Prevention in family practice.

Prevention has had an enormous impact on the health of western nations. Because people are now living longer, educating patients about prevention is becoming increasingly important. Priorities for preventive medicine are reviewed; in office practice, the most important preventive strategies are helping patients to quit smoking, giving advice on nutrition, recommending moderate regular exercise, detecting and treating patients at high risk for suicide, and detecting and treating hypertensive patients. Teachers of family medicine can improve the teaching of prevention by helping to establish liaisons between departments of family medicine and community and preventive health. The future impact of prevention on medical care is also discussed.