SECONDARY PREVENTION: STRATEGIES, SCALES, TESTS - MEDICINE - 2025

The secondary prevention refers to the medical treatment given to a person at an early stage of the disease in which symptoms have not manifested. The goal is to prevent the disease from developing. Screening is usually done through checkups or medical tests.

Cardiovascular problems, cancer and a wide variety of viruses are some of the diagnostic suspicions that can be treated in a more effective way thanks to secondary prevention.

Taking a blood sample for analysis.

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Preventive medicine in general has been linked throughout history with sanitary measures and healthy habits. The development of prevention methods is due to the interest generated by the multiple epidemics and deadly viruses that have appeared in past centuries. The threat generated by any disease continues to be one of the main motivations for prevention.

Strategies for secondary prevention

This type of prevention requires acting on an organism that already contains the disease without it having manifested itself symptomatically. The main goal is the earliest possible detection of infection. There are several strategies that can help the population to practice secondary prevention.

Information and education

Much of the practice of secondary prevention is related to the degree of knowledge that people have about it. The better informed a population is, the more likely it is to reduce the risk of disease spread. A knowledgeable individual is able to take some necessary steps to treat any infection early.

Education is a guide for the behavior of an infected person or for someone who is in contact with a suspected case of illness. Beyond detecting the disease, the way in which the situation is managed determines a large part of the level of risk that it represents.

Medical check-ups

Identifying an infection through medical check-ups is one of the most effective practices today for detecting a disease. Much has to do with the previous point about education and information.

It is important for people to be aware of the different tests that must be carried out in certain periods of time in order to detect an infection early or prevent its development and spread.

Screening

It is an activity that is carried out in medicine for secondary prevention. It is aimed at specific populations or individuals. The goal is early detection of a disease to treat it and lower the risk of spread. This is done by auxiliary medical personnel. The tests are usually simple to be applied en masse.

In order to apply this strategy, a series of guidelines known as the Frame and Carlson criteria must be met:

- The disease must represent a significant risk factor for the quality and development of life.

- There must be availability of acceptable treatments.

- The disease must have an asymptomatic period in which treatment can be applied and this in turn reduces morbidity and mortality.

- The therapeutic result of a treatment in the asymptomatic phase must exceed that obtained when treating a disease with evident symptoms.

-Medical tests for detection in the asymptomatic period should be available and at a reasonable cost.

- The incidence of the disease must be sufficient to justify the price of medical examinations

Secondary prevention medical tests

The application of medical tests is the best known option for the early detection and interruption of any disease. Several of the best known tests are part of the periodic checkups that a person should have. Some of them are:

- The Papanicolaou

- Mammography

- Colonoscopy

- Periodic monitoring of blood pressure

- Blood test

The frequency with which a person should be examined is determined by their individual condition. It varies depending on age, sex, occupation, activity, metabolic diseases, family history, etc.

Blood pressure test.

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Many of these medical examinations can help detect diseases such as breast cancer, intrauterine cancer, and colon cancer early. It is also helpful in identifying heart disease, metabolism, or viruses.

Applying early treatment is an act that focuses on not only fighting the infection of the patient but also avoiding the contagion of vulnerable people or a community.

Prevention scales

Prevention is a procedure that can be applied and practiced at different levels, be it local, state or national. Each of these depends on the type of organization that is in the groups contained within each segment.

At the local level, for example, the main actors are the inhabitants of the communities themselves. It depends on the organization and actions that are taken between neighborhoods.

At the state level, it has to do with the measures taken by government entities both to support local initiatives that favor prevention and to maintain constant health programs.

At the national level, this is linked to both the support of programs and the generation of policies that favor prevention practices.

Background to preventive medicine

Since Ancient Greece, the possible causes of diseases have been classified and identified. Hippocrates associated it with the changes of seasons, the weather, and on a more personal level with the eating and physical habits of an individual.

However, these observations lost relevance until the arrival of the Renaissance. Despite this, throughout history some measures have been adopted that have a lot to do with the development of preventive medicine.

During the 15th century, quarantine and the use of purifying body products were applied as measures to take against the plague. The seventeenth century was important for the introduction of statistics in the analysis of mortality. It was also during this time that the first bases for epidemiology were being developed.

Throughout the 18th century, some writings emerged about the plague and other diseases such as smallpox and how to prevent them. In the late 1700s vaccination would also be introduced.

Finally, in the 19th century the advancement in medicine was promoted with the different discoveries about the transmission of diseases. Hygiene and nutrition also took on a higher level of importance.

References

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6. A Critical Review of Periodic Health Screenng
7. Frame P, Carlson S (1975). Using Specific Screening Criteria. The journal of family practice Vol. 2, NO. 1. Recovered from aafpfoundation.org
8. Picture of America. Prevention. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Recovered from cdc.gov