Preventing Chronic Illness

Health Affairs, 28, no. 1 (2009): 36  doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.1.36  © 2009 by Project HOPE

A core truth about chronic conditions is that most are preventable. As Susan Brink’s Report from the Field recounts, the multiyear trial known as the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) demonstrated that lifestyle modifications alone could produce sharp reductions in the development of diabetes in high-risk people with prediabetic conditions. Moreover, a few key strategies—such as improved diet, exercise, and weight loss, along with smoking cessation—can simultaneously reduce the risk of several conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancers. So it’s no surprise that policymakers say that prevention should assume a far more prominent role in U.S. health care./.../