Heart disease takes the life of one woman every minute in the United States. More than one-third of adults in this country are obese, resulting in billions of dollars in estimated medical costs each year. These startling statistics could be changed if more adults understood the importance of preventive care.
Dr. Amy Loden, medical director of Washington University Complete Care, an internal medicine practice, stresses the importance of adults actively taking charge of their health and addressing risk factors before disease hits. “There are four internal medicine specialists in the practice and one board-certified family nurse practitioner,” Loden says. “We diagnose new problems, treat acute and chronic illness and specialize in the prevention of diseases in adults.”
Loden says by the age of 18, every adult should start seeing a doctor other than their childhood pediatrician. She highly recommends that the physician be an adult medicine specialist who focuses on preventive care. “Preventive care is the screening and early intervention of possible diseases that could impact future morbidity and mortality,” she says. “It’s not something everyone takes advantage of—but they should.”
She says patients of all ages can take preventive measures, and the earlier you can evaluate and prevent a problem, the better. “Take the national epidemic of obesity, for example. If we intervened in adolescence, we could help young adults understand the consequences of long-term obesity and what it would mean to their health,” Loden says. “We want them to understand the value of proper nutrition and staying active to make changes that will help them lose weight and not develop high cholesterol, high blood pressure, glucose abnormalities, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and even cancers later in life.”
Preventive care is a very individualized approach that depends on the age, gender and genetic history of the patient, Loden says. “Prevention can take many different faces,” she notes. The Complete Care clinic offers yearly wellness evaluations that stress numerous screenings and risk assessments, including the risk for conditions like heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis. “Adults should be evaluated every year,” Loden says. “This is not an annual exam; it’s an individualized wellness plan that involves sitting down and speaking with one of our doctors who understands adult health care. It includes a comprehensive physical, counseling, immunizations and screenings for symptom-free and disease-free individuals.” Every adult, every year, should be evaluated
for risk of cancer, heart disease, bone disease and mood disorders, Loden says. “We are actively trying to decrease future health issues, morbidity, obesity and its related diseases, and the cost of health care nationally,” she says. “People need to see the value that’s being offered with preventive care rather than viewing it as another thing on their to-do list. This country needs to be healthier. It’s all about intervening when a patient is 25 rather than waiting for serious issues like a heart attack to affect him at age 50.”
[The physicians at Washington University Complete Care, located at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital campus at 1040 N. Mason Road, Ste. 103, specialize in internal medicine and adult health, offering a comprehensive understanding of wellness, disease prevention and promotion of health. Pictured on the cover, from left: Dr. Amy Loden, nurse practitioner Brittney Tihen, Dr. Melvin Blanchard, Dr. Kirsten Brandt, Dr. Saba Beg. For more information, call 314.996.8103 or visit wuphysicians.wustl.edu/wucc.]
Cover design courtesy of Washington University Physicians | Photos by Bill Barrett
Pictured: Dr. Amy Loden
