To understand why preventive healthcare is necessary if at all, it is important to understand what it is. Preventive healthcare is the discipline of healthcare that promotes lifestyle changes to prevent possible lifestyle-related diseases and works towards an overall sense of well-being.
It also considers your social and economic backgrounds to determine if you are more prone to contracting certain types of diseases more than the others.
Various preventive measures can be adapted to prevent certain diseases, such as dietary changes, herbal regimens, massages, or even psychotherapy. In other words, the main idea is to prevent a disease before any of its symptoms show up.
The Importance
According to an article in Reuters, 75% of all the healthcare spending in United States is on preventable diseases. In fact, diabetes and heart diseases form a very big part of this budget.
The fast-paced lifestyle these days does not allow one to spend enough time on health. Certain lifestyle-related disorders and diseases (such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and high cholesterol) have become as common as the flu.
These diseases are termed as “silent” as they have no early symptoms. And so a regular check-up, as a part of preventive healthcare, is essential.
These diseases and disorders should not be taken lightly because they can impair normal life if not treated on time and lead to further complications. Most people can prevent them or stop them from aggravation just by making certain changes in their lifestyle.
Helps in Detecting Chronic Disease
You may feel that you are at the peak of your health.
However, there may be a disease hidden somewhere in your body. Blood tests and other routine screenings, which form a part of preventive healthcare can help detect them before they reach a stage where they cannot be cured.
This is especially true for disease such as cancer. One of the other aspects of preventive healthcare is screening for diseases that an individual might be genetically prone to or for certain diseases that are common and can only be cured if detected early.
Therefore, going in for a PAP smear or a PSA test on a regular basis also forms a major part of preventive healthcare.
With advances in technology, the results of tests are extremely accurate. A certain type of MRI can detect heart diseases up to 10 years before a person is even at risk of a cardiac arrest.
With preventive healthcare being taken seriously, medical practitioners are better informed about the sort of tests an individual may require.
Helps in Promoting Healthy Habits
Healthy habits include a lot of things.
Exercising every day is a very important part of healthy life and so is eating healthy. Preventive healthcare will help you in ensuring that your weight is under control and that you in-take the right amount of nutrition.
And in case you do have certain diseases or disorders such as heart problem or diabetes, with preventive healthcare you can be sure you will be pointed in the right direction for leading a strict lifestyle and proper control.
