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Abstract

The responsibility, and right, of promoting metabolichealth, and preventing metabolic disease, is that of theprimary care physician. This communication lists the facetsof metabolic care in a simple (Seven Rs) manner,connecting them with the various levels of prevention. Allindividuals should be counselled about regulation oflifestyle and mindstyle (primordial prevention). Those atrisk of metabolic disease should reduce/redistribute theirenergy intake, and rescue overburdened storage system byusing energy through exercise (primary prevention).Persons with established disease will need physio-friendlytherapy to replenish and restore the physiological bufferingof the body (secondary prevention). In persons with targetorgan damage, resilience of organ- systems can beenhanced, and existing damage repaired, by using moderndrugs (tertiary prevention). Quaternary prevention andquinary prevention must be practiced. Reframing the Rs ofpreventive metabolic medicine, using the rubric of levelsof prevention, will make this discipline more appealing toall.
Keywords: Community medicine, diabetes, familymedicine, obesity, prevention, primary health care