Index
- What is preventive medicine?
- Who practices preventive medicine?
- What are preventive services?
- Why is preventive medicine important?
- What are the most common diseases that are evaluated?
- Who can benefit from preventive medicine?
What is preventive medicine?
Preventive medicine is a combination of medical practices designed to prevent disease. It is a proactive approach to patient care. Physicians employ preventive measures to ensure that any illness is minimized and detected early so that the patient has the best chance of recovery and optimal health.
Rather than treating conditions once they have arisen, preventive medicine means getting ahead of potential problems by promoting healthy behaviors and detecting illnesses to prevent people from getting sick in the first place.
It is recommended that children and adults
visit their doctor on a regular basis
Who practices preventive medicine?
Family physicians (MDs) or Doctors of Osteopathy (DOs) practice preventive medicine.
What are preventive services?
There are many methods of disease prevention. It is recommended that children and adults visit their doctor regularly for checkups even if they feel healthy. This is so the doctor can screen for disease, identify risk factors for disease and discuss a plan for a healthy and balanced lifestyle, and keep up with immunizations. The following services are available in preventive medicine:
- Blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol testing.
- Cancer screening.
- Counseling for depression.
- Sexually transmitted infections.
- Routine immunizations against diseases such as measles or meningitis.
- Counseling, screening and immunizations for healthy pregnancies.
- Flu shots.
Why is preventive medicine important?
Preventive medicine can detect pre- or early-stage or chronic diseases, such as diabetes or heart disease. Getting a screening test is essential along with acquiring healthy habits, which include eating right, exercising and not smoking.
Preventive medicine is divided into different types according to the evolution of the disease:
- Primary prevention: these are the health activities that are carried out before the disease appears. In other words, these are actions in healthy people.
- Secondary prevention: the objective is diagnosis or screening to detect the disease in very early stages.
- Tertiary prevention: based on preventing complications and sequelae of a disease that is already established.
- Quaternary prevention: health activities that mitigate or avoid the consequences of unnecessary interventions.
What are the most common diseases evaluated in preventive medicine?
Screening tests are performed to prevent the onset of the following diseases:
- Hypertension.
- High blood sugar (risk factor for diabetes).
- High blood cholesterol.
- Colon cancer screening.
- Depression.
- HIV and other common types of STIs.
- Mammography (to screen for breast cancer).
- Pap test (to check for cervical cancer).
- Osteoporosis screening.
Who can benefit from preventive medicine?
Preventive medicine can be beneficial for everyone. However, the benefits are different depending on the person and their age. Before the age of 40, it is very important to have a close relationship with your doctor and provide him or her with information. People between the ages of 40 and 70 have a higher risk of developing chronic diseases.