– Here you have the chance to get an overall picture of factors that explain 90 percent of the most common serious diseases such as heart attack, stroke and cancer, says Hans Lingfors, a specialist in general medicine who currently works in the primary care research and development unit in Region Jönköping County.
It is first-time parents and those turning 40, 50, 60 and 70 who should be offered a health talk.
Already in the mid-1980s, Hans Lingfors, who was then a district doctor in Habo, and his colleagues began testing health talks. The reason was that there was a new law, the Health and Medical Care Act.
“According to the law, we should work preventively”
– Previously, we would only cure, comfort and relieve, but from 1984 we would also prevent and promote health and then we studied and developed a health profile as an aid. Today it is called the health curve.
A research project was started with a total of 757 men between the ages of 33 and 42. The fact that it was only men meant that it was then three times more common for them to suffer from heart and vascular diseases. When these patients were followed up 25 years later, mortality was 46 percent lower among those who participated in health talks.
Even in recent years, there have been several research reports showing that health talks improve health and increase longevity, says Lingfors. Health talks are currently held in eleven of the country’s 21 regions, and another 7 are in the process of introducing them during the year.
See more in the clip above.