Preventive Medicine

Medical science has proven time and again that when the resources are provided, great progress in the treatment, cure, and prevention of disease can occur - Michael J. Fox

Preventive Medicine

image by: National Preventive Health Care Association

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Will preventive medicine save money? Think again

It seems like a no-brainer. Since about 75 percent of health care spending in the United States is for largely preventable chronic illnesses such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, providing more preventive care should cut costs.

If only. In a report released on Tuesday, the non-profit Trust for America's Health outlined a plan "to move from sick care to health care" by putting more resources into preventing chronic disease rather than treating it, as the current system does. There is a strong humanitarian justification for prevention, argued Trust Executive Director Jeffrey Levi in an interview, since it reduces human suffering.

But the report also makes an economic…

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Preventative medicine: the argument for and against

Preventative medicine has long used drugs to prevent the onset of disease. Those with symptoms such as high blood sugar or pressure are often diagnosed with the “pre-condition”, such as prediabetes or prehypertension, if their symptoms haven’t yet reached the levels which define the disease. It is estimated that around 7m people in the UK alone have prediabetes and have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. But diagnosis of this pre-condition allows pharmaceutical drugs to be prescribed, which could delay or prevent the onset of the disease. However, there are arguments which support and condemn pre-treatment in this way.

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Will preventive medicine save money? Think again

"Preventive care is more about the right thing to do" because it spares people the misery of illness, said economist Austin Frakt of Boston University. "But it's not plausible to think you can cut healthcare spending through preventive care. This is widely misunderstood."