primary prevention
Change the Oil, Rotate the Tires
Posted by Max Hammonds on
Most people try to faithfully follow the owner's manual for maintaining their car: change the oil every 3000 miles, new oil filter every 50,000 miles, rotate the tires and check their pressure, check the transmission fluid, inspect the brake pads, fill the windshield wiper fluid. Faithful maintenance adds years to the car's life and prevents unwanted breakdowns at inconvenient times.
Sadly, many people don't do the same thing for the most valuable machine – their own body. Preventive maintenance of our bodies, along with regular checkups, can add years of life and prevent unwanted physical breakdowns, too.
Here's an owner’s manual of maintenance procedures and checkup schedules for the human body.
Preventive Maintenance:
PositiveTip for
Statins Role in Primary Prevention Questioned
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
While widely used, statins may yield little benefit in primary prevention of heart disease.
Evidence is strong that statins benefit those with known cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, they are frequently prescribed for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in those without CVD but with a high risk for it. European investigators combined results for 65,000 high-risk only patients and found no significant improvement in risk.
PositiveTip: True primary prevention of heart disease should focus on the benefits of lifestyle modification, not a drug-based approach.
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Statin Therapy Questioned for Primary Prevention
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Doubts now cast on the benefits of statins for primary prevention of heart disease.
Researchers reanalyzed 11 pacebo-controlled trials of statin use in more than 65,000 high-risk patients without cardiovascular disease at baseline. While LDL levels were lower in the statin users than the placebo, there was no difference in all-cause mortality. Other investigators re-looked at the JUPITER trial which claimed a large benefit from one of the statins and determined it was flawed due to insufficient length and financial ties to the manufacturer.
PositiveTip: Medications should never be used as substitutes for true primary preventative measures such as healthy lifestyle choices and activities.