Dr. Amir Sweha writes a column for the Elk Grove Citizen.
Preventive medicine is a medical discipline which focuses on preventing diseases and promoting a general state of health and well being. This type of care includes immunizations, disease screenings and counseling for the purpose of preventing disease or initiating early treatment for conditions that are not yet apparent. Preventive services produce the greatest health benefits and offer the best cost value.
The sad fact is that high-value preventive care is widely underused. As a result, there are millions of people whose lives are shortened or who are unnecessarily sick, who are less productive than they would be otherwise and who incur expensive medical costs. Recent reports show that increasing the use of just a few preventive services would save more than 100,000 lives each year in the United States.
For example, increasing the number of adults who use aspirin regularly to prevent heart disease would save 45,000 lives annually. Increasing the percentage of smokers who have had a doctor offer assistance to help them quit would save 42,000 lives annually. These two preventive measures have been recommended by experts for years. Yet the majority of people who need to use aspirin regularly for prevention purposes are not using it, and the majority of smokers who need medical assistance to quit are not getting that help from their doctors. Similarly, 3,700 additional lives would be saved each year if we increased the number of women age 40 and older who have been screened for breast cancer. In the past two years only 67% of women have been screened.
Please remember to discuss which preventive health care measures are right for you and your family with your primary care physician.
