveyed concerns that 80-90% of the people who have illnesses come to medical examinations when they are in more advanced stages of the illness. Regular intake of antibiotics and pills without prescriptions can lead to requiring higher doses or resistance to medicines. Hence, when the person has reached advanced stages of diseases, the medicines might become ineffective. Therefore, people should avoid taking medicines without prescriptions.

In this technologically advanced world, where information is accessible to anyone, why is it that many of us still catch the common preventable sicknesses?

The Minister of Health of Mongolia, Mrs. Natsag Udval mentioned WHO’s statistical data: “Deteriorating health and getting sick is dependent upon the individual. The probability of living healthy is 65-70% dependent on the individual’s choices, 10% medical and healthcare services, 5% genetics, and 15% other.”[2]

However, ignoring the signs of sickness is not the only way to prevent illness, adapting to healthier lifestyles and better time management collaboratively will increase the chances to chase away the unwelcomed guests “illnesses” before it comes knocking on our doorsteps.

There is a Mongolian saying: “Breakfast is for yourself, lunch is for your friends, and dinner is for your enemies.” Unfortunately, in the morning, many people self-neglect oneself by skipping breakfast and dressing carelessly.

According to the studies conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), breakfast provides 25% of all the day’s energy for an individual[3]. Hence, next time you or your family tries to skip breakfast for diet purposes or laziness, you might want to reconsider. Additionally, healthy nutritious meals aid our immune system. Regretfully, 92.3% of the total populations in Mongolia consume less than 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. The average daily serving of fruits and vegetables was 1.8 in the Mongolian population, which was 3.2 servings less than the WHO recommendation (WHO)[4]. Hence, we need to eat more vegetables and fruits.

Additionally, medical experts show concerns that many young people go out hatless and wear light layers to follow the trend. Walking hatless in the cold affects the blood vessels. It shrinks the blood vessels, and eventually the blood flow to distal tissues decreases. Eventually this leads to constant headaches, migraines, flues, chest pains and chronic kidney diseases.

"When I was in high school and in college, I used to walk around a lot without a hat in the cold weather. I am not sure why I did so. I guess I was young, immature and lacked the knowledge how it could affect my health. After I started working I got more informed about the negative health impacts and started wearing hats and scarves when it is chilly outside” recalled Misheel.

Overall, many young people mistake that not wearing many layers of clothing looks trendy and admirable.

Another reason for getting sick is lack of time management. Are you usually late for work or school? Do you skip breakfast, because you don’t have enough time? Do you dress anything that you can find from the drawer, because you are rushing somewhere? All of these are due to poor time management on the individual’s part.

Studies, conducted by the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, found that 54% of the students do not have time to have breakfast[5].

Buddha said in one of his teachings that “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.”[6]

Therefore, if a person does not take the necessary time to take care of themselves, nobody else would take it out of their time to take care of you. Thus, next time you can wake up half-an hour earlier to prepare some breakfast for you and your family and to wear weather appropriate clothes.

Sleep is also very important in relieving stress, protecting from diseases and helping metabolism. According to a theory proposed by Harvard Medical School, the immune system evolved "sleepiness inducing factors." Inactivity and sleep provided an advantage: those who slept more when faced with an infection were better able to fight that infection than those who slept less. In addition, data from three large cross-sectional epidemiological studies revealed that sleeping five hours or less per night increased mortality risk from all causes by roughly 15 percent[7]. Thus, scheduling your time and getting a goodnight’s sleep is an essential part of fighting and preventing illnesses.

In brief, illnesses send multiple signals before entering our bodies. It is up to us whether we want to let it in and then take care of it or send it away before it is within our body. We can avoid diseases by taking preventative measures at early symptoms, changing our unhealthy lifestyles and having better time management!