Ask a Preventive Medicine Physician Online

Preventive medicine is a branch of medical specialty that consists of steps and measures taken to prevent diseases before any illness sets in. Diseases and disabilities depend on environmental factors, genetic predisposition, lifestyle choices, and viral or bacterial agents. Disease prevention aims at intervening before any of this factor affects a person’s health. Preventive medicine is practiced by all doctors to keep their patients healthy and disease free.

Preventive medicine specialists are efficient in biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental medicine, occupational medicine, planning health services, research of diseases, and practice prevention in clinical medicine. They help their patients by applying their knowledge and skills gained from social, economic, medical, and behavioral sciences.

Disease prevention can be classified into primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.

• Primary prevention is the actions that do not allow diseases to occur, for example, immunization, smoking cessation, etc.
• Secondary prevention is when a condition is detected in its early stages before symptoms occur, and appropriate treatment is given to delay or stop the signs from developing. Examples are the management of hypertension to prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer screenings like mammography.
• Tertiary prevention is the methods used to reduce the adverse effects caused by symptomatic diseases. For example, cardiac rehabilitation methods to prevent a person from getting a heart attack again.

Preventive care is delivered through public health programs or during a visit to your doctor. You can also consult preventive medicine doctors using online healthcare platforms. Periodic health examinations are helpful in detecting early signs of illness, and preventive measures can be employed to stop it from affecting your general health.