Dr Anna Rolleston The Cardiac Clinic

Even if you are fit and apparently healthy, a heart check is never inappropriate. Isn't it better to know you are fine, than not know you're not fine?

As a society we will eventually be forced to be more proactive about our health and less reactive. This means having check-ups on a regular basis, taking positive measures to ensure our good health before we even have a health issue. The health dollar in the future will fund wellness, not illness, as it does now. So get ahead of the game and change the way you view your health.

Health is about now, but it is also about safe guarding for the future. You have a responsibility to look after your health and more and more we, as members of society, will be held accountable for our health status because the health dollar will be stretched even tighter than it is now. Think about how much we gripe about government spending; the health budget cannot sustain our illness rates into the future and where will the money come from to boost that budget? Education? Social Welfare? The money tree that grows next to the wishing well?

So what's my point? Make 2012 the year of being proactive, not reactive about your health. Forget the usual ‘I only see a health practitioner when I'm under the weather' philosophy. Set yourself up for a healthy future where your lifestyle supports wellness as you age.
Look after yourselves, your family and friends this festive season. Best wishes for 2012.