The World Health Organisation defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely an absence of disease or infirmity so that a person can lead a socially and economically productive life”. Again health and disease lie in a continuum, and there is no single cut-off point. The lowest point on health-disease spectrum is death and the highest point corresponds to the positive health.

The state of positive health implies the notion of perfect functioning of the body and mind. It conceptualises health as a state in which every cell and every organ is functioning at optimum capacity and in perfect harmony with the rest of the body, in which the individual feels a sense of perfect well-being and of mastery over his environment, and in which the individual's capacities for participation in the society are optimal.

It is thus that human health fluctuates with in a range of health to various levels of functions and dysfunction like better health, freedom from sickness, unrecognised sickness, mild sickness, severe sickness, and finally the state of total dysfunction - the death. The transition from optimal health to ill health is often gradual, and where one state ends and the other begins is difficult to judge. The health of an individual is not static; it is a dynamic phenomenon and a process of continuous change, subject to frequent subtle variations. What is considered maximum health today may be minimum tomorrow. It implies that health is a state not to be attained once and for all, but ever to be renewed.

So the best healthcare is not

simply treating disease. There are many people who perceive themselves as healthy who are really quite ill. Being symptom free is not being healthy and having your symptoms treated or covered up does not necessarily treat the underlying disease. Your goal regardless of your disease state should be to optimise your health. Our bodies are constantly loosing energy, restoration of this loss of energy is provided by the intake of oxygen, nutrients and water. All of us however, have blockades to the proper utilisation of these agents for the optimisation of our health, agents such as lead, mercury, arsenic, pesticides, dioxin, fungicides and many other toxins.

The lethality and damage caused by combined toxic metals are exponential, requiring much less of each to create greater harm. Your brain and heart are the most sensitive, but every living cell in your body is affected. The stress hormone production and degeneration induced is the major cause of the chronic disease problems we face today. The first thing you need to do, even you think you are healthy, is to detoxify your body of these contaminants. None of the vitamins and nutritional supplements will make much difference if you do not get the toxins out first. Nutritional supplementation is secondary to detoxification and the process takes years of commitment.

It is like flying an airplane without the proper credentials, you are bound to crash. So regardless of your disease state, make an appointment with your physician for check up, get healthier and improve your outcome.

The writer is an Assistant Professor of Department of Community Medicine of Comilla Medical College.