HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT: A PERMANENT CHANGE OF CLIMATE
If you or other members of your family have a chronic illness, you may have considered moving to a better climate. Before you decide to make a major change for the sake of a more healthful climate, my advice is: think not twice, but three times! The chances are very high that you are making a mistake, and once the change has been made and your job given up and connections severed, the road back may be difficult, if not impossible.
How to make the decision
It is possible to reach the correct decision by evaluating a few facts about the relation between health and climate and by following two simple and sensible rules.
Go slowly. The diseases benefited by moving to a mild climate are mainly chronic, slow-changing ones. You need not be in a hurry when making your decision.
Review the entire situation with a panel of medical experts. Your family doctor will welcome an appointment with a specialist to go over the details of your illness. The cost may seem high, but it is small compared to the expense of changing your whole way of life.
The specialist may suggest a trial period with a medicine such as ACTH or cortisone. Or some other therapy may promise as much relief as a change of climate. The specialist may even suggest discussions with a psychiatrist to try to relieve your nervous tensions.
If the specialist takes the view that a change of climate offers the only hope for relief, you then have the assurance that the drastic change in your life is really necessary. If he and your own doctor agree that the change of climate is essential, then take their advice—but act in gradual steps.
Should elderly people move to milder climates?
Elderly, retired people often wonder whether changing to a mild climate will be desirable for their health. I recommend the same careful programme for them that I have outlined for sick people.
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