What is the relationship between preventive health care and physical examination

The two concepts have never been independent of each other. Physical examination is the core entrance to early risk screening in the preventive health care system, and preventive health care is the subsequent extension of the value of physical examination. The two are successive and complementary to each other, and together they form a complete closed loop of active health management.

A while ago, when I was sorting out free physical examination files for the elderly at a community health service center, I met 62-year-old Uncle Li. He always felt that he was in great health. He walked around and bought groceries every day without any discomfort. I always felt that physical examinations were a waste of money. My "health care" at that time was to make some health tea and eat some deep-sea fish oil bought by my children. Last year, I couldn't resist my children so I came for a physical examination. When I checked, my blood pressure had reached the critical value of 145/95 for hypertension, and my homocysteine was more than twice the normal value. Our colleagues in the preventive health department immediately customized an intervention plan for him: eat high-sodium foods such as pickles at most once a week, walk briskly for 10 minutes every day, and take low-dose folic acid supplements. He took a retest half a year later and found that his blood pressure was stable in the normal range of 130/80, and he had not developed to the point of needing antihypertensive drugs. If he had waited until one day when he felt dizzy and had a headache before thinking of intervention, he might have been diagnosed with essential hypertension and had to take medication for life.

Nowadays, everyone does have a lot of disagreements about the relationship between the two. Some people think that physical examinations are useless, and the findings are not enough to require treatment. It is better to save money to buy health products and do health programs. Others think that having a physical examination once a year will be all right, and that you should stay up late and drink heavily. These two ideas are actually extreme. Think about it, if you don’t have a physical examination for accurate screening, you won’t even know which parts of your body are at risk and which parts need adjustment. The preventive health care you do may be useless or even harmful. For example, if you have a high uric acid constitution and you drink Laohuo Jingtang every day, which is known as “replenishing qi and blood”, wouldn’t the more you supplement, the higher the level of uric acid? On the other hand, if you only do a physical examination, you will throw it aside when you get the report and see that the "illness" criteria for clinical diagnosis are not found, and you will still eat fatty meat and drink cold beer even though you have been diagnosed with fatty liver disease.

The relationship between the two is actually a bit like the relationship between growing crops and weather monitoring. A physical examination is like a weekly weather forecast, telling you whether the temperature will drop recently, whether there is a risk of drought or flood, and whether there is a pest warning. Preventive health care is based on these forecasts. Mulching, digging drainage ditches, spraying insecticides. Without weather warning, you don’t know what to prepare in advance. If you rely solely on experience, you may miss the best protection period. If you only follow the warning but do not take any protective measures, when there is a heavy rain and insect infestation, the crops will still suffer.

I usually talk to residents who come for physical examinations, and people always ask me, "I have already had a physical examination, what else do I need to do for health care?" or "I usually take health supplements, why do I still need a physical examination?" In fact, it is not a matter of choosing one or the other. Only by combining the two links can we really nip small problems in the bud, spend a small amount of money and save a lot of money, which is better than anything else.