health

Term to define state of well-being or absence of illness. Health may be used by people to mean different things, and could be said to mean the ‘absence of significant illness’. It is a term that is used when considering how to improve people's lives and live longer.

Factors in health Studies show that several important factors contribute to poor health. One of these is genetic, in other words the genes that are inherited. It has been shown that the chance of a person suffering an illness is greater if their close relations suffer that illness. For example, heart disease can run in families. But some factors are under one's own control. These are lifestyle factors.

Regular, moderate exercise is shown to improve health. Smoking is bad for health in several ways – increasing the risk of developing many diseases of the air passages as well as other parts of the body. Diet can also influence health. Excess alcohol can be damaging and a high-fat diet can increase the risk of heart attack later in life. However, as with many aspects of health, the effects of these factors is not clear cut and can affect people in different ways.