Our Services / Preventative Care

If you keep putting off your annual physical or don't give much thought to preventive care, it's time to change your perspective. Getting routine preventive care from Jacob Katz, MD, at the Katz Medical Group gives you the chance to stay healthy and prolong your life by preventing chronic diseases. If you have questions about your health or want to schedule an appointment, call our office, or use the online booking feature today.

What is preventive care?

Preventive care is a medical specialty that focuses on avoiding chronic conditions and disease-related disabilities. Dr. Katz offers preventive care to help you keep disease away and find problems while they can still be treated.

Chronic health conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease develop gradually. While the disease slowly progresses, it doesn't cause symptoms yet it keeps getting worse. By the time you have symptoms, the disease has reached an advanced stage.

When you schedule regular preventive care appointments, Dr. Katz has the chance to detect the earliest signs of a problem and stop the disease long before you have symptoms.

What services are provided during preventive care?

The only way to get effective preventive care is with annual physicals. These yearly check-ups aren't intended to treat an acute illness. Instead, your entire appointment is devoted to assessing your overall health and detecting changes since your last visit that open the door for chronic disease.

During a preventive care appointment, Dr. Katz checks your weight, blood pressure, and heart rate. He then completes a thorough physical exam.

Your preventive care appointment may also include any of the following:

• Health screenings
• Complete blood work-up
• Nutrition and dietary counseling
• Smoking cessation program
• Stress management
• Weight-loss program
• Immunizations

Preventive health care also includes an in-depth risk assessment.

How does a risk assessment support preventive care?

During a risk assessment, Dr. Katz works with you to identify the factors that increase your chances of developing chronic health conditions and cancer, especially the skin, breast, lung, prostate, and colon cancers.

Your risk factors include:

• Your overall health
• Family history of disease
• Personal history of disease
• Lifestyle habits (diet, exercise, and sleep problems)
• Risky behaviors (smoking, alcohol, and drug abuse)
• Emotional and mental health
• Social connections
• Daily stress levels
• Exposure to environmental toxins

Identifying your risks allows Dr. Katz to help you create a new lifestyle that promotes better health and prevents disease. Your risk factors also determine if you need more frequent check-ups or health screenings.

For example, if you have a high risk for breast or colon cancer, you need earlier and more frequent screenings than the schedule recommended for people with an average risk.

Preventive health care leads the way to a longer and healthier life, so don't wait to schedule an appointment. Call the Katz Medical Group or book an appointment online today.