Why Wait for Disease? The Irony of Risk Stratification in Modern Medicine
Isn't it a bit ironic that physicians spend so much time evaluating "risk factors" for various diseases, but yet they don't actually do anything until you DEVELOP enough symptoms of that particular disease?
Let me give you an example.. you go see a physician for a physical exam and they ask you a multitude of questions to evaluate your "risk" of disease. Questions such as:
Do you smoke?
Do you have a family history of cancer, cardiovascular disease, etc?
Have you been diagnosed with any chronic disease in the past?
Are you on any medications?
Do you ever experience light headedness, chest pain, nausea, etc?
By answering questions like these, you are able to provide your healthcare team with enough information to determine your potential risk of developing a particular disease. For example, if you have a family history of stroke, hypertension, heart attack, etc, then you are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
That information is incredibly useful, and should open the door for discussing various lifestyle interventions to PREVENT these diseases from happening (*cough *cough EXERCISE)... Unfortunately, however, these risk stratification measures are often gathered as more of a formality, and often times only contribute to the care plan ONCE YOU DEVELOP symptoms of that particular disease, or once your 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease is high enough to warrant pharmaceutical intervention (i.e. statins).
If we already know that a patient has ANY risk for disease, we should educate them on how to PREVENT that disease from happening instead of waiting until they have a high enough "10-year risk".
Here is a link to the American College of Cardiology risk stratification tool for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) if you want to see what is utilized for evaluating risk in the clinic! **https://bit.ly/4bdnOJm**
Make sure to listen to the Kickback Science episode titled: “Cardiovascular Medicine with Dr. Salah Sharif” to learn more. In this episode, Dr. Sharif shares his research in cardiovascular medicine at the Mayo Clinic. We discuss the importance of exercise in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease.
