“An ounce of prevention…”
Posted on February 2, 2014 by bob in MoneyWise
A corollary to “A stitch in time saves nine” is the aphorism: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This expression is particularly apropos since we are looking this month at how early detection and treatment of medical conditions can save money or even your life.
You likely have known people whose quality (or length) of life was adversely affected when they ignored or failed to detect a medical condition or health issue that could easily have been identified. With the availability of generally high-quality medical care today, it is unfortunate that people too often fail to take advantage of the opportunity to avoid problems or address them early.
A friend of mine, who evidently was not getting regular checkups, had an EKG as part of a life insurance exam a few years ago. After the EKG showed an abnormality, he had heart surgery that probably prolonged his life. On the other hand, my Dad seemed quite healthy in his late 80’s. Someone asked him on his 88th birthday how he felt, and he replied, “Twice as good as 44.”
A little over a year later we discovered that he had colon cancer, and three months later he was gone. Unbeknownst to me, he evidently had not had routine colonoscopies, an evaluation which is recommended first at age 50 and then every 10 years thereafter. Here are some steps to consider that might save you serious money on medical treatments and could add years to your life or improve its quality.
Get routine physical exams every year or two, as well as routine dental care and eye exams. A physical will usually include lab tests on your blood and urine, as well as a chest X-ray, EKG, and blood pressure check. Women (including those who are post-menopausal) should have a pap smear every 3 years, a mammogram every 2, and a bone mineral density test every few years. Men should have their prostate checked and those with a history of smoking should be checked for abdominal aortic aneurysms.
In particular, those over 50 should pay attention to their risk of hypertension (high blood pressure), elevated cholesterol, and diabetes. These conditions may exist for some time without producing symptoms that you notice. Being overweight often contributes to all three conditions.
Depression is a common condition facing the elderly. Be sensitive to this and talk with your medical professional about it if you think this could be an issue for you.
Get the recommended colonoscopy at age 50 and every 10 years thereafter, unless conditions indicate that you are at risk and should have this procedure more frequently.
Take advantage of vaccinations to reduce the risk of contracting avoidable diseases. Three of these are pneumonia, flu and shingles. A serious case of flu that I had in 1979 motivates me to get an annual flu shot. I would rather pay the few dollars and have a sore place on my arm than be laid up for days, or possibly worse. The vaccine may not be completely effective, but it improves your odds of staying well.
Prevention and early action can help you avoid some big expenses. Those who ignore difficulties when they are minor, perhaps hoping that they will go away or improve on their own, often find they have grown dramatically, requiring more time, effort and money to remedy them. And in some cases they reach the stage where they cannot be resolved at any cost. Whether or not you become an avoidable medical statistic is up to you.
Alan Wallace, CFA, ChFC, CLU is a Senior Financial Advisor for Ronald Blue & Co.’s Montgomery office, www.ronblue.com/location-al. He can be reached at 334-270-5960, or by e-mail at alan.wallace@ronblue.com.
