Have you ever felt constantly tired, stressed, or “not yourself,” even though medical tests say you are healthy? This condition is often called suboptimal health—a state where the body is out of balance but not yet sick.
People with suboptimal health may experience fatigue, poor sleep, low energy, trouble concentrating, frequent colds, or digestive discomfort. These symptoms may seem mild, but when they last for months, they can signal that the body is under strain.
Modern life plays a big role. Long work hours, chronic stress, lack of exercise, and poor diet gradually wear down the body’s natural balance. Over time, these stresses affect hormones, immunity, and metabolism. If left unaddressed, suboptimal health may eventually develop into chronic illness.
Traditional Chinese Medicine has recognized this state for thousands of years, calling it “pre-disease.” The idea is simple: treat imbalance early, before illness appears. Today, modern science supports this view. A tool SHSQ-25 (Suboptimal Health Questionnaires-25) to measure suboptimal health helps identify early warning signs so people can take action sooner. SHSQ-25 has been validated in three major ethic groups (African, Asian and Caucasian) as a generic tool for health measure in general populations.
The good news is that suboptimal health is reversible. Improving sleep, managing stress, eating well, and staying active can restore balance and vitality. Small, consistent lifestyle changes can make a big difference.
Listening to your body early is one of the most powerful steps toward long-term health.
Key References
- Yan YX, Liu YQ, Li M, et al. Development and evaluation of a questionnaire for measuring suboptimal health status in urban Chinese. J Epidemiol. 2009;19(6):333–341.
- Wang W. All around suboptimal health. Springer; 2024. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ 978-3- 031- 46891-9.
- Wang W, Russell A, Yan YX, on behalf of Global Health Epidemiology Reference Group (GHERG): Traditional Chinese medicine and new concepts of predictive, preventive and personalized medicine in diagnosis and treatment of suboptimal health. EPMA Journal 2014, 5:4. 13.
Professor of global health and glycomics, Edith Cowan University (ECU), Western Australia and overseas adjunct professor, Shantou University Medical College, China.
Prior to joining ECU, Professor Wang was Vice Director-Research of Peking University-Hong Kong University of Sciences & Technology Medical Centre in Shenzhen, Vice Dean of School of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Dean of School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China and Professor, Public Health, Edith Cowan University, Australia.
He has published over 300 scientific papers on global health, glycomics, and predictive, preventiveand personalized medicine.
Professor Wang holds the degrees of Doctor of Medicine from China Medical University, and Doctor of Philosophy from Oita Medical University, Japan. In 2005 he was elected as a Fellow, Faculty of Public Health, Royal College of Physicians (FFPH), and in 2016, as a Fellow, Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), and in 2017 a Fellow, Royal Society of Medicine (FRSM) of the United Kingdom.