Prevention is not about averting disease. It’s an art and a science that enables the individual to lead a productive and fulfilling life by making good choices.
Prevention is not about averting disease. It’s an art and a science that enables the individual to lead a productive and meaningful life irrespective of the presence or absence of disease. This can be understood better if we look at the three levels of prevention.
Primary prevention is prevention as we all know it: forestalling diseases before they occur. This is done mainly by pursuing a healthy lifestyle, avoiding risk factors and by taking measures like vaccination.
Secondary prevention means early diagnosis and prompt treatment of diseases. This is done by being aware of the early signs and symptoms of diseases and by undergoing screening tests for particular diseases from time to time. This helps in preventing the disease from progressing to a stage of disability or death.
Tertiary prevention is all about Rehabilitation. This is done when a disease is has already produced some disability and the individual has to be brought back to a normal or as near normal state as possible.
What this implies is that prevention needs to be looked upon as a comprehensive strategy of heightened awareness and judicious action through out life, so that every individual is able to optimize his life energy to lead a maximally fulfilling life.
I practice & teach Preventive Medicine in India. My passion is exploring better methods of communication in the field of Medicine. I do this by trying out innovative educational tools, creating health videos and by developing medical websites.
