Health Recommendations

According to a recent study, up to 100,000 deaths could be prevented each year if Americans followed all public health recommendations.

Do you know your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers? Are you up to date on all of your cancer screenings and immunizations? If you smoke, have you talked to your doctor about smoking cessation programs?

If you’re at risk for heart disease, are you working on lowering your risk factors through exercise, diet and your physician’s recommended treatment plan?

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the most important things you can do to stay healthy are: get all of your recommended health screenings, don’t smoke, engage in physical activity, eat a healthy diet, maintain a healthy weight and take your medication, as prescribed by your physician.

A study in the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine backs this up. According to the report, as many as 50,000 to 100,000 deaths in people under age 80 could be prevented each year if all of these preventive services were offered to and, most importantly, used by patients.