“It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things.”
― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish
Death is a subject that we all know very well, yet we dread it so much. The painful experience that follows after the departure of a loved one can’t be compared to any other.
We are born together, live together, love each and in just a few seconds, the journey of a dear one comes to an end. Sometimes it happens abruptly, other times, we get time to be prepared but it’s never accepted easily-no matter the amount of time given to us.
This is a journey that each and every one of us must make-it could start early or even late, in the old age.
The top common causes of death around the globe are:
1. Ischaemic Heart Disease
This is a condition of the heart which arises from either getting a coronary artery disease or a heart attack. This makes the heart muscle to become very weak. Coronary artery disease causes the arteries that supply blood to the heart to become narrow –preventing the essential blood flow from reaching the heart muscle-causing damage to it. Lack of enough blood supply inhibits the hear t from functioning properly resulting to heart failure.
2. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Commonly known as COPD, this is prevalent lung ailment-that makes it hard to breathe if you have been affected by it. The two main forms of COPD are;
– Emphysema which results from the damaging of lungs over a long period of time.
– Chronic bronchitis which results from coughing for long periods. The cough consists of mucus.
Most people affected by this disease have a combination of the two.
Smoking is the main cause of it. Other causes include being exposed to heavy fumes and gases at the workplace, exposure to large amounts of second hand smoke and pollution, and frequent use of firewood without proper ventilation in the working area.
3. Lung Cancer ( Trachea and Bronchus Cancer)
This is the leading cause of death in both men and women around the globe. It has claimed more lives than both prostate and breast cancer. If detected early, half the patients have a chance to survive for more than five years without the recurrent of the same.
Lung cancer results from the abnormal transformation of the cells that makes them grow and multiply spreading to other parts of the body. The more they grow, the more they deprive the healthy cells of nutrients, oxygen and space, making them unable to function. Unfortunately, most of them are malignant- they massively destroy the healthy tissues and spread rapidly in the body.
The main cause of lung cancer is cigarette smoking. Smokers who quit early reduce their chances of contracting this disease. Others include: exposure to asbestos, secondhand or passive smoking, other lung diseases like TB.
Conclusion
You may be exposed to the causes of the three most deadly diseases that claim lives and you probably do not know. Life is becoming tough every single day and we are all focused on how we can achieve our dreams and goals.
In the busyness’ of our daily routine, time flies away so fast that we find that taking care of ourselves and our health is the least of our priorities.
However, all is not lost. We can all start by making regular visits to the health centre to help keep our bodies in check.
Our lives can be prolonged by knowing and detecting these diseases early, changing our lifestyle, eating healthy and doing everything necessary to maintain a life balance. We cannot attain anything if we are sick but we can learn the various ways of living even in those conditions or worse.
Live life and love life.