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How to enjoy healthy, long life, by physiotherapists

By Kingsley Jeremiah
22 September 2016   |   1:53 am
People can improve their quality of life, function optimally and add more years to their life, as they grow older, physiotherapists at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) have said.

jogging

People can improve their quality of life, function optimally and add more years to their life, as they grow older, physiotherapists at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) have said.

To achievable this, diseases of lifestyle such as obesity, tension, cancer and others, which are leading causes of death, particularly in third world countries like Nigeria must be tackled.

According to the experts, people can avoid the diseases by moving more and engaging in physical activities to ensure a healthier life.

Principal Physiotherapist at the hospital, Nneka Okonkwo, told The Guardian in Lagos, “while people get older, they must be as functional as they should be, if they are not, then they are just adding years to life and not adding life to their years.”

Stressing the need for physical activity and mobility as part of global awareness by World Confederation of Physical Therapist, on the World Therapists Day, Okonkwo said attitude of Nigerians to physical therapy is poor.

She said: “People just put up an office and employ people to work for them without adequate knowledge of the health situation that can improve their productivity. Nigeria loose work time, money and lives to issues relating to health in the work place.”

The physiotherapist advised people to seek attention of professionals anytime they are faced with medical challenges, noting that the hospital is recording surge in cases requesting attention of physiotherapists.

“We have situations where people who have fractures, particularly children are taken to local bone setters but eventually they become deformed. It is important to seek attention of professionals.

“Indeed, the high rate of stoke, accounting for about 6.2 million death per annum and the increasing cases in low income countries could be reduced with concerted efforts to improve physical activities,” an expert at the hospital, Omobaanu Olufemi said.

He said: “Stroke is one of the leading causes of long time disability in the world and that leads to a depreciation in people’s quality of life. That’s why we are stressing on the need why people must add life to their lifespan.”

Olufemi said though medical advancement has helped people to life longer, it did not reduce the occurrences of non-communicable diseases of which, stroke and other diseases are part.

“We are in the society where people life longer but don’t enjoy their years because their quality of life is being reduced, that is where physiotherapists find relevance”, Olufemi said.

Another Principal Physiotherapist at the hospital, Eniola Oladejo, said the change in the trend of medicine encourages prevention rather than waiting for incidents to occur.

According to him, physical activities have become a priority for people who want to reduce their chances of health challenge.

Oladejo said, “adults must at east engage in 50 minutes of moderate daily exercise for a week to keep themselves physically fit. That would help you to add more life to your number of years.”

He stated that lack of physical activities is the fourth leading cause of mortality next to high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer.

“Inadequate physical activity has caused so much health hazard over the years. In fact the volume of patients with complaints resulting from inadequate physical activity has been on the increase,” Oladejo added.

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