To Comment:
There are 3 levels of protection, primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention is preventing the patient from developing by reducing and possible removing risk factors.
An example would be teaching a patient who is overweight about the importance of eating healthier choices, investing in daily exercises, and avoiding unhealthy habits such as smoking and drinking to prevent type II diabetes.
The secondary level of prevention is performed after the patient has been diagnosed with the disease. An example would be a patient who has a fasting blood glucose level of more than 125mg/dl but does not display any symptoms will be diagnose as type II diabetic.
Early detection and education of healthy eating choices, routine exercises and healthy lifestyle habits can prevent further progression of the disease and possible cure the disease.
The third type of prevention is tertiary and is for the patient who already diagnosed with the disease, symptomatic, and requires treatment.
This patient is no longer at risk for disease but is at risk for further complications. This type of prevention would be practice with a patient diagnosed with diabetes who has not yet developed other common comorbidies like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease.
Adhering to medication instructions, checking blood glucose as recommended, healthy eating habits, routine exercising, avoiding unhealthy habits like smoking and or alcohol consumption, life changes to expect, and importance of life change to avoid further complications.