Prevention versus Cure
The age old debate of prevention vs cure was re - ignited last week when Professor Malcolm Law announced that everyone over the age of 55 should be prescribed a preventative high blood pressure drug. One cannot argue with the benefits of such medicine when research shows that blood pressure drugs cut the risk of heart attacks and heart failure by up to 25%, however, are we taking preventative medicine that step too far?
The facts and figures have not been made available, so I am unable to explore the cost - benefit analysis of this proposal, but it is very hard to ignore the fact that high blood pressure is the number one contributor to cardiovascular disease - the world’s number one cause of death. Even if this isn’t a cost effective measure, which I find hard to believe, maybe we should think about Professor Law’s statement that ‘blood pressure drugs should be seen as analogous to vaccinating the entire population in the event of a flu pandemic‘.
However, what are the social implications? There is the danger of people ignoring the advice of exercise and a good diet, safe in the knowledge that come 55 there is a magic pill that will right all wrongs. Therefore could such a pill be counterproductive and result in an increased occurrence of diseases such as diabetes?
There is no doubt that the mass prescription of a high blood pressure drug for those over the age of 55 could save many lives and improve the quality of life for a vast number of people. But, if this was to succeed, firstly the public education surrounding high blood pressure would need to be addressed. People need to be made aware that such treatment will only succeed if taken in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle. My real concern is the potential demands placed upon the NHS by the general public. What if patients start to demand such preventative medication for obesity and type II diabetes? We have to be very wary of our modern consumer lifestyle infringing on our public health care system.
Tags: blood pressure, cardiovascular, cure, heard disease, malcolm law, prevention, stroke
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