What is Preventive Care?
We know your health is of the utmost importance in your life. It's important that you are given the proper medical care you need. That doesn’t just mean visiting when you are sick, that also means regular "wellness visits".
It's important to prevent infections and other medical issues before they become major issues, rather than waiting until a health problem surfaces. By visiting your internist for regular preventive check-ups, you and your loved ones can be one step ahead of health problems.
So what exactly does preventive care mean? After all, when we think about internists, we often picture them diagnosing and treating illnesses and injuries.
Preventive medicine focuses on maintaining health and protecting against disease, disability or death by educating the patient and making sure they come in for routine visits. Remember you don't have to be sick to benefit from seeing your internist.
Here are just some of the preventive practices that you can adopt to protect your health for the long term:
- Stay up to date in your immunizations
- Routine blood work
- Blood pressure check
- Cholesterol check
- Colon cancer screening
- Prostate check
- Annual pap smears
- Mammograms
Preventive Lifestyle Changes
Your internist will help you to reduce your risk of certain health complications by changing your lifestyle. This may mean changing your diet, quitting tobacco, exercising more or losing weight. Diabetes and heart disease are leading causes of death in the United States, and one of the best ways to prevent these conditions from affecting you is to come in for routine exams and physicals.
During these visits, we can also identify certain problems or risk factors. Your doctor may recommend ways to reduce your chance of developing issues like high blood pressure or high cholesterol in the future. By taking a proactive approach to your health, you can learn how best to avoid preventable illnesses.