An Ounce of Prevention

By Sathya Achia Abraham

Health care has become a major factor in our economy and is among one of the nation’s major economic problems. Americans spend more than $2 trillion per year on health care. But if we changed up our lifestyles we could improve the health of the country, according to Steven Woolf, M.D., M.P.H., professor in the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Family Medicine, and director of the VCU Center on Human Needs.

According to Woolf, the vast majority of expenses for health care are the result of chronic diseases that are largely preventable by addressing primary causes of disease such as smoking, physical inactivity and obesity.

“Through early intervention we can prevent those diseases from occurring. Taking action against factors contributing to poor health can help prevent certain diseases and possibly lessen their complications and thereby reduce not only the morbidity that Americans experience, but the economic impact,” Woolf said.

“When it comes to prevention this largely involves changes in our lifestyle. Changes we make in our home lives, what we eat, how we behave at work, what happens to us at school - those are rarely under the control of doctors or the health care system and very much a matter of personal choice and lifestyle.”

“Therefore the patient is really at the center of the process of preventing disease and adopting a healthier way of living.”