What we often call ‘good health’ is, at best, a guess – based mostly on how we feel. In the absence of discomfort, most people assume their bodies are functioning just fine. But this illusion of wellness can be misleading.
Several chronic and lifestyle-related conditions progress silently, without warning signs until the damage is underway. Relying on symptoms as the only indicator of illness, experts warn, is not safe. Today, on World Health Day, experts urge people to rethink this approach – to see health not just as the absence of symptoms, but as something to be actively checked, screened, and understood. “Health is often mistaken for the absence of discomfort. If there’s no pain, no fatigue, no visible issue, we assume all is well. But this assumption, though comforting, is increasingly being challenged,” says Dr Pooja Pillai, Consultant of Internal Medicine at Aster CMI Hospital, adding that especially non-communicable illnesses, develop and progress silently.
The body, complex as it is, can learn to function around problems, masking them until a tipping point. The idea that good health can only be judged by how we feel is outdated, Dr Pillai says, highlighting that today, we need to watch for, not just symptoms, but the things we can’t feel or see. “Silent diseases thrive in this gap – between how healthy we think we are and what’s really going on inside. Regular health screenings, blood tests, and preventive consultations are no longer optional, they are essential tools in catching problems before they spiral,” she says.
Dr Sheela Chakravarthy, Director of Internal Medicine at Fortis Hospital, stresses that feeling well does not always mean you are healthy. Many diseases develop silently with no obvious symptoms until they have progressed significantly. Dr Chakravarthy explains that conditions like hypertension, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, kidney disease, or even HIV may remain completely asymptomatic. That means patients can go about their daily lives without realising anything is wrong. “In hypertension, your arteries may be under constant strain without you feeling a thing – until it results in a stroke, heart attack, or organ damage. Similarly, in diabetes, elevated blood sugar levels may cause slow damage to your nerves, kidneys, and eyes, long before any clear signs appear. This is why we refer to these conditions as ‘silent’ diseases – they cause harm gradually, without pain or warning signs early on,” she says.
While feeling fine can be reassuring, doctors stress that it should not be the only measure of health. Quiet diseases are real and regular health checks are sometimes the only way to catch them early.