Chronic diseases affect people of all ages, from children to seniors. When you have a chronic disease, regular monitoring is important. Your doctor can help. Dr. Ricardo Martinez at Well-Being Medical Center in Naples, FL, provides a wide range of internal medicine services, including management and treatment of chronic diseases.
What You Need to Know about Chronic Diseases
Chronic diseases are diseases that you live with because they don’t resolve on their own. You can develop a chronic disease because of an accident, illness, a bacterial or viral infection, genetics, and other causes. Chronic diseases which should be treated and managed by your doctor, include:
- Asthma
- Diabetes
- Arthritis
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Obesity
- Autoimmune disorders
Chronic diseases cause many symptoms which can lead to other problems like depression, anxiety, and more. Your doctor can help you manage chronic diseases, enabling you to live your best, most active, fulfilling life.
Your doctor will develop a comprehensive treatment plan, utilizing several methods of treatment, including:
- Medication management
- Nutritional counseling
- Pain management techniques
- Physical therapy
- Lifestyle modification
- Routine testing and monitoring
- Stress reduction techniques
Consider these ways your doctor can help manage your chronic disease:
If you are diabetic – routine lab and home testing to determine blood sugar levels is very important. Your doctor may prescribe medications including metformin and insulin, along with dietary modifications to help lower your blood sugar.
If you have arthritis – anti-inflammatory medication can help decrease swelling, inflammation, and pain is the first line of treatment. Your doctor may also recommend physical therapy, stretching, massage, and exercise, to help you stay active and flexible.
If you have excessive weight gain – nutritional and dietary counseling can help manage your weight. Your doctor may also recommend medically assisted weight loss and exercise to help you lose weight.
If you have asthma – allergy testing to find out if your asthma is allergy related is important. Your doctor may also perform spirometry and other tests to determine lung function. Treatment options for asthma and allergies includes short term rescue inhalers along with long term asthma medication, allergy shots, and sublingual immunotherapy.
Your Doctor Can Help
To learn more about how your internal medicine doctor can help manage chronic disease, call Dr. Ricardo Martinez at Well-Being Medical Center in Naples, FL. You can reach him in the office by calling (239) 315-7801, so call today.