There are certain stages of life when going to the doctor seems almost automatic.
Children have regular checkups as they grow. Teenagers who play sports know the routine of getting a physical before they can take the field or court. As we get older, annual visits, screenings and conversations about blood pressure, cholesterol and other health concerns become increasingly important.
But somewhere in between, particularly during our 20s and 30s, many people begin believing they are too young to worry about their health.
That can be a dangerous assumption.
Young adults are busy building careers, raising families, paying bills and simply trying to keep up with everyday life. When you feel good, making a doctor’s appointment can easily fall toward the bottom of the priority list. There is always something else that needs to be done, and when nothing hurts and nothing feels wrong, it is easy to believe everything must be fine.
Unfortunately, our bodies do not always give us that warning.
Recently, a young man who appeared to be as healthy as an ox suffered an aneurysm connected to high blood pressure that had gone unchecked. In an instant, his life and the lives of those who love him were forever changed.
His situation should serve as a powerful reminder to all of us, but especially to younger adults: Looking healthy and being healthy are not always the same thing.
High blood pressure is particularly concerning because someone can have it without experiencing obvious symptoms. The same can be true of other conditions that may be discovered during routine medical care. That is precisely why checkups matter.
We often treat health care as something we seek when something goes wrong instead of something we use to help keep things from going wrong.
That mindset needs to change.
A physical does not guarantee that every medical emergency can be prevented. Neither does eating right, exercising or doing everything else we are told is good for us. Sometimes terrible things happen despite every precaution.But there is an enormous difference between something that could not have been foreseen and a condition that simply went unchecked because we never bothered to look.
We encourage parents throughout Sampson County to make sure their children receive the physicals and examinations they need. We expect our student-athletes to be medically cleared before participating in sports because we understand the physical demands being placed on their bodies.
We should place that same value on ourselves.Being 25 does not make you invincible. Neither does being 30, 35 or 40.
You do not have to be overweight to have high blood pressure. You do not have to look unhealthy to have high cholesterol. You do not have to feel sick for something inside your body to deserve attention.
And taking your health seriously does not mean living in fear that something is wrong. Quite the opposite. It means giving yourself the opportunity to know where you stand and, when necessary, doing something about a problem while there is still time to manage it.
Schedule a checkup. Have your blood pressure checked. Talk with a health care professional about what screenings are appropriate for your age, family history and circumstances. Know your numbers and understand what they mean.
Most importantly, do not wait for your body to force you to pay attention.
There will always be another deadline, another shift at work, another ballgame, another bill and another reason to say you will make that appointment next month. Life has a way of keeping us busy until suddenly something happens that makes everything else seem insignificant.
We cannot control everything that happens to us, but we can give ourselves a fighting chance. We owe that to ourselves, and we owe it to the people who love and depend on us.
You are never too young to take your health seriously, and the best time to learn that lesson is before something happens — not afterward.