Have you ever heard the saying that an “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? Whether you have or not, what is your first thought when you hear this quote? It was Benjamin Franklin that coined it in 1763 when he was talking about fire safety. Today, we take this idiom to apply to the health and the prevention of diseases. At least that is what I do.
A Healthy Home is Happy Home
When my kids were babies, I sterilized their baby bottles and made sure the floors were clean for them to crawl or play upon. If they played outside, I made sure that their attempts to make and eat mud pies did not happen.
What we learn from observation and being taught by adults is to wash our hands after going to the bathroom. Girls learn to wipe properly and boys learn to aim into the toilet with a target (a little rubber duck or Cheerios rings.) We also learned to wash our hands after playing in the dirt and before eating carefully prepared food (without the extra elements of micro-nutrients from the mounds of dirt).
Healthy Timid Community
The care and feeding of our children are not only about day by day but helping them grow to be healthy adults. The start of learning begins the moment we are born and only ends when we no longer have the capacity to do so.
We don’t necessarily want to be timid when it comes to our health, but it seems that we are either fearful of the unknown or just don’t make our health a priority. Whether it is lifting the toilet seat properly, washing your hands to the ABC song, eating right, exercising, meditating, or ensuring that you get your physical once a year we all become timid at one time or another.
Prevention is…
There are three levels of prevention; primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary prevention is about not getting sick in the first place. Secondary prevention deals with improving any treatment. Tertiary prevention saved for third place is about improving recovery from a disease. Because this post is about an “ounce of prevention” let’s take a closer look at primary prevention and what we can do to help ourselves and others.
Primary Prevention
If we think about how to not get sick in the first place the word “primary” makes complete sense. It is about the first line of defense. Stop the illness dead in its tracks!
Our first line of defense
As parents and adults, we listen to the words of our mother and grandmother (or the loving family that raised us). What did they say?
- Wash your hands – after blowing your nose, going to the bathroom, digging in the dirt, before picking up your food and putting it in your mouth. The question is, “How to properly wash your hands?” Well, first use soap AND water. First, put water on your hands, then use soap. Rubbing your hands together with the soap and water, make a lather. This is a good time for kids to practice singing the ‘ABC’ song. It’s about 20 seconds long and the right amount of time to wash. Be sure to get in between your fingers and the back of your hands. Turn off the water with your elbow if you need it.
- Cover your Mouth when you Cough/Sneeze – Have you ever seen a slow-motion video of someone sneezing and don’t cover their mouth? Think of a spray bottle filled with yucky germs floating through the air and landing everywhere! The easiest and least contaminated way is to sneeze into a tissue. Don’t have one nearby? Cough or sneeze into the bend of your elbow!
- Eat your Vegetables – Vegetables and fruit provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber that we need to optimize our bodies. They can help in reducing blood pressure, heart disease, weight management, and some cancers. The body cannot live on processed food alone. In order to be healthy, it needs a variety of food. Think about eating a rainbow of vegetables. Each provides different things your body needs.
- Go to Sleep – Getting enough sleep at night is needed for your brain and body. It is a restorative period. Studies conducted at The Sleep Division at Harvard Medical School indicate that Our brain reconciles memories from the day; the good and the bad. Our bodies need time to reset as well. A lot of really cool stuff happens during sleep for the body. Many functions in the body like muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis, and hormone growth happen primarily during our sleeping hours. Get your Zzzzzssss
Our second primary line of defense
When we get older, we have (hopefully) listen to our mom’s advice. Now that we have graduated to the next phase in our lives whom do we listen to for preventive health? The answer? The people that have been educated first by the people who raised them and the post-secondary schools of medication education. Doctors!
- Don’t Smoke – Nicotine and smoking cigarettes is the cause of 84% of deaths from lung cancer and 83% of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) according to the American Cancer Society. Recent studies have also shown that smoking e-cigarettes or vaping can cause just as much harm. Many of the products still contain nicotine. They also contain other chemicals that are added for the flavor that is just as bad.
- Yearly Screenings – No matter what gender or age you are, your body needs to get checked. Women should have yearly pelvic exams to check for cancer. Regular self-breast exams can also catch early signs of lumps that can turn into cancer. Men need screenings for prostate and (believe it or not) should also do self-breast exams. Guys, you have mammary glands! About 10% of all new cases of breast cancer in men. Don’t forget the “other” end, colonoscopies are just as essential for catching cancer as breast self-checks.
- Vaccines – There is a lot of controversy about vaccines. However, this is one of the most important things that you can do to protect your children and babies from obtaining diseases from other older individuals. Instead of me going into great detail, click on this link from the World Health Organization about vaccines – https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/2/07-040089/en/
What Do We Do Next?
Our own line of defense has to begin with ourselves. Healthy living is the best that we can do. I try every day to do what is needed to stop the basic spread of disease. I ensured that I vaccinated my children just as my mother did with me and my brother. I am still here writing this blog because I did breast self-exams so when the cancer was detected It was seen early. The biggest and best advice I am giving? Take care of yourself and those that you love to ensure that they are still around for you to love. Take care of your village.
