Western Diseases Have Hit The City
Are you afraid of an early death? If so, fear Hong Kong’s top killer, also known as cancer. Cancer has taken away the lives of many in the city, and has the potential of giving you an early death sentence. Cancer is just one of many Western diseases known to have sent Hong Kongers to their death beds. If you wish not to be sentenced before your time is due, I suggest you to make positive changes towards a healthy lifestyle (if you have not already done so) before it is too late. “How?” You may ask. Well, you can consult your doctor or nutritionist, or you can search it online. There are many ways. You can even keep reading and may find something useful.
For starters, it’s good to know the reasons leading to this drastic problem. Hong Kong has become more Westernized. By Westernized, I mean fast food. That’s right, fast food is unhealthy living because the food is cooked with too much oil. You don’t think so? Go to a nearby fast food chain store and order some french fries. Then, squeeze a french fry and see how much oil comes out (I know, it sounds disgusting. But hey, kids are curious). Apart from using excessive oil to cook food, (urban) legend has it that the oil is reused over and over again. *gasp* Our originally healthy diet of eating home-made food has been disrupted by the emerging fast-food chain stores that can be found on practically every street in Hong Kong. Obesity is now on the rise, partly thanks to the close proximity of fast food chain stores to our humble homes. Not trying to scare you, but obesity can cause high blood pressure and heart attacks (worst case scenario).
Apart from our unhealthy diet, we should also watch out for our way of living. Many individuals in the city live an unhealthy lifestyle. Hong Kong is a place where you have to keep up with the demands of the fast-paced, cosmopolitan city. The city is ranked number one in the world for having the longest working hours, so people tend to work a lot. Because they work so much, they tend to be stressed, and stress plays a big role in causing high blood pressure which may lead to heart attacks and strokes.
People become stressed because they may not have the sufficient amount of time to sleep in order to rejuvenate to be mentally and physically prepared for the next working day. Another reason to why the city has a large population of stressed-out individuals is due to the fact that they do not exercise. Exercise should be part of everyone’s daily regime. If it is already part of yours, I sincerely congratulate you. By doing exercise, our body will automatically produce these so-called “Happy endorphins” to make us Happy. My fellow Hong Kongers, don’t be so lazy. Allocate your time better because just 20 minutes of non-stop exercise is enough to alleviate the mental stress that we all suffer from.
Many people have turned to smoking and drinking as a method to alleviate stress. However, the negative side-effects outweigh the only one positive effect of temporarily de-stressing. Smoking can cause lung cancer, and drinking too much may turn you into an alcoholic.
All the aforesaid bad habits that we Hong Kongers have cause us to contract diseases. However, there are still other ways to contract a disease. Those not-so fortunate individuals who have at least one parent known to have contracted a disease, may have also contracted the disease through heredity. Many known diseases such as diabetes and coronary diseases are common diseases that can be passed down to the next generation. These people ought to be extra careful with their diet and lifestyle because their chances of contracting fatal diseases may be higher than those whose parents are perfectly healthy.
All I can say is it is never too late to change your way of life. The best thing is to prevent yourself from contracting a disease in the first place, because trying to get rid of it is far more difficult. Follow preventive measures by leading a healthy lifestyle, and the grim reaper won’t book an early appointment with you.
