Healthy Aging: How Preventive Health Care Can Make All the Difference:

We go to the doctor only when we are sick, but for the 60+, we need to be proactive rather than reactive - we should go for regular preventive health check-ups. If you have an underlying health issue, controlling the risk factors of different causes of death can’t happen without preventive care. This could be avoiding tobacco, maintaining weight or a proper exercise routine. All of these things can be developed and built upon after a preventive care visit.

1. Improves Your Health in the Long-Term

Preventive health care means catching potential problems before they become real problems. For example, if you get regular wellness checks, your blood pressure will be tested regularly. If your doctor notices that it's increasing, you can be proactive about lowering your blood pressure before it becomes problematic.

2. Increases Lifespan

Preventive care can drastically increase your lifespan because it allows you to catch things early and treatment can begin. For example, it makes it easier to manage cancer and diabetes, when treated at an early stage.

3. Reduces Medical Expenses

It's a lot less expensive to practice preventive healthcare than to only seek help when there's a problem. Preventive care will either catch diseases before they become too serious, which will drastically reduce the cost of treatment, or it will inform you of problem areas to be mindful of, which can prevent future diseases altogether.

4. Pay Less Over Time

Preventive health care can save you money. It will lower the long-term cost of disease management by catching them early. If you wait on fixing a health issue, medical bills will be very high.

These are only a few benefits of preventive health care. There are hundreds of other reasons you should take these visitations seriously. Even if you aren’t experiencing a health concern today, make sure you’re scheduling regular tests. Life happens fast. Take the time to pay attention to your body.

  • Edited and compiled by Anita Natu

Sources:

https://nooranimedicalcenter.com/understanding-the-importance-of-preventive-health-care/

https://www.norwoodmedicalma.com/blog/7-benefits-of-preventive-health-care/

https://www.healthcare.gov/blog/learn-the-importance-of-preventive-health/

https://www.healthcarepartnersny.com/home/healthcare-consumers/importance-of-preventive-care/