So, if you control the disease you have, you will live long.
•‘Japa has emptied many homes, many parents are depressed’
Professor Bade Omololu is a 68-year-old orthopaedic surgeon with Banby Specialist Hospital, Ibadan, who has taken it upon himself to go around talking to the elderly on living well and staying healthy. He speaks with Sade Oguntola on the reality of growing old and why planning for old age should start early.
That I have a disease in old age, is it enough for me to say I’m going to die in the next few years? Does having medical challenges translate to not living well or living long?
No, the fact that you have a disease does not mean you are going to die if the disease is controlled. The problem people have is “this god will do it ministry”. No, you’ve got to check yourselves and do frequent tests to know what you have. The fact that you have blood pressure, which is hypertension, or diabetes doesn’t mean you are dying. My own father died at 105; he had diabetes, and he had cancer of the prostate, but he still died at 105. I have an uncle now. He’s 95, he’s diabetic, he’s hypertensive, and he’s been like that for almost 50 years, but he’s still living. So, if you control the disease you have, you will live long.
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