What is the difference between preventive care and physical examination?

Physical examination is a phased "check" based on the current physical condition. The purpose is to identify health risks that have already occurred but have not yet caused obvious symptoms.； Preventive health care is a "pre-intervention" that covers the entire life cycle of daily life. Its core is to reduce the probability of disease occurrence from the root cause, and even directly eliminate small problems that are still in the bud.

I have been working in a community health service center for almost 7 years, and I have seen too many people who confuse the two. Last week, I met a 35-year-old girl from a planning job. Last year, all physical examinations were normal. This year, the physical examination revealed 4mm small pulmonary nodules and blood lipids that were also at the critical line. She squatted in the corridor with the report and cried, asking whether she was going to have cancer. In fact, it was not that the physical examination was missed last year. This year, she stayed up until two or three o'clock every day to rush for projects, secretly smoked when she was stressed, and drank heavy food in takeout. These little habits accumulated together, and the problem slowly emerged. The physical examination happened to detect it at this point. If she had followed our advice to adjust her daily routine, quit smoking, and walk downstairs for half an hour three or four nights a week when she got the physical examination report last year, there is a high probability that there would be no more of these two abnormalities in this year's report.

Nowadays, there are many different opinions about the role of these two. Many practitioners who are deeply involved in the field of health care and preventive health care will feel that as long as they adhere to scientific preventive health care for a long time, there is no need to have annual physical examinations. After all, if your living habits are adjusted and your physical condition is stable, there is no need to spend money on examinations. However, most of our clinical colleagues do not agree with this statement. After all, there are too many factors that influence the disease. Heredity, environment, and even pollution sources that are exposed cannot be completely avoided by daily intervention. For example, people with a family history of lung cancer must undergo low-dose spiral CT screening every year even if their work, rest, and diet meet the standard. The role of this early screening cannot be replaced by preventive care. On the other hand, many people think that "my annual physical examination is normal, and all those health care activities are IQ taxes." This kind of thinking is a bit taken for granted. Think about it, the physical examination only gives you the physical condition on the day of the examination. When you get the report, you stay up late and drink heavily, eating high in fat and sugar. No matter how healthy you are, you can't withstand it. When problems arise during the physical examination next year, you have often missed the best opportunity for intervention.

It’s easy to understand when you think of your body as a private car that you drive frequently. A physical examination is an annual car inspection to check whether the brakes are working properly, whether the tires are worn, and whether there is carbon deposits in the engine. If there is a problem, it should be repaired or replaced.； Preventive health care is your daily maintenance. Change the engine oil when the mileage is reached, fill up with compliant gasoline as much as possible, and avoid exposure to the sun when parking. If you do these small things on a daily basis, you will not only avoid breakdowns, but also extend the service life of your car. You can’t say that I go for a car inspection every year and just make it casually, right? When a major problem is discovered during a car inspection, repairing it will be expensive and troublesome.

In fact, the relationship between the two is not an alternative at all, but they can work together. The abnormal indicators found in the physical examination can just give direction to the subsequent preventive care. For example, if you are found to have high uric acid, the subsequent diet and exercise adjustments will have a focus, and there is no need to buy random skin care products.； And if preventive health care is done well, your physical examination report will be beautiful every time. Not only will you suffer less, but you will also save a lot of money on subsequent medical treatment.