PREVENTION: IT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

Mary Ditto operates a machine that tests blood samples to measure cholesterol and glucose levels at Southeast Missouri Hospital's Main Street Fitness Center in Jackson.

An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure, health experts say.

In fact, the exchange rate may be even higher when the benefits of regular medical checkups and a healthy lifestyle are weighed against the risks of diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer.

Taking a few simple steps now can save a lot of trouble and expense in the future, said Dr. Jacqueline Hooper, who specializes in public health and who is a professor in Southeast Missouri State University's health management program.

"What's interesting about prevention is that the way we treat you is the way we would have prevented the illness in the first place," Hooper said.

In the early stages of diseases like high blood pressure or heart disease, "we would try to reverse it with lifestyle changes," like reducing fat and salt intake in the diet and increasing exercise.

Surgery is always an option, if the disease is advanced enough, but lifestyle changes are usually more effective in the long run.

"It was interesting to see the physicians bargain with those patients. It was like, OK, here are your choices," Hooper said. The patients who didn't opt for the lifestyle change, or didn't stick to it usually wound up back in the hospital.

"We used to say we saw them coming and going," she said.

Coronaries, heart disease, stroke and cancer are the leading causes of death in the United States, Hooper said.

"Over 50 percent of those are lifestyle-related," she said, which means they can be prevented through exercise, diet and other behaviors.

People need to take care of themselves, said nurse Debbie Leoni, coordinator of Southeast Missouri Hospital's Fitness and Wellness Center.

"The biggest steps are going to be doing the sanitary kinds of things, like washing your hands and proper food preparation, and the others are going to be things like maintaining appropriate weight, getting adequate rest, exercising appropriately and maintaining good nutrition," Leoni said.

People are becoming more aware that they have to take responsibility for their own health, Hooper said.

"My grandparents were raised to present themselves to a doctor to find out whether or not they were sick," she said.

"If a physician didn't tell them what to do, they certainly couldn't do it, because the physician controlled their health. I think people today are much more aware of their behaviors and what they need to do to take care of themselves."

An important part of preventive medicine is seeing a doctor when you're not even sick. Preventive medicine prevents (get it?) serious health care problems like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and a host of other illnesses.

People need regular checkups, Leoni said.

"The base reason is that there are a lot of disease processes, cancer, high blood pressure, whatever, that happen in the body that you don't know about. You have no symptoms, no signs, or they may be so minor that you ignore them, but a doctor can spot them and take steps," she said.

People who rely on the emergency room are shortchanging themselves, Hooper said. A doctor who doesn't know a patient's medical history, or what's normal for them, may not be able to provide appropriate treatment.

"You have to have a relationship with a primary care physician. Somebody needs to know your baseline measures (like weight, blood pressure, etc.), so that they can say, gosh, there's something wrong here," Hooper said.

People also need routine medical care "based on your age, gender and risk factors so disease can be detected early. Cancer is a good example. Breast cancer is almost 100 percent treatable if women get in early enough," she said.

Business and industry have been the leaders in pushing prevention, said Hooper and nurse Bill Logan, wellness coordinator for St. Francis Medical Center, because it's one way to reduce or contain skyrocketing health care costs.

"If you look at who really has the greatest burden of health care expenditures, it's industry," Hooper said, because of insurance premiums, employee lost time and other factors.

Through workplace wellness programs, she said, "industry has really raised the awareness of the need for preventive medicine."

Logan helps design workplace wellness programs, and said St. Francis has "pretty extensive" programs in place for its own employees.

Nationally, he said, more than 80 percent of businesses offer some type of wellness program for their employees.

"Almost everybody is realizing how important prevention is. We're just like everybody else. We have a large group of employees and we pay out a ton of money in premiums," he said.

Wellness programs at the office cover a broad spectrum, including stop-smoking classes, weight loss, exercise, nutrition and diet.

In addition, Logan said, programs can be designed to address the needs of a particular profession, such as firefighters, whose job demands may require a high level of fitness.

Increased awareness of health issues is another big factor, Hooper said.

Public education about AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, cancer and smoking has increased, and health is a big selling point in advertising new products.

"Look at all the ads you see for low-fat food products," Hooper said. "I used to go to the grocery store and not be able to find anything. Now they're everywhere."