Preventive Healthcare- know your body!

Preventive Health refers to routine care you receive in order to maintain your health. It’s key to diagnosing medical conditions before they become a problem.

Preventive health encompasses a set of health services meant to screen and possibly identify health issues before symptoms develop. Preventive healthcare can help you live a longer, healthier life.

Disease and disability are affected by environmental factors, genetic predisposition, disease agents, and lifestyle choices, and are dynamic processes that begin before individuals realize they are affected.

The concept behind preventive healthcare is to be proactive rather than reactive, which means patients start taking advantage of the resources available to them as early as possible to avoid critical health issue. General goal of prevention is to reduce a person’s likelihood of becoming ill or disabled or of dying prematurely. Preventive medical care is not a case of “one size fits all.” Specific goals are developed by and for each person. Specific goals depend heavily on a person’s risk profile—that is, the person’s risk of developing a disease based on such factors as age, sex, genetic background, lifestyle, and physical and social environment. Factors that increase risk are called risk factors.

When you talk with your doctor, you may get any number of tests done — some may be preventive tests and others may be diagnostic tests.

Preventive tests refer to screenings you get to detect diseases and conditions, before symptoms develop. On the other hand, diagnostic tests are used to learn more about a condition once symptoms are present.

As an example, getting a screening blood test for diabetes when you don’t have any symptoms is considered a preventive test. However, if you’ve already received a diagnosis of diabetes and you get a test to check your blood sugar and A1C, this would be a diagnostic test.

All adults should visit their health care provider from time to time, even when they are healthy. The purpose of these visits is to:

• Screen for diseases, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer

• Look for future disease risks, such as high cholesterol and obesity

• Discuss alcohol use and safe drinking and tips on how to quit smoking

• Encourage a healthy lifestyle, such as healthy eating and exercise

• Update vaccinations

• Maintain a relationship with your provider in case of illness

• Discuss medicines or supplements that you are taking.

Another part of preventive health is learning to recognize changes in your body that may not be normal. This is so you can see your provider right away. Changes may include:

• A lump anywhere on your body

• Losing weight without trying

• A lasting fever

• A cough that does not go away

• Body aches and pains that do not go away

• Changes or blood in your stools

• Skin changes or sores that do not go away or get worse

• Other changes or symptoms that are new or do not go away

In addition to seeing your provider for regular checkups, there are things you can do to stay healthy and help lower your risk for diseases. If you already have a health condition, taking these steps can help you manage it.

• Don't smoke or use tobacco.

• Exercise at least 150 minutes a week (2 hours and 30 minutes).

• Eat healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat or nonfat dairy.

• If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation (no more than 2 drinks a day for men and no more than 1 drink a day for women).

• Maintain a healthy weight.

• Always use seatbelts, and use car seats if you have children.

• Don't use illegal drugs.

• Practice safer sex.

Preventive care for children helps protect them from some of the serious illnesses that can affect kids, and includes screenings to detect behavioral and health conditions. Preventive healthcare can help children stay healthy when they’re young and also as they grow older.

• Well-child visits: These visits happen every few months when your child is an infant, and yearly after that. Well-child visits include measurements of your child’s growth and developmental milestones. Routine immunizations and screenings are also conducted during these visits.

• Vaccinations: Vaccinations for children protect them from serious diseases now and in the future. Routine childhood vaccines include polio, hepatitis A and B, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis), MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), and chickenpox (varicella).

• Behavioral and mental health screenings: Pediatricians routinely screen children for conditions like autism, depression, and developmental delays.

• Blood tests: Various blood test screenings will be conducted throughout childhood, including tests that measure a newborn’s bilirubin levels, tests that look for signs of anemia, and tests that measure the amount of lead in your child’s blood.

Learning that you have a family history of a serious health condition can be discouraging and stressful, but knowledge is power. While you can’t change your genetic risk, you can participate in health screenings that can detect this condition earlyTrusted Source, so that treatment is more effective.

Furthermore, when you know your family history, you can take steps to lower your risk of specific conditions. You can be proactive about engaging in healthy lifestyle choices that are known to help prevent these conditions from developing or worsening.

I, personally get my check up done annually from Tata 1mg and Practo, these platforms have made my life easier and helps me manage time effectively during checkup days.

Reference: Healthcare/Medline/Cleveland/Mayo.