A Health Profile A health
profile is a portrait of all of the factors that influence your health. To draw
your health profile, you will 1 what
diseases run in your family, what health hazards you may be exposed to 2 work, how your daily
3 compares to the recommended standards, how much time per
week you 4 exercising and what type of
exercise you engage 5 , how stressful
your work and family environments are, what kinds of illnesses you get
regularly, and 6 or not you have any
one of a number of addictions. 7 this
portrait, your should have a checkup to determine how your blood, heart, and
lungs are functioning. This checkup will serve 8
a baseline, to which you can then compare later tests. 9 this profile is thoroughly
drawn, you can begin to think about setting health priorities based 10 your particular portrait. For example, if you
drink two martinis every evening, have a high-stress
11 , are overweight, smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, and
use marijuana occasionally on weekends, you should quit smoking first, followed
12 losing the excess weight, reducing
the stress of your job, giving up your marijuana habit, and then finally giving
some 13 to those martinis if you want
to prevent first cancer, and then heart disease. Even for the youthful working
person who has never been sick a day in his life, who is
14 excellent health, a good look at all health habits and
at work and home environments may suggest changes that will
15 him in the future.