The truth about 'people who often get sick will live longer'

People who often get sick often see their doctor and are conscious of disease prevention, but that does not mean they will live longer.

Illustration: Womenshealth.

According to Health Sina, it has long been believed that people who are often sick are healthier than those who never get sick. This concept can be understood as: “If minor illnesses do not stop, serious illnesses will not come.”

Experts say that this way of thinking has no scientific basis. It is just a fact that people who often get sick are more likely to detect early signs of serious illness than people who get sick less often, thereby allowing treatment to begin earlier, preventing mild illness from becoming serious.

Some believe that frequent minor illnesses help mobilize the body's immune system, increasing the rate of immune cells recognizing abnormal cells. Wang Dong Xu, head of the Department of Geriatrics at Nanjing Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital in China, asserted that some mild illnesses such as the flu can mobilize immune cells to fight viruses, but that does not mean that "frequent minor illnesses help the immune system work harder" as people mistakenly believe.

In fact, people who have colds all the time show that their immune system is weak, so the rate of serious illness will be higher. For example, people who often have stomach aches and diarrhea often have poor digestive function and are susceptible to chronic digestive diseases. Normal people who rarely get sick show good immune systems and good organ function. It is completely wrong to say that people with weak immune systems are healthier than people with good immune systems.

Some people are constantly sick, while others are healthy and strong. This is not only due to their physical condition but also related to their sensitivity and concern for illness. Some people are worried about minor illnesses, while others are careless and easily ignore the signs of illness and think that minor illnesses are not worth worrying about.

Dr. Wang believes that people who often get sick often see their doctor, follow their doctor's instructions, and prevent complications, which is beneficial in terms of health management. However, this does not mean that being sick often will strengthen the immune system.

Professor Yu An, deputy head of the Department of Geriatrics, believes that people who are often sick will pay more attention to health issues, pay more attention to changes in their bodies, detect them early, and treat them early. People who are less sick often subjectively think they are healthy, do not check their health, ignore their body's symptoms, creating opportunities for the disease to become more serious. When the disease has obvious symptoms, it is already serious and they go to the doctor, making the disease worse than the group of people who often have minor illnesses.

Doctors advise people who always subjectively think they are healthy should not ignore minor illnesses such as colds and diarrhea because they can be symptoms of serious illnesses. Therefore, everyone should practice the habit of regular health screening to detect diseases and early treatment will bring good results.

According to VNE