Prevention - the Key to Health and Fitness

Preventative care and regular doctor visits can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle and avoid the negative side effects of chronic conditions.

This sounds like a doctor’s worst nightmare, but in fact, primary care providers (PCPs) across the nation treat patients with one, some, or all of these chronic conditions that can be prevented with a choice. That choice is not a fly-by-night decision to just eat better, or just lose weight. Preventative care is a choice to engage in healthy habits, which include diet, exercise, moderation in alcohol consumption, and regular doctor visits to ensure that your choices are providing positive outcomes.

Diabetes is a chronic condition that has a high probability of control – or even prevention - with the guidance of a physician, and by engaging in preventative measures.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outlines that about 10% of the American population has diabetes – about 34 million, with close to 95% of those with Type II Diabetes (“CDC”, 2019). There are some risk factors that cannot be changed (age, relationship with a family member with diabetes, race), but obesity, lack of physical activity, and fatty liver disease are all risk factors that fuel diabetes (2019).

How can diabetes and other chronic conditions be prevented?

The wake-up call for many people may arrive in the form of negative outcomes like high blood sugar on a routine laboratory test, weight gain, high blood pressure findings, or abnormally high cholesterol or triglycerides. Additionally, these chronic conditions lead to other health problems, such as a fatty liver or arthritis. The answer may seem simple – watch what you eat and exercise. That seems easy enough, right?

It is not as simple as a diet and exercise. True preventative care involves interaction with a primary care physician, who will analyze laboratory tests, family and social history, and the habits that are creating negative outcomes in the form of chronic conditions. A physician can guide you in creating a lifestyle that allows you to enjoy healthy, tasty foods, and will encourage you to engage in an exercise program that is safe and effective and will teach you how to monitor the factors that can lead to chronic – and sometimes potentially deadly conditions.

Another harmful effect of chronic conditions is the creeping pace of increasing health care costs. You may not notice how diabetes, hypertension, or obesity affects your wallet, but think about what happens with just these three conditions. A diabetes diagnosis means you may have to take medications – there is an instant bump in your health care costs, even if you have a prescription drug plan with your insurance. Hypertension may require the use of medications, and weight gain is obvious – the more weight you gain, the more likely you are to start buying new clothes because you are unable to fit into your jeans or suit. Weight gain also leads to other health issues, such as joint problems and arthritis, which require more follow-up with specialty doctors and the possibility of prescription medications.

Ultimately, it is important to think about the big picture with preventative care; your primary care physician is your guide and can give you the building blocks to living a life in which preventing chronic conditions is more desirable than living with them.

Reference:

CDC (2019). Type 2 diabetes. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/type2.html