Tertiary prevention concept, measures and examples

The tertiary prevention In the health area, it seeks with its application to stop the advance of chronic diseases in patients, in addition to helping them live with this condition by providing intervention and rehabilitation strategies.

To prevent the appearance, progression and elimination of chronic diseases, health systems plan, carry out and evaluate prevention. This is classified as primary, secondary, tertiary and in some cases quaternary prevention.

It should be noted that the fundamental role of prevention is to promote people's health, therefore, the greatest number of individuals should be reached in an informative way..

Article index

• 1 Concept
• 2 Examples of tertiary prevention measures
  • 2.1 In diabetes
  • 2.2 In tuberculosis
  • 2.3 In dengue
• 3 conclusion
• 4 References

Concept

Tertiary prevention is defined as the set of actions that must be applied due to the presence of chronic diseases, in order to reduce possible complications in the patient. As well as reducing the consequences of these diseases, reducing disability and improving living conditions.

This type of intervention is applied to the patient when the disease is clinically manifest. That is, when the person already suffers from the disease and it is necessary to apply actions through treatments and rehabilitation.

During this process, control and monitoring aspects are taken into account as fundamental, in order to verify whether the measures taken are adequate or other should be carried out..

Other aspects of tertiary prevention are lifestyle programs where the elements of diet, exercise and dietary supplements are incorporated, which allow comprehensive patient care, as well as stopping the negative consequences of said disease.

The diseases in which tertiary prevention is used are those called chronic, such as diabetes, tuberculosis, dengue or cancer, as well as those related to respiratory and cardiovascular problems, among others..

Examples of tertiary prevention measures

ANDn diabetes

Diabetes is characterized by an uncontrolled rise in blood glucose, also known as blood sugar. Tertiary prevention is considered as part of the treatment.

Among the actions we can mention:

• Nutritional therapy. The diabetic patient must improve the diet. That is, eat only foods that lower blood sugar such as vegetables, legumes and vegetables.
• Modify your lifestyle by incorporating exercise and proper hygiene.
• Use of ICT as a source of patient control, personalized messages, answering questionnaires about their daily routine, among others.
• Involve all family members as a multicomponent in the intervention that helps to change behavior in the patient and improves their health.
• The diabetic patient must maintain an adequate body weight, since obesity contributes to the deterioration of health.
• Eliminate the consumption of tobacco and alcoholic beverages.
• Measurement and control of glucose in the blood, that is, the diabetic must measure his glucose as many times as indicated by his doctor.
• Comply with the drug treatment appropriately, be punctual in the schedules and do not rule out any unless the doctor or indicates.

In tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the Koch bacillus. This condition attacks the lungs, and aggravates the kidneys and bones of the patient..

When prevention and early detection of tuberculosis are not successful, tertiary actions are taken to provide adequate treatment that can last from 6 to 9 months.

The following measures are specified below:

• Patients with tuberculosis should be treated with drugs such as izoniacin, rifampin, pyrazinamizine, ethalbutol, among others, which have been approved by the FDA..
• Use of corticosteroids.
• Investigate the family history of tuberculosis patients.
• Perform chest x-rays permanently to verify the progressive status of tuberculosis and efficiency of treatment.
• Apply nutritional therapy to the patient.
• Keep informed about possible complications and preventive measures to avoid the proliferation of tuberculosis in the family of the patient.
• Each patient with tuberculosis must be treated individually, since each one has conditions that characterize it and that must be taken into account.
• Medications should be prescribed depending on the age and type of tuberculosis suffered.

In dengue

Dengue is a disease transmitted by the female mosquito TOedes aegipti. On the other hand, it tends to be one of the most feared due to its easy and accelerated spread. Has a worldwide mortality rate.

Once the type of dengue being suffered, whether classic or hemorrhagic, has been diagnosed, tertiary prevention is carried out with the following actions:

• It does not have an established medication like other diseases, it is necessary to have a medical check-up when detecting the symptoms.
• The patient should not self-medicate, this because dengue can worsen the condition if medications such as ibuprofen or aspirin are used.
• The right medicine is paracetamol.
• The patient must rest.
• It is important that the infected individual uses a mosquito net to sleep, so that he will not be able to transmit dengue to other members of his family.
• It is advisable to drink plenty of fluids, in order to stay hydrated and counteract the loss of electrolytes.
• If you have traveled abroad, you should have a medical check-up.

It is important to note that dengue, if not treated in time, can cause death and the most effective is primary prevention.

Conclution

Primary prevention is the best measure to stop the proliferation of diseases. However, each individual who already suffers from a condition should immediately go to the doctor to be treated in tertiary health centers.

When patients comply with each of the treatments and rehabilitation they realize that they can improve their health and quality of life.

References

1. Anne H. Outwater Sebalda C. Leshabari EllenNolte. (2017) Disease Prevention: An Overview International Encyclopedia of Public Health (Second Edition) p.338-349
2. Ali, Ather, and David L Katz. "Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: How Integrative Medicine Fits." American journal of preventive medicine. 2015; 49 (5): 30-40.
3. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) What is Diabetes? (2016) Recovered from ninddk.nih.gov
4. Serrano A. Pedro. Tertiary Prevention in Type II Diabetes Mellitus in Canary Islands Study (INDICA). Canary Islands Health Service (2016) Retrieved from ClinicalTrials.gov
5. Hyung WooKimJu SangKim. Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis Infection and Its Clinical Efficacy. Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases. 2018; 81: 1, 6.
6. Qinlong Jing, Ming Wang. Dengue epidemiology. Global Health Journal, In press, corrected proof, Ava. 2019, July. Recovered from Sciencedirect.com