Disease Prevention

A common saying goes "an old saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." This is nowhere more true than with communicable diseases. Using effective disease prevention strategies not only helps you, but helps those around you. By reducing your risks of catching a disease, you also reduce your risk of spreading it to others, Keeping your community as a whole healthier and happier.

Effective strategies for preventing diseases very greatly depending on the disease. A lot of the most common illnesses, of course, are airborne viruses. The most effective disease prevention is to minimize your exposure. Wash your hands regularly, stay away from sick people and, if you notice yourself coughing or sneezing, stay home from work or school for a few days to minimize the chances of spreading the disease to other people. Boosting your immune system is also a useful form of disease prevention. During the winter, I make sure to take a multivitamin every day in addition to extra vitamin C to keep me healthy. When I think I might be coming down with something, I take echinacea and goldenseal root to help ward off the virus. Most importantly, I eat healthy foods, exercise and get enough sleep every night. This keeps my immune system in good shape to help me fight off any illnesses that I am exposed to.

More exotic diseases often require unusual disease prevention methods. For example, if you live in an area with lime disease, wearing long sleeves and long pants may be the best way for you to prevent infection. Blood disease, you see, is spread by tick bites. If the ticks can't get through your clothes, they can not bite you and therefore, can not spread the disease. Staying away from thick grass where ticks hide will also reduce the risk of lime disease. Similarly, for preventing food-borne illnesses, the best thing you can do is to use proper food preparation techniques. Refrigerate all your food, keep raw meats out of contact with vegetables and surfaces you will use to serve food, and be sure to cook everything thoroughly.

If you are very serious about disease prevention, you might find it prudent to stockpile supplies in case of  an outbreak. If a pandemic such as a super flu sweeps through the country, having enough supplies to ensure you and your family clean food and drinking water for a week or two could literally mean the difference between life and death. After all, super flus spread aggressively. If you can stay inside and cut off all contact with other people, you greatly increase your chance of survival