Preventive Medicine
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Commonwealth Internal Medicine
Internal Medicine & Primary Care Practice located in Fredericksburg, VA
In everyday life, preventing harmful events is always better than waiting for disaster to strike and trying to deal with the consequences. The principle of avoiding harm also applies to your health, something the dedicated team of medical professionals at Commonwealth Internal Medicine in Fredericksburg, Virginia, understands, which is why they use preventive medicine to keep you healthy and help you avoid health problems. Call the office today to schedule a consultation.
Preventive Medicine Q & A
What is preventive medicine?
Preventive medicine is all about doing everything possible to stay healthy and not get sick. Avoiding disease and illness is far better than treating conditions when people are already sick. Not only does it prevent suffering and complications that could have a devastating effect on people’s lives, but it’s also far more cost-effective.
There’s always been an element of preventive medicine in health care, but there’s also been an increase in the use of treatment for health problems instead of taking steps to prevent them. Many practitioners recognize how valuable preventive medicine can be, and increasingly, health organizations worldwide are taking on broad preventive medicine principles.
What are the benefits of preventive medicine?
If preventive medicine was the primary approach to health care, millions of lives could be saved and improved every year. Most of the leading health problems in the United States are due in part, or in many cases entirely to, preventable causes. Preventive medicine can avert diseases like:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Coronary artery disease
- Stroke
- Some forms of cancer
- High blood pressure
- Heart failure
- Sleep apnea
- Kidney disease
- Cirrhosis
- Gout
- Gallstones
The team at Commonwealth Internal Medicine understands what a difference preventive medicine can make, and uses a preventive approach wherever possible.
How does preventive medicine work in practice?
Your provider at Commonwealth Internal Medicine creates a plan for you to optimize your body’s ability to avoid disease. A significant part of the plan involves making changes to your life that improve your general health. These actions vary depending on your situation, but typically include:
- Weight management
- Dietary changes
- Supplementation
- Stress reduction
- Regular exercise
- Quitting smoking
- Cutting down alcohol
- Medications management
Just losing weight can reduce blood pressure and help you avoid many serious health issues. You could live a much longer, happier life and prevent a variety of problems, such as varicose veins, skin rashes, joint problems, breathing difficulties, and foot problems, like plantar fasciitis.
The team at Commonwealth Internal Medicine can support you by providing nutrition and exercise advice, and assistance with breaking bad habits. They also provide effective diet plans in the form of the CMWL® medical weight loss plan. They can also carry out regular health checks and screenings to pick up any signs of disease in the earliest stages.
Immunizations are also a highly effective way to prevent ill health. For instance, having your flu shot every year could help you and your family avoid what can be a serious, highly unpleasant illness. The effects of flu could last for weeks and be costly to both your health and your wallet.
To find out more about the benefits of preventive medicine, call Commonwealth Internal Medicine today.
