Health, as defined by the World Health Organization, is a condition of “complete physical, emotional and social well being” and not just the absence of illness and infirmity. A number of definitions have also been used over the years for varied purposes. A health condition is a body condition that interferes with normal functioning of the body and can affect one or more areas of your life. Although there is no uniform agreement on what a health condition means, it generally includes any abnormal condition that interferes with the proper functioning of the body. Some examples of conditions that are considered to be serious health concerns include but are not limited to: Heart disease, Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Autism, Diabetes, Macular Degeneration, Hypertension, Obesity, Osteoporosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Infectious Diseases, Fungal Disease, AIDS, Cancer, Men’s Cancer, Premature Ejaculation, and several others.
The definition of good health has changed over the years. In the beginning, the definition focused on a person being in good physical condition with no contagious diseases. Today, the focus is on disease prevention, and the definition of health has been updated to focus on prevention. With this change in the definition of good health, what is regarded as healthy today may be different than what was regarded as healthy in previous generations. The word disease, as we see it, comes from the Greek word logos, which means “of living things”.
What is meant by the word wellness? Wellness in this sense is synonymous with physical well being. A healthy person is active and is physically capable of accomplishing day-to-day activities. They have good levels of mental and emotional wellness, and have a favorable outlook on their personal health and their future.
It has been proposed that there are three general categories of diseases: physical, mental, and emotional. According to a definition provided by the American Heart Association, the term “the overall state of health” encompasses all these three areas. By extension, it is possible to include emotional health in the category of the American Heart Association’s well being framework. This definition excludes the physiological aspect of health science, but it does not exclude the importance of the physical and mental aspects of human health.
The third category is comprised of two broad aspects – prevention and treatment. Prevention refers to those practices and lifestyle choices that help to keep people from getting sick. Treatment is the ability to treat illnesses when they occur. It also includes the ability to control the severity and the duration of an illness and to manage disability and death. Prevention practices and lifestyle choices can be impacted by factors such as the physical environment, the social environment, and the educational environment. These factors all work together to create an overall health environment.
It has been shown that illness can be brought about by a combination of genetics, stress, injury, and disease exposure. It has been found that health conditions, including chronic and major diseases, can be prevented or improved by making changes in one or more of the three components described above. Illness prevention focuses on improving the individual’s lifestyle choices, making changes to his or her physical environment, and making changes to his or her emotional environment. The individual’s lifestyle choices help to determine the level of stress and the amount of illness; the changes to his or her physical environment help to create a better living environment for him or her and his or her family, and the changes to his or her emotional environment to create and maintain a healthier emotional health status.