Risk Factors and Disease Prevention

Learning how to take charge of one’s health requires understanding of risk factors for different diseases. Risk factors are things in life that increase your chances of getting a certain disease.

Controllable and Non-Controllable Risk Factors for Disease

Some risk factors are beyond your control.  A person may be born with them or have exposure with no fault assigned. Other risk factors involve lifestyle choices that impact risk.

In fact, it has been estimated that almost 35 percent of all U.S. early deaths in 2000 could have been avoided by changing just three behaviors:

• Stopping smoking
• Eating a healthy diet (for example, eating more fruits and vegetables and less red meat)
• Getting more physical activity

 Risk Factors and Their Impact

A person may have a single risk factor for a disease, or multiple risk factors. As the number of risk factors increases, so does the likelihood of developing the disease. For example, individuals who adopt healthy eating habits, exercise regularly, and keep their blood pressure under control have a lower chance of developing heart disease than those who are diabetic, smoke, or lead sedentary lifestyles. To minimize your risks, start by taking small steps that promote a healthier lifestyle.

People with a family history of chronic disease stand to benefit the most from making positive lifestyle changes. Although you cannot alter your genetic makeup, you do have control over behaviors that influence your health, such as smoking, lack of physical activity, and poor dietary choices. In many instances, modifying these behaviors can help lower your risk of disease, even when there is a hereditary predisposition.

Screening Tests for Early Detection

Another crucial step you can take is to undergo screening tests, including mammograms and colorectal cancer screenings. These tests play a vital role in detecting diseases at an early stage. Individuals with a family history of chronic disease may find screening tests especially beneficial, as they are designed to identify risk factors and early signs of disease. Detecting a disease early—before symptoms emerge—can contribute to better long-term health outcomes.

Levels of Disease Prevention

Prevention includes a wide range of activities — known as “interventions” — aimed at reducing risks or threats to health. You may have heard researchers and health experts talk about three categories of prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary. What do they mean by these terms?

Primary Prevention

Primary prevention aims to prevent disease or injury before it ever occurs. This is done by preventing exposures to hazards that cause disease or injury, altering unhealthy or unsafe behaviors that can lead to disease or injury, and increasing resistance to disease or injury should exposure occur.

Examples include:

• Legislation and enforcement to ban or control the use of hazardous products (e.g. asbestos) or to mandate safe and healthy practices (e.g. use of seatbelts and bike helmets)
• Education about healthy and safe habits (e.g. eating well, exercising regularly, not smoking)
• Immunization against infectious diseases.

Secondary prevention

Secondary prevention aims to reduce the impact of a disease or injury that has already occurred. This is done by detecting and treating disease or injury as soon as possible to halt or slow its progress, encouraging personal strategies to prevent re-injury or recurrence, and implementing programs to return people to their original health and function to prevent long-term problems.

Examples include:

• Regular exams and screening tests to detect disease in its earliest stages (e.g. mammograms to detect breast cancer)
• Daily, low-dose aspirins and/or diet and exercise programs to prevent further heart attacks or strokes
• Suitably modified work so injured or ill workers can return safely to their jobs.

Tertiary prevention

Tertiary prevention aims to soften the impact of an ongoing illness or injury that has lasting effects. This is done by helping people manage long-term, often-complex health problems and injuries (e.g. chronic diseases, permanent impairments) in order to improve as much as possible their ability to function, their quality of life and their life expectancy.

Examples include:

• Cardiac or stroke rehabilitation programs, chronic disease management programs (e.g. for diabetes, arthritis, depression, etc.)
• Support groups that allow members to share strategies for living well
• Vocational rehabilitation programs to retrain workers for new jobs when they have recovered as much as possible.