While I shall discuss this article with my primary care provider along with recent testing results from my cardiologist, it poses views that create dilemnas for any one individual.
Cost vs quality of health/life is the primary determinate. While we all would like to be in the best possible health we can expect, it is unclear exactly what measures are indicated and we each need to clarify our own perspective and determine where the opinions of our health care providers fall.
A followup article pointing out how to determine the strategy that our doctors embrace would provide optimal insight. Surely it would be important to be "on the same page" with your doctor instead of following "cookie cutter" philosophy that a particular course of treatment or prevention is right for you as an individual.
Both well being and "out of pocket" expense are of significance.
Yes, Prevention is Cheaper Than Treatment
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When you eat a healthier diet, quit smoking, exercise, meditate and have more love in your life, then your brain receives more blood and oxygen, so you think more clearly, have more energy, need less sleep. You may grow new brain cells. Your face gets more blood flow, so your skin glows more and wrinkles less. Your heart gets more blood flow, so you have more stamina and can even begin to reverse heart disease. Your sexual organs receive more blood flow, so you may become more potent--the same way that drugs like Viagra work. For many people, these are choices worth making--not just to live longer but also to live better.
In other words, the debate on prevention often misses the point: the mortality rate is still 100 percent, one per person. So, it's not just how long we live but also how well we live. Making comprehensive lifestyle changes significantly improves the quality of life very quickly, which is what makes these changes sustainable and meaningful.
© 2008
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