“Your health is your wealth” is a popular saying. And it’s closer to the truth than you think. If you’re serious about keeping your finances in good health, it’s important to do the same for your body too.
Why? Because your health and medical condition can negatively affect your personal finances in ways you may not realise. There are in fact, three major medical conditions that are more likely to impact your finances much more than others:
High Cholesterol
Too much cholesterol can start building up in your arteries which can develop into heart and blood flow problems, increasing your risk of heart attacks and strokes.
High Blood Pressure
Also known as hypertension, this happens if your blood pressure readings are consistently 140 over 90 or higher over a number of weeks. Having higher blood pressure puts extra strain on your heart and vessels. According to the Malaysian Society of Hypertension, Malaysians as young as 18 years of age make up 32% of people affected by high blood pressure in this country.
High Body Mass Index (BMI)
Your body mass index is one of the key measures to determine if someone is overweight or obese. A normal BMI would be around 20 to 24. Anything more than that, you can be considered overweight. A number higher than 30 means you’re likely physically obese.
These three conditions are especially troubling for Malaysians because they can lead to cardiovascular diseases, which, according to the World Health Organisation, contributes to 36% of all deaths in this country.
What is more worrisome is that you can have two out of these three conditions without ever noticing any outward symptoms.
1. It costs more to keep yourself healthy
Hypertension and high cholesterol, if left ignored for long enough, can eventually require expensive medication to keep them under control. These expenses also tend to be recurring, and managing these conditions will be long-term.
2. Your energy levels will be affected
These conditions can contribute to poor stamina and a lower level of focus which will affect your ability to be productive. Not only will your performance at work be affected, sufferers of these conditions also tend to have less energy to carry out day-to-day tasks, and will therefore be more likely to spend more on convenience services (food delivery, ridesharing, cleaners, etc), thus creating a vicious cycle that worsens your condition
3. Negatively impacts your insurance
Serious critical illnesses are not the only things that can drive your premium up. Medical conditions like the three described above can also make insurers drive up your premium, limit your coverage, or even decide not to cover you at all.
