Ensuring preventative healthcare with your local gut clinic

In the recent past, public awareness on preventive health measures has increased and people are more intent on sustaining their health and wellbeing by maintaining healthy habits.

In this process, receiving advice from your local gut clinic on the prevention of diseases can improve your quality of life and immunity from common digestive conditions. This is because up to 70% of the body’s immune cells can be found in the gut or the gastrointestinal tract.

Understanding preventative healthcare

As of 2018, approximately 10.7 million Australians were suffering from some form of digestive problem, highlighting the importance of good gut health.

Preventive healthcare concerns the prevention of diseases and the mitigation of the risk factors associated with certain diseases, regardless of factors such as your age or current health status.

Beyond diagnosing and treating digestive conditions and disorders, your local gut clinic may also share information on preventative health measures that can be undertaken to ensure optimum health and wellbeing, regardless of whether you are suffering from any ongoing digestive issues.

Preventative healthcare generally comprises of three stages including primary prevention, secondary prevention, and tertiary prevention.

Primary prevention

Primary prevention is associated with helping patients identify risk factors associated with diseases like irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and stomach cancer, and then helping them make necessary lifestyle changes to prevent their onset.

Primary prevention also includes reducing risks through changes in either behaviour or exposure. Upon visiting your local gut clinic, your doctor might ask you to provide information – to identify if you are at risk of developing any major, chronic gastrointestinal diseases – such as your age, the type of food you eat, your daily water consumption, the type of work you do, your recreational behaviour, any unusual physical reactions to food and so on.

Depending on your answers, the gastroenterologist at your local gut clinic might suggest certain dietary or lifestyle changes to improve your digestive health.

Secondary prevention

Secondary prevention involves the detection and treatment of pre-clinical changes. Screening procedures are often the first step and can lead to early and more cost-effective interventions if undertaken as soon as troubling symptoms are detected. These screening procedures might include:

Imaging tests such as an X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan or MRI
Blood tests, urine tests or stool tests
Endoscopy

The success of these screening processes will depend on your efforts and those of your healthcare provider, so make sure you visit your local gut clinic if you are feeling any discomfort or pain involving your gastrointestinal tract, which includes your mouth, throat, stomach and bowels.

Even if you are not suffering from any pain but have noticed unusual differences in your overall health, for example unexplained weight loss, it’s important to consult a doctor at your local gut clinic to detect and treat these symptoms before any serious complications arise.

Tertiary prevention

Tertiary prevention focuses on using measures to reduce the impact of long-term disease and disability and prevent the development of further complications. This involves reversing, arresting or delaying diseases clinically.

If you are suffering from a digestive condition or disease, your local gut clinic will continue to assist you in terms of preventative healthcare and condition management as it helps you take control of the disease.

Your gut clinic might prescribe certain medication, suggest treatment options, which may include surgery, or suggest dietary and lifestyle changes to treat your condition and help you continue to live a healthier life.