Doctors warn of adverse effects of unhealthy lifestyles

Millions across the world are in the fight to be fit, and here in Belize the message is no different. According to current statistics, our population’s overall health is showing a distinct and disturbing, decline.

Fernando Cuellar, Doctor, Belize Medical Association
?Eat healthy, exercise regularly, reduce alcohol intake and stop smoking.?

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
But just how many of us follow the doctor?s orders? Usually we wait are diagnosed with a medical condition to make drastic lifestyle changes. With that reality in mind, the Kidney Association of Belize is encouraging everyone to take better care of themselves.

Fernando Cuellar
?Prevention save lives more than dealing with the illnesses on a whole, so in terms of saving lives that?s one and second but not a far second, cost. It?s much cheaper to prevent illnesses than treat them, so that is why than any other illnesses it always better to prevent rather than to fix.?

According to Dr. Fernando Cuellar, kidney patients can spend as much as three hundred dollars a month on medication and another four hundred dollars a week for dialysis treatment. Prices most patients cannot afford. The Kidney Association?s President, Andrea Cox, a kidney patient herself, says available statistics suggest too many Belizeans are not getting the help they need. Today, the association held its first national symposium for mainly health care providers to help create awareness and the treatments that are available.

Andrea Cox, President, Kidney Association of Belize
?We noticed over the past two years or so that the amount of patients coming into doctors have been increasing. And the different types of kidney problems have also increased. One of the main causes though, we noticed is diabetes and I know we have a big population of diabetics in this country.?

?There is help here in Belize for them. And what we cannot get for them here, we are trying to organize something to be able to help people in whatever way we can. Even if we have to make contacts with other doctors in the neighbouring countries; we want to organize something like that.?

While dialysis treatment is now available in Belize, the association hopes that one day soon it will be able to offer kidney transplants to those in need.