It’s time to refocus on preventive health care

In order to maintain our best quality of life, at every stage, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This past year, while most of us were very focused on health, our focus was very narrow and centered around doing everything possible to avoid COVID-19. As vaccinations have become widely available and we’ve learned how to mitigate risk of exposure and transmission of the virus, it’s time to shift back to a focus on preventive health care and maintenance.

Appointments for annual physicals, cholesterol monitoring, colon cancer screenings, PAP smears and mammograms, dental exams, prostate cancer screenings, routine immunizations and other preventive care have decreased during the pandemic, particularly during the early months of lockdown. The CDC found that by June 30, 2020, due to concerns about COVID-19, some 41 percent of adults in the United States postponed or skipped medical care such as urgent or emergency care (12 percent) and routine care (32 percent). Skipping urgent or emergency care was more common among people who were caring for others: unpaid caregivers for adults, persons with underlying medical conditions. The CDC also found that Black adults, Hispanic adults, young adults, and persons with disabilities were postponing or avoiding care in high numbers. That all translates roughly into four out of every 10 adults in the U.S. avoiding or postponing care.

While postponing preventive care made sense in the short term early on in the pandemic, what we now know is that the potential dangerous health repercussions from postponing some tests and exams are much greater than the risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus at your doctor’s office, even if the virus is present in your city.

Delaying regular screening for diseases like cancer is especially risky because timing can be crucial when it comes to identifying and treating many types of cancers. Last summer, the National Cancer Institute published research that predicts more than 10,000 additional deaths from breast and colorectal cancer alone attributed to low screening rates during the pandemic. Further, the study suggests a probable spike in deaths from those cancers over the next two years.

When it comes to preventive healthcare, staying on track is always the best plan, and could literally be the difference between life and death. If you don’t have a primary care provider, you can find one and schedule online at integrisok.com/doctors.