It's Time to Put Prevention Back into Preventive Healthcare

This blog is a reprint of an OpEd from Dr. Klodas, appearing in the Minneapolis StarTribune in November 2016.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)—the same body that tells us when to get a colonoscopy, get immunized, or have our cholesterol checked—issued new guidelines on preventing heart disease, advising doctors on who should take statin medications like Lipitor and Crestor.

Currently, nearly 40 million American adults take statins, at an annual cost of $17 billion. These new guidelines are set to dramatically increase those numbers.

The recommendations also signal a shift in preventive care: Pills are now being recommended as the first line of defense, not the last. If you’re between 40 and 75, have a risk factor for heart disease, and meet a risk calculation threshold (which most people do)—you’re likely to receive a prescription for life.

Sure, side effects are possible, but don’t worry about those—just take the pill.

A Pushback from Physicians

Doctors like me are already pushing back. Dr. Rita Redberg from the University of California, San Francisco, points out that the absolute risk reduction from expanded statin use is small, while the risk of side effects, such as muscle aches and brain fog, is not insignificant.

More importantly, these new recommendations fail to address the root causes of heart disease: poor diet and inactivity. Voluminous data—largely ignored by the task force—support lifestyle-based alternatives that are not only effective but have additional benefits.

For instance:

• Dr. Dean Ornish’s Lifestyle Program has been shown to go beyond prevention and actually reverse heart disease.
• Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat to Live plan has been shown to reverse diabetes.
• And Step One Foods’ food substitution approach has been proven to improve cholesterol profiles in as little as 30 days.

All of these approaches are based on nutrition, not medication. They don’t come with side effects—they come with side benefits like weight loss, improved energy levels, and lower blood pressure. Learn more about how Step One Foods can support your heart health journey.

The Task Force Missed the Mark

Instead of creating guidelines around who should take pills, the task force should have focused on strategies that prevent the need for medication in the first place. Lifestyle changes—like adopting a heart-healthy diet and increasing physical activity—are the true solutions for reducing heart disease, lowering healthcare costs, and helping patients live better, longer lives.

Pills should be the last resort, not the first.