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A Message from Scienta Health Chief Medical Officer
Elaine Chin, M.D., M.B.A.
Are you well? Are you sure?
Do you get a regular “annual physical”, either through your doctor
or via a more probing “executive physical”? Are you confident that
you can rely on the result? Will it detect early signs of developing problems?
Let me be more specific.
You are told your cholesterol level is normal and
you passed a cardiac “stress” test on the treadmill. Are you confident
you will not have a heart attack? Your “physical” included a PSA
blood test to screen for prostate cancer. The result was normal. Does this assure
you that you are cancer-free? Your blood sugar is normal - will this indicate
you are not developing diabetes? Frankly, the answer to each of these questions, and many similar I could
pose, is NO!
While the traditional “physical” continues to be accepted as the
cornerstone of disease prevention, in reality it is a ritual that fails to accomplish
what it should – prevent disease and keep us healthy.
Chronic disease
is rampant. One in two North Americans will develop cancer or heart disease;
one in three will die from it. Incidence of diabetes is rising at the alarming
rate of 30% annually.
What’s wrong with this picture?
The physical check-up is based on a standardized set of tests that have changed
very little in 20 years. It should come as no surprise that outdated diagnostics
fail to stem the staggering trends in chronic disease.
North American “healthcare” is not about health. It is about “disease
care”. Certainly, we need to diagnose and treat disease, but this alone
is not good enough. It is simply reactive medicine - too late to reverse or
cure fully and much more expensive. Illness that might have been prevented now
becomes entrenched in your life.
True healthcare should be about getting and keeping you healthy – symptom-free
and able to perform and enjoy life to your full potential for as long as you
live. It should have two essential components.
First, you must decide to focus
the necessary effort and time on doing the things that will give you a long
and robust quality of life. Don’t wait until you receive shocking news
about yourself or someone close to you. Second, find a personal healthcare resource
applying the very latest science has to offer – true predictive diagnostics
- and totally committed to supporting you in every way to maximize your personal
health. I refer to this as “taking a proactive approach” in managing
your most important asset - your health. If you are ready to embrace a different way, Scienta Health is here to work with you in whatever manner suits your preferences.
Be well. Be sure.
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