JMSA Health Care Lecture Series
Title: Dr. Maki Kano talks about Adult Preventative Care and Maintenance of Health
On 4/8, Dr. Maki Kano gave the 35th JMSA healthcare seminar at the Nippon Club on the topic of Adult Preventative Care: how to live a long healthy life. The event was well attended and Dr. Kichemon Asoma introduced Dr. Kano at the beginning of her talk.
Dr. Kano's talk began with pointing out the importance of preventative care and trying to prevent disease vs. receiving treatment for an existing disease. She compared the preventative check up styles between the US and Japan, stating that the US preventative check ups are based on guidelines set by the US Preventative Services Task Force or USPSTF. The US check ups try to cater the physical exam and tests that are ordered based on the patient's individual risk factors , age, and sex.
She mentioned that in order to maintain health, patients need to avoid the top two killers in both Japanese and US society which are cardiovascular disease such as stroke and heart attacks and cancers. Her talk highlighted guidelines given the grade of A or B by the USPSTF to try to prevent cardiovascular disease. She went over guidelines and recommendations regarding assessing one's individual cardiovascular risk index, assessing for obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
She also went over the latest cancer screening guidelines for cancers such as lung, colon, breast and cervical cancer.
She finished her talk by discussing vaccines that are currently recommended in the U.S. such as pneumovax vaccine for pneumonia, zostrix to prevent shingles, and Tdap to prevent tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. She went over age guidelines and the role that these vaccines play for health maintenance.
Her lecture ended with a lively discussion amongst the attendees regarding their concerns about health maintenance.
Pictures below:
