Business journals have chronicled the rise in healthcare costs for the past 30 years. The U.S. spends more per capita than any other nation on its medical care, at 17.5 percent of the gross domestic product. Individuals increasingly are looking for ways to cut their healthcare costs.

The old proverb states “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” But true preventive medicine is not the early detection screenings, according to physician and journalist Abraham Verghese in the Wall Street Journal article, “The Myth of Prevention.” “If your preventive strategy is medical, if it involves us, if it consists of screening, fi nding medical conditions early, shaking the bushes for high cholesterols, or abnormal EKGs, then more often than not you don’t save anything and you might generate more medical costs.”

What Is True Prevention?
True preventive care advises the individual to make lifestyle choices that establish normal health and avoid chronic health problems.

Individuals can make lifestyle and dietary choices that pay true health dividends. This is a practical fi rst step to our nation’s runaway healthcare costs.

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