Last blog of the semester, and I thought it would be great to write about preventative health care. A great way to improve the quality of health care a person receives can depend on their life choices. Here are some snippets on why prevention is important from the American Heart Association.
Why is preventive health care so important?
In 2001 an estimated 516,000 coronary artery bypass procedures were performed on 305,000 patients.
We don't fully understand all the causes of heart disease, but many population studies have identified major risk factors and strategies to reduce the risk. These are the risk factors we can modify, treat or control:
* tobacco smoke
* high blood cholesterol
* high blood pressure
* physical inactivity
* obesity and overweight
* diabetes mellitus
The decline in death rates from cardiovascular disease in the United States is mainly due largely to the public's adopting more healthful behaviors and lifestyles. This decline underscores why it's important for the medical profession to advocate prevention strategies. More and more evidence shows that fatty plaques in arteries can regress even in people with advanced disease. As our understanding of the causes of heart disease and stroke has improved, the association is directing preventive measures at health care providers, public health practicioners, community leaders, policy makers, patients and families, who can work together to implement our Primary and Secondary Prevention Guidelines.
By focusing on prevention, we can have a major impact on people's health. The American Heart Association wants all people to know their risk factors for heart disease and stroke and the goals for both prevention and treatment. This approach includes people knowing how to effectively use the many strategies available to achieve these goals. Prevention costs less than expensive medical interventions, and in the long run brings more benefits.
American Heart Association
Preventative Health Care
Retrived July 26, 2010 from:
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4734
Yesterday I was holding a conversation with a coworker of mine and we started talking about being health conscience. We both agreed that people today are so use to the quick fix stigma that they don't care how they treat their bodies. My coworker has a friend that is an alcoholic while also taking insulin for Diabetes. She explained to me that her friends and her have gone to this friend to get them help and they do not want it. She also informed that this person has also had two strokes and still has not changed behavior. We also agreed on the fact that everyone believes that they will be the exception to the rule. Meaning if they know someone who smokes two packs a day for forty years and never developed any type of lung cancer they sometimes believe that that can happen to them as well. It's crazy what a person will believe in but its sad that it is also true. Until people realize that sometimes you can't be that lucky this type of behavior will continue on. I can only hope that something or someone will be able to get through to the public even if it has to come in the form of an iphone application.
