Prevent Obesity
Obviously, if a factor is a cause of disease, the reduction or elimination can be used as a key element in the primary prevention of this disease. It should be noted that the potential for primary prevention through the elimination of risk factors is also given, although no accurate knowledge of the mechanisms by which the factor operates.
For example, it could prevent cholera in London last century knowing that its source was the water before the results of the causative agent and may prevent lung cancer by quitting smoking, still not clear which of the many substances inhaled with the snuff smoke is carcinogenic to bronchial epithelial cells, and many cardiovascular diseases of the hand of a healthy diet rich in fiber and low in fat.
Moreover, the potential for disease prevention depends in part on the characteristics of the factor, namely the ability to edit, remove or treat people exposed. In principle, most environmental or behavioral factors are modifiable, at least theoretically, although in practice it is difficult to achieve a substantial reduction on many occasions.
Instead it is more difficult intervention or modification of other factors, including those linked to certain physical characteristics, reproductive history or genetic disorders. Nevertheless, knowledge of these factors can collaborate to secondary prevention.