SHARES
Healthcare is entering a period of rapid change, pivoting towards health screening and preventative care.
Longevity, new technologies, and discoveries, information and knowledge are among the many factors driving patient empowerment to take control of their health. This fundamentally changes how we prevent, diagnose and cure diseases.
Global Burden of Disease
In absolute terms, the largest burden is in South Asia. Together with SE Asia, the Asia region carries more than one-third of the total global disease burden. This is due to the rising numbers of people affected by chronic diseases – predominantly, heart disease and diabetes.
These chronic diseases and cancer are responsible for more than 6 of every 10 deaths in Southeast Asia. However, these chronic diseases and some cancers are either largely preventable or fairly easily managed if patients prioritize preventive care and work closely with their healthcare providers.
Prescribing a CURE – Prescriptive Healthcare
The healthcare system we have now – like most health systems globally were designed in the post-World War 2 era— a “ prescriptive” system.
For the most part, this system waits for you to become sick before it kicks into action. Generally, the system, although changing, was not designed to help prevent the onset of the disease but instead, more to diagnose and treat illness (for what was—at the time—a fairly healthy and young population).
In essence, with rapidly ageing demographics, the rise of chronic diseases coupled with preventive medical advances, focusing on prescriptive approach of chronic conditions as we normally do, would be a disservice to people for three reasons:
- Prescriptive medicine does not work to stop people from getting sick from chronic diseases or experiencing unpleasant symptoms in the first place.
- It is typically much more expensive to treat a patient compared to what preventive care would have cost.
- Health screening saves lives by stopping people from getting sick or detect conditions early for better management and treatment, thus much better health outcomes.
Preventive Healthcare through Health Screening
“…. To put most of the effort into treatment is to deny all precedent.”
In most people’s mind, ‘managing your health’ or ‘staying healthy’ often means eating healthy and regular exercise, while going to the doctor is associated with being sick. The missing part is the important critical visit to the doctor and dentist, even when you are not sick. Visits for regular health screening!
For those serious about health, we cannot over stress the importance that besides lifestyle choices, prevention through health screening is paramount. Nurture, encourage and motivate your family, friends and loved ones – that regular health screening, vaccinations and working with your medical provider are essential to good health.
Much too often we hear the words “ too late” or “ if only we detected this sooner” in heart, diabetes, liver or cancer diseases.
Preventive medicine and regular health screenings can change that. As you visit your doctor regularly, the checkup ad screenings done can effectively detect changes in your bodily functions. Hence, giving the doctor and yourself adequate time in reversing the disease. Especially, in the case of many silent diseases where symptoms appear very late – at an advanced stage.
Some common health screenings include checking for:
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar, an indication for diabetes mellitus)
- Hypercholesterolaemia (high blood cholesterol) risk factor for heart disease & stroke
- Colo-rectal cancer (colonoscopy) – a stool test or an endoscope examination for colon cancer
- Heart health symptoms
- Eye problems (Glaucoma, retina diseases)
- Thyroid function
- Liver function (Fatty liver, infections, and cancer)
- Dental checks, cleaning, and polishing
- Breast Cancer – Mammography
- Cervical cancer Pap test
- Osteoporosis
- Depression
- HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea
Genetic testing is also another option. This is to screen for mutations that cause genetic disorders or predisposition to certain diseases. For example, breast and ovarian cancer.
Conclusion
Up till now, the medical practitioner has conquered many diseases by doing things for the individual. The present challenge of preventive medicine is to motivate the individual to practice his own prevention. After all, it is only YOU, who should be responsible for your own health.
You can search, find, call, send inquiry or request for appointment with a GP/ Family Doctor on GetDoc:
Find Health Screenings in Malaysia, on GetDoc
Find Health Screenings in Singapore, on GetDoc
by Yashwini Ravindranath
Born & raised in Malaysia, Yashwini earned her M.D. studying in Moscow's Russian National Research Medical University. With an affiliation towards research, all things coffee and the startup ecosystem, she now contributes articles to GetDocSays View all articles by Yashwini Ravindranath.
