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9 April 2008

Spare your benefits

Take care of your health and you won't have to waste your medical scheme benefits on common illnesses.

Being sick is a costly business. With a myriad of nasty viruses affecting millions of South Africans every year, winter can therefore be an especially expensive time. Whether it's you or a family member, being ill is generally inconvenient and costly so prevention is most certainly better than cure.

Following some basic guidelines can make a huge difference to your health and bank balance this winter. You simply need to make the effort to incorporate them into your daily routine. There's no point waiting until you're feeling sick to take heed of this advice.

According to Peter Moyanga, Chairman of Medshield Medical Scheme, there's no drain on your day-to-day medical scheme benefits quite like common illnesses such as colds and flu. He comments, "Frequent and sometimes avoidable visits to the specialist, along with prescription medicines can escalate surprisingly quickly, especially for larger families. Moyanga continues, "Add to that diminishing sick leave allocations and suddenly, you'll be all too aware of how expensive it can become to be unwell."

Moyanga suggests you help avoid these costs by doing the following:

Go on, get your influenza vaccine – it only costs around R60. It takes up to two weeks to become fully effective and you need a new jab annually because the strains of flu change each year. Flu jabs are particularly recommended for sufferers of asthma, diabetes or angina, as well as the elderly since flu can put a severe strain on weak hearts.

Ensure you are getting sufficient sleep – ideally eight hours. Your body needs deep, regenerative sleep in order to make the necessary immune-strengthening repairs.

Eat a wide variety of healthy foods including brown rice, low-fat protein sources like fish and beans, and five to nine daily servings of fruits and vegetables.

Wash your hands frequently. This is such a simple but crucial way to eliminate many of the germs that can make you sick.

Keep your body well hydrated and simultaneously flush out toxins by drinking plenty of fluids – ideally six glasses of water per day.

Remember to stay active during the winter months – don't become a couch potato simply because of the change in season.

And finally, taking supplements such as vitamin C, garlic and Echinacea can provide effective remedies to assist your body in fighting infection.

While temperatures are still surprisingly high and South Africans feel far from the grips of winter, the characteristic bugs normally associated with the change of season have already affected many people. Be proactive in doing your bit towards keeping yourself and your family healthy this winter. It's the logical thing to do.