According to the analysis presented, preventing a cardiovascular event can cost between $300 and $1,000 per year, while treating a heart attack and its complications can exceed $120,000 in the first year. This gap reveals a financially unsustainable model in the long term.
The new approach: longevity medicine
In this context, so-called longevity medicine emerges, an approach that seeks to intervene in the biological mechanisms of aging to prevent the onset of diseases. This model proposes acting on factors such as metabolic health, exercise, nutrition, sleep, and emotional well-being, with the goal of maintaining biological function for a longer time.
Changing habits and accompaniment
The approach also incorporates strategies such as "medical coaching," which seeks to support the patient in adopting sustainable habits. Specialists agree that factors like sleep, stress, physical activity, and diet have a direct impact on the prevention of chronic and neurodegenerative diseases.
In a country where the burden of chronic diseases continues to increase, the discussion on longevity poses a paradigm shift in public health: moving from treating diseases to preventing them. However, the challenge remains structural, in a system that still prioritizes reaction over prevention.
In a context of a health system saturated with advanced chronic diseases, specialists have raised alarms about the need to change the medical approach in Mexico, warning that most premature deaths could be avoided with early interventions.
According to the Center for Medical Sciences of Longevity (CCML), up to 80% of premature deaths in the country are potentially preventable, which reveals a structural lag in how diseases are treated.
Chronic diseases, the main challenge
The CCML analysis identifies that the main causes of death in Mexico are linked to diseases that could be prevented or significantly delayed. Among the most relevant data are:
Heart diseases: more than 192,000 annual deaths, of which up to 170,000 could be preventable. Diabetes: around 115,000 deaths per year, with up to 90,000 preventable. Cancer: about 95,000 annual deaths, with a high chance of survival if detected in time. Dementia: a growing problem that can be delayed with timely intervention.
These data reflect a growing burden on the health system, which currently operates under a reactive model.
A system that acts too late
Specialists point out that the problem does not lie in a lack of medical knowledge, but in the timing of the intervention. "The system only invests when the damage is already done," warned Dr. Javier Coindreau, noting that the current model prioritizes crisis care over prevention.
The cost of not preventing
The impact is not only sanitary but also economic.
