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Preventive Medicine - The Role
of your Primary Care Physician in the Prevention of Disease
With
reorganization of healthcare in the 1990's, it is important
to be familiar with preventive health and the role your PCP
(Primary Care Physician) has in orchestrating your care.
Many insurance companies assign a PCP who is responsible for
your health care needs. With healthcare reform, greater
attention is given to the PCP and the practice of
“Preventive Medicine”.
What is
Preventive Medicine? Preventive Medicine, also known as
Primary Care Medicine, is usually given by a general
internist or family practitioner. This medicine focuses on
treating all health problems of a patient. It is a team
approach to delivering services, i.e. the physician working
with the nurse and other healthcare providers. Preventative
Medicine is health education with emphasis on prevention of
disease.
The
following guidelines are the general recommendations for
preventative care—your needs may be different. Be sure to
ask your primary care physician which tests or exams may be
appropriate for you.
Preventive
Care Recommendations
Persons ages 18-40 year old
--Complete physical exam every two years unless they
have medical problems that need frequent monitoring.
--In females:
* Breast exam, pap smear should be done yearly.
* Baseline mammogram at age 35-40.
--In
males:
*Testicular exam yearly.
--If a
patient is at risk:
*Tuberculosis screening.
*HIV testing and chest x-ray if indicated by history.
Persons age 40 to 50 years old:
--Every year:
*Complete physical exam unless they have medical
problems that need frequent
monitoring.
*Blood pressure check
*Weight and height
*Rectal Exams and occult blood test
--In
females:
*Breast and pelvic exams
*Pap smear (a Pap smear is a helpful test that detects
changes in your body that
can lead to cancer of the cervix)
*Mammogram (An X-ray of the breast to detect cancer
early)
--In
males:
*Digital Rectal Exam (Prostate exam)
--Every 5 years:
*Total cholesterol workup (although your physician may
recommend you have
one sooner)
--Every 10 years:
*Hearing and vision assessment (More frequently after
the age of 60)
Persons age 50 and older:
--Every year:
*All the tests and exams listed above.
--Every 3 to 5 years:
*Proctosigmoidoscopy (Internal, visual examination of
the colon)(Your physician
may recommend you start these at an earlier
age.)
Immunizations are as follows:
*Tetanus Diphtheria every ten years.
*Measles, Mumps, Rubella in the younger populations.
*Hepatitis series in sexually active persons or those with
high risk.
*Pneumonia vaccination in persons over age 65 years and
those considered high risk.
(Booster every 5 years)
*Flu
shot yearly in persons over the age of 65 or those
considered high risk.
The major
role of any primary care physician is the prevention, early
detection and treatment of disease before symptoms
occur. Primary care physicians are the ones who initiate
preventive care with the focus on protecting one’s
health. Primary prevention is any intervention that prevents
a disease process form occurring.
There’s simply
not enough time to do all of the recommended preventive
screening and counseling in a single office visit or annual
examination. Most primary care givers determine if their
patient’s are at high-risk for disease and often put the
emphasis of the office visit stressing those risk factors.
If physicians are going to accomplish their goals for
prevention, then we must ask good screening questions
whenever the opportunity arises.Content
of articles can only be used with writer attribution to Dr.
Kevin Weiland.
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