Tertiary prevention refers to the treatment of symptomatic disease in an effort to prevent its progression to disability, or premature death. The overlap with treatment is self-evident, and perhaps suggests that preventive medicine has gran- diose territorial ambitions. Be that as it may, there is a legitimate focus on preven- tion even after disease develops, such as the prevention of early cancer from metastasizing, or the prevention of coronary disease from inducing a myocardial infarction or heart failure. This domain also encompasses rehabilitation, the pur- pose of which is to preserve or restore functional ability, and thus prevent its de- generation. As with the.
