Hello Bookworms

Prevention is often times more effective, efficient, and less costly to prevent diseases versus treating diseases. Additionally, the body typically can have some sort of trauma that could cause the body to function as well or effectively as it was before the disease occurred.

For an analogy, think about a car. Typically when a car is in an accident, you can fix most of the damage by “treating” the symptoms. In this case, this would be replacing some parts, and in the case of the body, usually providing new cells, antibodies, etc.

However, the car itself can, and usually does, have some undesired and unintended effects (e.g. a window doesn’t work as well, a bearing becomes notoriously weak, the bumper is never flush, or something in general breaks). For the body, once the damage is done to a liver or kidneys, the body can recover, but sometimes it is only to 85 or 95%. There may be scarring or just improper functioning as evidence of past trauma or disease.

This is why prevention is important. If the damage is never done, you can typically save someone from some lingering, long-term health effects.

Now, not every exposure results in damage or scarring. For example, sometimes when we get sick, we bounce back stronger because our immune system is capable of adapting to its exposure and preparing itself for a future “invasion”. However, something like the flu can be deadly to an immuno-compromised person. As a result, prevention again is the best-case measure.