Grow Into Healthy Old Age – Dr. Anyah Advises

DO YOU know that greater percentage of cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, hypertension and heart failure which usually attack aging people are preventable?

Well, that is what Dr. Felix Kwaku Anyah, Medical Director of the Holy Trinity Medical Centre and other medical experts have observed.

Majority of people, who have lost their lives to countless ailments and those who are still struggling with a host of diseases could have prevented such predicaments if they had lived healthy lifestyles.

Delivering a 140-page paper titled 'The Global Population Aging – A Curse or a Blessing – The Redemption with Health/Medical Tourism through Spa', at Sogakofe in the Volta Region at the weekend, Dr. Anyah said the use of spa (health through water) has a wide range of health benefits which, if utilised frequently, goes a long way to offer a holistic quality health to the individual, even at old age.

He expressed grave concerns about the huge sums of money spent by many Ghanaians on preventable diseases, stressing it is not too late to reverse the situation from curative healthcare to preventive one if healthy lifestyles are adopted by all and sundry.

“According to several health researches, the rapidly growing number of older people into 80s, 90s and 100s means more people are entering the age when they are at risk of developing chronic age-and-unhealthy related degenerative diseases,” he noted.

The Medical Specialist described the following health pillars as very beneficial if adopted as a lifestyle: Regular and appropriate physical exercise; scientific relaxation and restful sleep; health diet; detoxification; management of stress and stress disorders; food supplements; positive attitudes; meditation through religion; Spa as well as medical, surgical and dental treatments.

Dr. Anyah, who is also the brain behind the establishment of the first ever Destination Spa (Holy Trinity Spa & Health Farm) in Ghana and the entire West African Region, was speaking at the Third West Africa Nobles Forum conference under the theme 'Exploring Health/Medical Tourism in West Africa'.

“There are communities where the population is known for several centuries to live averagely 100 years but do not suffer from hypertension, strokes, sudden deaths, diabetes, arthritis and the many lifestyle and degenerative diseases of the emerging aging world.

“These include The Hunza Region in Pakistan; The Abkazia in Russia; Vilcabanba in Ecuador; The Campodimele in Italy; The Okinawans in between Japan and Taiwan and villages in the Bama Province of China.”

He attributed the positive health development in those communities to the practice of a healthy lifestyle.

He urged Ghanaians and representatives from other West African countries at the conference to do everything humanly possible to emulate such lifestyles so as to prolong life spans devoid of diseases.

He said foods rich in fats and sugar are dangerous to the proper development of the body, explaining that they rather go to create cancerous ailments which eventually result in deaths.

Dr. Anyah urged all and sundry to engage in simple aerobic exercises, drink lots of water, eat healthy diets including whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, have enough rest and detoxify the body's system frequently for a complete health.

He used the well-attended occasion to call for public-private sector partnership so as to move the country's tourism industry forward.

The conference, attended by participants from Nigeria, Togo, Sierra Leone and Ghana was used to honour Nobles who have achieved excellence in their various fields of endeavour.

Health Minister Major Courage E.K. Quashigah (rtd), who commended Dr. Anyah and his team for the success achieved, urged them not to relent in their efforts in ensuring a healthy society.

He was awarded the Best Health Minister by the Forum.