Is prevention really better than cure?

Hearing Jeremy Clarkeson’s comments about “I’m not allowed to have fun anymore” when his doctor told him that his recent heart attack meant he had to improve his diet and lifestyle, made me wonder about this old maxim that 'prevention is better than cure.'

The reality is that human nature makes us unlikely to make any major changes to our lifestyle until and unless we get a ‘rude awakening’. If our skin was transparent and we could actually see what we are doing to our body, or better still, if we could make the connection between our activity today and our health in a few years, would it make a difference? The nature of a 'rude awakening' is that it is a very sudden shock, like Jeremy Clarkeson's 'sudden deterioration in health'. But in reality, most of us get a very slow and gradual 'dawning' that we aren't as healthy, flexible or energetic as we used to be. But because there is such a very long time between cause and effect, we carry on in selective ignorance.

Seeing some of the comments he has made make me think that he prefers the idea of living hard and fast then accepting the consequences. He is 8 years older than me and if someone told me I would be having heart surgery at 63 because I was ‘days away from a fatal heart attack’, I would be more than happy to start making changes now! In fact, 25 years of running a clinic already make me aware that once people hit 50 then bits often start ‘breaking’ or slowing down. I had a daily reminder that in my view, prevention is definitely better than cure, but at the same time, there is no doubt at all that it is much, much easier to not bother!

Staying healthy and having a health plan for the future is challenging and of course it is easier not to go to the gym when it is cold and dark outside. I'm certainly no saint, I love wine and chocolate with my feet up in front of the TV! But yesterday when I took my dog for a walk in the woods and I got puffed out waking up the hill, I thought to myself that there is only one thing worse than puffing and panting my way up the hill – and that’s the thought of not even being able to get to the hill in the first place. Same thing with slogging it out in the gym - instead of bemoaning the fact that I don't want to, I think what a great problem to have, that I knackered, through choice, on the cross-trainer, because that means I have the strength, energy and agility to be on there in the first place.

It is so easy to take our health for granted. I remember my 'awakening' when I did one of my functional tests before I rolled them out to clients, just so I could learn more about how to interpret them. If found out, totally unexpectedly, that I was not metabolising oestrogen properly. Of course I was able to take immediate steps to resolve this and it was a very quick and easy solution. But usually, women only find out this kind of thing when they get a diagnosis of breast cancer or some other oestrogen-based cancer. What a blessing it was to me to find out in time to make such simple changes to my diet and lifestyle! Yes, it did involve eating more leafy greens, but the comment from Jeremy Clarkeson that continuing to eat red meat is “Better than dying of vegetable-induced boredom.” Just tells me that he – and those around him – can’t cook. I’m definitely not vegetarian and have no intention of giving up meat, but I have cut down tremendously and I am more aware than ever of the importance of eating organic, pasture-grazed meat with minimal – or no – added hormones.

Over the years many people have told me they don’t want functional testing done because they are afraid to get the results. Others say it is too expensive. I understand both views, but at the same time I think about the cost – financial, emotional and practical – of not getting them done.

The same is true for the tests that can be done now to gauge your biological age. The test I use measures 8 aspects of your health using non-invasive techniques, then puts an age on each body system before taking an average. Think about it this way: have you ever wondered why insurance companies that deal in annuities always seem to be thriving? It’s because there are so many ways now to predict when people will die that they can get it accurate to within months. Give me a shout if you would be interested in seeing the video from a guy who used to work in that very field!

So given that the technology is available to know how healthy you are BEFORE the symptoms arise, and given that nutrigenomics has developed so far in recent years, what is your opinion?

Is prevention better than cure, or would you prefer to live hard and fast then potentially have a sudden and fatal heart attack. Or would you like to put the extra effort in now, so you can maintain a high degree of health and independence for longer?