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Preventive medicine

 
Preventive Medicine

 
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Preventive medicine
 
 
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Preventive medicine or preventive care is measures taken to prevent illness or injury, rather than curing them. This type of care is best exemplified by hand washing
Hand washing

Hand washing is the act of cleaning the hands with water or another liquid, with or without the use of soap or other detergents, for the Sanitation purpose of removing soil and/or microorganisms....
 and immunization
Immunization

Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an agent .When an immune system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body , it will orchestrate an immune response, but it can also develop the ability to quickly respond to a subsequent encounter ....
s. It can be contrasted not only with curative medicine, but also with public health
Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
 methods (which work at the level of population health rather than individual health).

Professionals involved in the public health aspect of this practice may be involved in entomology
Entomology

Entomology is the science study of insects. At some 1.3 million described species, insects account for more than two-thirds of all known organisms,date back some 400 million years, and have many kinds of interactions with humans and other forms of life on earth....
, pest control
Pest control

Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest , usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the Economics....
, and public health inspections.






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Preventive medicine or preventive care is measures taken to prevent illness or injury, rather than curing them. This type of care is best exemplified by hand washing
Hand washing

Hand washing is the act of cleaning the hands with water or another liquid, with or without the use of soap or other detergents, for the Sanitation purpose of removing soil and/or microorganisms....
 and immunization
Immunization

Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an agent .When an immune system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body , it will orchestrate an immune response, but it can also develop the ability to quickly respond to a subsequent encounter ....
s. It can be contrasted not only with curative medicine, but also with public health
Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
 methods (which work at the level of population health rather than individual health).

Professionals involved in the public health aspect of this practice may be involved in entomology
Entomology

Entomology is the science study of insects. At some 1.3 million described species, insects account for more than two-thirds of all known organisms,date back some 400 million years, and have many kinds of interactions with humans and other forms of life on earth....
, pest control
Pest control

Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest , usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the Economics....
, and public health inspections. Public health inspections can include recreational water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
s, pool
Swimming pool

A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is an artificially enclosed body of water intended for swimming or water-based recreation....
s, beach
Beach

File:MiamiSouthBeachPanoramaEdit.jpgA beach is a geology landform along the shoreline of a body of water. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of Rock , such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, pebbles, or cobble....
es, food
Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be Eating or Drinking by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure....
 preparation and serving, and industrial
Industry

An industry is the manufacturing of a Good or Service within a category. Although industry is a broad term for any kind of economic production, in economics and urban planning industry is a synonym for the secondary sector, which is a type of economic activity involved in the manufacturing of raw materials into goods and products....
 hygiene
Hygiene

Hygiene refers to practices associated with ensuring good health and cleanliness. Such practices vary widely and what is considered acceptable in one culture may be unacceptable in another....
 inspections and surveys.

Preventive care may include examinations and screening tests tailored to an individual's age, health, and family history. For example, a person with a family history of certain cancers or other diseases would being screening at an earlier age and/or more frequently than those with no family history.

As a medical specialty

In the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, preventive medicine is a medical specialty, one of the 24 recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties
American Board of Medical Specialties

The American Board of Medical Specialties is a Non-profit organization physician-led umbrella organization for 24 of the 26 approved medical specialty boards in the United States....
 (ABMS). It encompasses three areas of specialization:
  • General preventive medicine and public health
  • Aerospace medicine
  • Occupational medicine


In order to become board-certified in one of the preventive medicine areas of specialization, a licensed U.S. physician (M.D. or D.O.) must successfully complete a preventive medicine medical residency program following a one year internship. Following that, the physician must complete a year of practice in that special area and pass the preventive medicine board examination. The residency program is at least two years in length, and includes completion of a post-graduate masters degree in public health
Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
 (MPH) or equivalent. The board exam takes an entire day: the morning session concentrates on general preventive medicine questions, while the afternoon session concentrates on the one of the three areas of specialization that the applicant has studied.

In addition, there are two subspecialty areas of certification:
  • Medical toxicology
    Medical toxicology

    Medical toxicology is a subspecially of medicine. It is practiced by toxicologists and has ties to Emergency medicine, Occupational Medicine and Pediatrics....
     (MT)
  • Undersea and hyperbaric medicine (UHB), formerly "undersea medicine"


These certifications require sitting for an examination following successful completion of an MT or UHB fellowship and prior board certification in one of the 24 ABMS-recognized specialties.

Rose's theorem

Rose's Theorem states that "a large number of people at small risk may give rise to more cases of disease than a small number who are at high risk."

Leading cause of preventable death


Leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States in the year 2000.

Cause Number of deaths resulting
Smoking 435,000 deaths or 18.1% of the total deaths
Overweight
Overweight

Overweight is often used interchangeable with pre-obese and is generally defined as having more Adipose tissue than is optimally healthy....
 and Obesity
Obesity

Obesity is a condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to an extent that health may be negatively affected. It is commonly defined as a body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher....
 365,000 deaths or 15.2% of the total deaths.
Alcohol consumption 85,000 deaths or 3.5% of the total deaths.
Infections
List of infectious diseases

Human infectious diseases grouped by causative agent and alphabetically arranged....
 75,000 deaths or 3.1% of the total deaths.
Toxic agents 55,000 deaths or 2.3% of the total deaths.
Motor vehicle collisions 43,000 deaths or 1.8% of the total deaths.
Incidents involving firearms
Gun violence in the United States

Gun violence in the United States is associated with the majority of homicides and over half the suicides. It is a significant public concern, especially in urban areas and in conjunction with youth activity and gang violence....
 29,000 deaths or 1.2% of the total.
Sexually transmitted infections 20,000 deaths or 0.8% of the total.
Illicit use of drugs
Drug abuse

Drug abuse has a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect....
 17,000 deaths or 0.7% of the total deaths.


See also

  • Functional food
    Functional food

    Functional food or medicinal food is any fresh or processed food claimed to have a health-promoting and/or disease-preventing property beyond the basic nutritional function of supplying nutrients, although there is no consensus on an exact definition of the term....


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