"Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis is the application of healthcare measures to prevent diseases."
Ways to maintain good health and prevent illness, including regular check-ups, vaccinations, healthy lifestyle choices, and early detection of health issues.
Immunization: The process of inducing immunity or protection against infectious diseases.
Hand hygiene: The act of cleaning your hands to prevent the spread of infectious agents.
Nutrition: The study of how food and nutrients affect health and disease.
Physical activity: Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure.
Sleep hygiene: The practice of good sleep habits to promote optimal sleep quality and quantity.
Stress management: Techniques and strategies to manage stress and promote mental and physical health.
Smoking cessation: The process of quitting smoking to reduce the risk of smoking-related diseases.
Alcohol moderation: The practice of consuming alcohol in moderation to minimize negative health effects.
Safe sex practices: Strategies for preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy.
Sun protection: The use of protective measures to reduce the risk of sunburn, skin damage, and skin cancer.
Workplace safety: Strategies and policies to prevent workplace injuries and promote occupational health.
Environmental health: The study of how environmental factors affect human health and disease.
Mental health: The state of emotional, psychological, and social well-being.
Chronic disease management: Strategies for managing chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.
Health screenings: Medical tests and check-ups to detect early signs of disease and promote early treatment.
Emergency preparedness: The readiness to respond to emergencies and disasters.
Hydration: The act of maintaining adequate fluid intake to support proper bodily function and prevent dehydration.
Vaccination schedules: Timelines for when vaccines should be administered to maximize immunity and prevent disease.
Primary Prevention: This type of prevention aims to prevent the occurrence of a disease by modifying factors that could lead to it. It includes interventions such as immunization, health education, and physical activity.
Secondary Prevention: This type of prevention is aimed at detecting and treating the disease in its early stages before it progresses. Screening tests, regular check-ups, and monitoring of at-risk individuals are common methods of secondary prevention.
Tertiary Prevention: This type of prevention focuses on managing a disease that has already progressed and preventing its complications. It includes interventions such as rehabilitation, medication, and chronic disease management.
Environmental Prevention: This type of prevention focuses on modifying the environment to decrease the risk of disease. Examples include implementing sanitation measures, improving air quality, and promoting healthy workplace policies.
Lifestyle Prevention: This type of prevention involves modifying personal behaviors and habits to decrease the risk of disease. Examples include eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol.
Genetic Prevention: This type of prevention involves identifying individuals with a genetic predisposition to certain diseases and providing them with personalized interventions to prevent the disease from occurring.
Behavioral Prevention: This type of prevention focuses on promoting healthy behaviors and decreasing risky behaviors, such as using protective equipment when engaging in high-risk activities.
Community Prevention: This type of prevention involves community-wide initiatives aimed at improving the health and well-being of the population. Examples include implementing policies to promote safe communities, access to healthy food, and mental health resources.
Medical Prevention: This type of prevention involves using medical interventions to prevent disease, such as prescribing medications to reduce the risk of heart disease or providing prophylactic treatments to prevent infections.
Occupational Prevention: This type of prevention involves implementing workplace policies to prevent injuries and illnesses. Examples include implementing safety guidelines, providing protective equipment, and promoting healthy workplace practices.
"Disease and disability are affected by environmental factors, genetic predisposition, disease agents, and lifestyle choices."
"Disease prevention relies on anticipatory actions that can be categorized as primal, primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention."
"A 2004 study showed that about half of all deaths in the United States in 2000 were due to preventable behaviors and exposures."
"Leading causes included cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, unintentional injuries, diabetes, and certain infectious diseases."
"This same study estimates that 400,000 people die each year in the United States due to poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle."
"According to estimates made by the World Health Organization (WHO), about 55 million people died worldwide in 2011, two-thirds of this group from non-communicable diseases."
"Preventive healthcare is especially important given the worldwide rise in prevalence of chronic diseases and deaths from these diseases."
"There are many methods for prevention of disease."
"One of them is prevention of teenage smoking through information giving."
"It is recommended that adults and children aim to visit their doctor for regular check-ups, even if they feel healthy, to perform disease screening, identify risk factors for disease, discuss tips for a healthy and balanced lifestyle, stay up to date with immunizations and boosters, and maintain a good relationship with a healthcare provider."
"Some common examples of primary prevention are encouraging parents to turn down the temperature of their home water heater in order to avoid scalding burns, encouraging children to wear bicycle helmets, and suggesting that people use the air quality index (AQI) to check the level of pollution in the outside air before engaging in sporting activities."
"Some common disease screenings include checking for hypertension (high blood pressure), hyperglycemia (high blood sugar, a risk factor for diabetes mellitus), hypercholesterolemia (high blood cholesterol), screening for colon cancer, depression, HIV and other common types of sexually transmitted disease such as chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea, mammography (to screen for breast cancer), colorectal cancer screening, a Pap test (to check for cervical cancer), and screening for osteoporosis."
"Genetic testing can also be performed to screen for mutations that cause genetic disorders or predisposition to certain diseases such as breast or ovarian cancer."
"However, these measures are not affordable for every individual."
"the cost effectiveness of preventive healthcare is still a topic of debate."