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In medicine, prevention is any activity by which an individual avoids the development of a disease or condition (primary prevention), diagnoses a disease in an early stage or prevents its reoccurance (secondary prevention), or avoids a disease's worsening and restores oneself to an optimal level of functioning (tertiary prevention).
Unlike traditional Western medicine, which often focuses on treating or curing a disease with pills or expensive technological intervention after one has already been affected by disease, prevention focuses on maintaining good habits. This can include but is not limited to hygiene, diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices to prevent the onset of disease in the first place. While expert dieticians, kinesiologists, and others tend to agree on certain general principles of prevention, wide disagreement is also evident. Therefore, the information listed below should be carefully considered if one is not first consulting one's physician or dentist; moreover, one should also be aware that different experts would add, remove, or revise the list below to suit their particular opinions of what constitutes effective prevention and what is ineffective or even quackery. In particular, wonder pills and other products claiming to have preventive properties are the stuff that some swear by, while others deride them as a pharmaceutical cash-grab and an all-too-convenient "easy way out" that can lead to no good. To the cautious, the well-known sayings, "don't believe everything you hear" and "moderation is the key" definitely apply here.
Following is a list of general principles of disease prevention based on maintaining good habits including but not limited to hygiene, diet, exercise, and lifestyle that typically apply to most healthy adult individuals.
Maintaining Good Habits of Prevention
- Daily washing of the body and hair.
- More frequent washing of hands and/or face.
- Daily Oral hygiene—brushing and flossing teeth followed by irrigating with a jet of fluid such mouthwash or warm water to thoroughly rinse out the "junk and gunk and potential stench therefrom" that can be caused by not regularly removing particles of food, dento-bacterial plaque and the effluent of such plaque.
- Cleaning of the clothes and living area.
- General avoidance of another's bodily fluids such as feces, urine, vomit, and saliva.
- Not touching animals before eating. If so, contacted areas washed.
- General avoidance of unhygienic people.
- Holding a tissue in your hand or using the upper arm/elbow region over mouth when coughing or sneezing, but not a bare hand.
- Suppressing habits such as spitting or nose-picking.
- Washing hands before eating.
Diet
- Eating a variety of foods, with an emphasis on high-fibre whole grains, dark-coloured raw vegetables and fruit, lean dairy products, and lean meats/alternatives.
- Eating vitamin- and mineral-rich foods more often, but staying near Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) levels.
- When eating fats, choosing unsaturated and non-trans-fat types more often.
- When consuming carbohydrates, choosing complex carbohydrates (starches) more often than simple sugars.
- Drinking plenty of fluids throughout the day (thirst is an indication of the onset of dehydration); the average adult is usually well-hydrated with about 7 or 8 250-mL servings per day (about 2 litres or 8 Imperial cups); active individuals would require more.
- Eating foods that have anticarcinogenic properties (e.g., antioxidants, such those in some berries), foods that aid in promoting regularity (e.g., foods with fibre, such as the psyllium fibre found in some cereals; foods with beneficial bacteria to maintain healthy levels of flora in the gut, such as yogurt with active bacterial cultures), and foods that aid in maintaining blood health (e.g., omega-3 fatty acids, such as those found in some fish and flax seeds).
Exercise
- Promoting healthy cardiovascular health, a healthy weight, good muscle tone, balanced hormone levels, and even good psychological health by participating in active cardiovascular ("cardio") exercise at least 2-3 times per week (e.g., 1/2 hour of brisk walking; 20 minutes of cycling; 45 minutes of recreational play in a sport such as tennis or soccer). (Note that many different opinions are to be heard with regard to what constitutes an "effective" cardio workout, with variations in recommended levels of heart rate, stress level, etc.)
- Promoting healthy muscle and bone development and maintenance by first participating in muscle-training exercises and then resting well until tissues have had a chance to repair. (Note that much debate exists regarding what constitutes an "effective" muscle-training workout, including disagreement over rest durations.)
- Stretching according to instructions by a trained professional and in a manner that is suitable to a particular exercise's commencement and/or completion. (Note that much debate exists regarding stretching, with some questioning its benefits altogether.)
Lifestyle
- Getting a good night's sleep and waking well-rested. Bed time, sleep duration, type of sleep (e.g., REM sleep), wake-up time, and even environmental factors such as humidity/temperature levels, bed type, and light levels, are all factors in the determination of what constitutes "a good night's sleep."
- Avoiding the consumption of social and illegal drugs (e.g., nicotine in cigarettes; caffeine in coffee, chocolate, etc.; alcohol in hard drinks; cocaine, heroin, etc.).
- Avoiding overly stressful situations and maintaining a positive outlook.
- Avoiding environmental pollution (e.g., air pollution, water pollution) and the ingestion of, or contact with, toxic substances (e.g., cleaning solvents; artificial ingredients, etc.).
- Enjoying life by maintaining positive relationships, keeping oneself stimulated and content, and aiming for a healthy balance between one's individual needs and social responsibilities.
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"Prevention (medical)"