I want to thank everyone for their heartfelt answers and to see that we can be in agreement on the healthy benefits of visiting the Doctor even though there are no direct commands to do so scripturally, it is obviously implied but not in a clear "Thou shalt" manner.
Some institutions or traditions of man and some degrees or certificates are for our benefit as we experience this earthly journey. There are man made (yet God inspired) customs that protect us and our children and that attempt to protect the weak from the (predator type) strong as well.
I must now say that my "hypothetical friend" was just that, hypothetical. The situation I described was for illustrative purposes.
The following are a couple of articles dealing with things we all can do to be healthier and more prosperous in this life (God willing). Go for Regular Health and Medical Check-UpsRegardless of busy schedule, we should undergo regular medical check-ups to detect or prevent illnesses and diseases.
Almost all of us are guilty, in one way or another, of neglecting our health even if we don't intend to. Stressed-out moms and dads usually spend long working hours in the office to finance their kid's education and pay for bills. On the other hand, there are model teens who forgo the 'luxury' of sleeping eight hours a night just to finish school papers and projects. All forms of compromise we make, such as insufficient sleep and fatty diet, have subsequent effects in our health. In our quest for achieving a good life, we often sacrifice our health and medical condition. The overwhelming pressure brought about by work, school, and personal concerns can very well make us oblivious of symptoms of serious illness or disease. Most of the time, people learn about their troublesome health and medical condition, like cancer and stroke, when it's already too late to be treated.
No matter how busy we are, health and medical experts say we should always subject ourselves to regular check-ups. It is so normal for us to visit the doctor only when we feel there's something wrong. But the thing is, not all symptoms of deadly illnesses can easily be felt and seen. For instance, a woman who has breast cancer may never notice the small lump in her right breast until she takes some time to self-assess her breasts. We may think we're perfectly fine until we suddenly breakdown in a middle of the day and find out we're not in tip-top shape after all. Younger people need to undergo general medical checkups with special attention on blood pressure or blood sugar (to prevent on-set of heart diseases and diabetes). Those belonging to the senior citizen-bracket should go for check-ups that can detect certain kinds of cancer.
Aside from general health and medical check-ups, women have to undergo pap smear annually to prevent cervical cancer or diseases related to reproductive system. It is also a must for women in their forties to subject themselves to mammogram. Breast self-checkup every month would suffice for younger women. Pregnant and lactating mothers also have to undergo pre and post natal checkups. Health and medical experts also advice parents to bring their children to the doctor for necessary immunization and proper health care. Since regular health checkups is indispensable, we should see to it that we have a family doctor. A family doctor is the one to hold all the medical records for future reference.
For more valuable information on Health and Medical, please visit
http://www.healthseek.info Top 10 Marriage MythsBy David Popenoe
The most recent U.S. Census figures confirm what most everyone already knows — divorce rates, indeed, are on the rise.
With nearly half of all marriages ending in divorce, many couples are starting to re-evaluate their relationships.
But before you start any heady analysis, it's important to know the facts from the myths when it comes to marriage:
Marriage Myth 1: Marriage benefits men much more than women.
Fact: Contrary to earlier and widely publicized reports, recent research finds men and women to benefit about equally from marriage, although in different ways. Both men and women live longer, happier, healthier and wealthier lives when they are married. Husbands typically gain greater health benefits, while wives gain greater financial advantages.
Marriage Myth 2: Having children typically brings a married couple closer together and increases marital happiness.
Fact: Many studies have shown that the arrival of the first baby commonly has the effect of pushing the mother and father farther apart, and bringing stress to the marriage. However, couples with children have a slightly lower rate of divorce than childless couples.
Marriage Myth 3: The keys to long-term marital success are good luck and romantic love.
Fact: Rather than luck and love, the most common reasons couples give for their long-term marital success are commitment and companionship. They define their marriage as a creation that has taken hard work, dedication and commitment (to each other and to the institution of marriage). The happiest couples are friends who share lives and are compatible in interests and values.
Marriage Myth 4: The more educated a woman becomes, the lower are her chances of getting married.
Fact: A recent study based on marriage rates in the mid-1990s concluded that today's women college graduates are more likely to marry than their non-college peers, despite their older age at first marriage. This is a change from the past, when women with more education were less likely to marry.
Marriage Myth 5: Couples who live together before marriage, and are thus able to test how well suited they are for each other, have more satisfying and longer-lasting marriages than couples who do not.
Fact: Many studies have found that those who live together before marriage have less satisfying marriages and a considerably higher chance of eventually breaking up. One reason is that people who cohabit may be more skittish of commitment and more likely to call it quits when problems arise. But in addition, the very act of living together may lead to attitudes that make happy marriages more difficult. The findings of one recent study, for example, suggest "there may be less motivation for cohabiting partners to develop their conflict resolution and support skills." (One important exception: Cohabiting couples who are already planning to marry each other in the near future have just as good a chance at staying together as couples who don't live together before marriage).
Marriage Myth 6: People can't be expected to stay in a marriage for a lifetime as they did in the past because we live so much longer today.
Fact: Unless our comparison goes back a hundred years, there is no basis for this belief. The enormous increase in longevity is due mainly to a steep reduction in infant mortality. And while adults today can expect to live a little longer than their grandparents, they also marry at a later age. The life span of a typical, divorce-free marriage, therefore, has not changed much in the past 50 years. Also, many couples call it quits long before they get to a significant anniversary: Half of all divorces take place by the seventh year of a marriage.
Marriage Myth 7: Marrying puts a woman at greater risk of domestic violence than if she remains single.
Fact: Contrary to the proposition that for men "a marriage license is a hitting license," a large body of research shows that being unmarried — and especially living with a man outside of marriage — is associated with a considerably higher risk of domestic violence for women. One reason for this finding is that married women may significantly underreport domestic violence. Further, women are less likely to marry and more likely to divorce a man who is violent. Yet it is probably also the case that married men are less likely to commit domestic violence because they are more invested in their wives' well-being, and more integrated into the extended family and community. These social forces seem to help check men's violent behavior.
Marriage Myth 8: Married people have less satisfying sex lives, and less sex, than single people.
Fact: According to a large-scale national study, married people have both more and better sex than do their unmarried counterparts. Not only do they have sex more often but they enjoy it more, both physically and emotionally.
Marriage Myth 9: Cohabitation is just like marriage, but without "the piece of paper."Fact: Cohabitation typically does not bring the benefits — in physical health, wealth and emotional wellbeing — that marriage does. In terms of these benefits, cohabitants in the United States more closely resemble singles than married couples. This is due, in part, to the fact that cohabitants tend not to be as committed as married couples, and they are more oriented toward their own personal autonomy and less to the well-being of their partner.Marriage Myth 10: Because of the high divorce rate, which weeds out the unhappy marriages, people who stay married have happier marriages than people did in the past when everyone stuck it out, no matter how bad the marriage.
Fact: According to what people have reported in several large national surveys, the general level of happiness in marriages has not increased and probably has declined slightly. Some studies have found in recent marriages, compared to those of 20 or 30 years ago, significantly more work-related stress, more marital conflict and less marital interaction.
Copyright 2002 by David Popenoe, the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
David Popenoe is professor of sociology at Rutgers University, where he is also co-director of the National Marriage Project and former social and behavioral sciences dean. He specializes in the study of family and community life in modern societies and is the author or editor of nine books. His most recent books are Life Without Father: Compelling New Evidence That Fatherhood and Marriage Are Indispensable for the Good of Children and Society and Promises to Keep: Decline and Renewal of Marriage in America.
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Topic: Why go to a Doctor? (Read 13110 times)