Checklist: 10 things that you hide in vain from a doctor
Text: Evgenia Skvortsova
Tell your doctor about insomnia., stabbing in the right side or high temperature, not enough. The more information a specialist receives, the faster the correct diagnosis will be made. Why it is important not to miss anything and to be frank during the examination, we found out from experts: the head physician of the Austrian Health Center Verba Mayr Natalia Edel, the therapist of the Dobry Doktor family clinic Galina Dymarskaya and the head physician of the remote telemedicine consultation service OK'Doctor Rosa Serdyuk. We publish a few facts that are harmful to keep silent.
1
Do you drink medicine or dietary supplements
Few medicines act sightingly, without affecting any other tissues and organs. In addition, medications interact with each other and can strengthen or weaken the action of each other. The doctor must know which medications you are taking - otherwise a new prescribed medication may increase the side effects of the old, reduce its effectiveness (some even interact with oral contraceptives) or it will prove to be useless and even harm.
Dietary supplements (dietary supplements) when interacting with drugs may also be unsafe. Therefore, it is important to notify the attending physician in advance about which supplements you are taking. Therapist Galina Dymarskaya notes that the production of dietary supplements often occurs without compliance with pharmaceutical standards, and research on their safety and efficacy is usually not carried out. Sometimes taking supplements alone can make you feel worse - according to Natalia Edel, fat-soluble vitamins in dietary supplements can accumulate in the body, sports supplements with tyrosine can change thyroid function, and hormonal supplements (tryptophan, DHEA) affect the hormonal balance.
2
Did you do the surgery
It is worth telling about any transferred operations, including aesthetic ones - if only because it is important for the doctor to know what anesthesia was used and how you transferred it; It is also better to talk about epidural anesthesia and the reaction to it. This is necessary to identify possible allergies or intolerances to a particular drug. In addition, surgical interventions may increase the likelihood of certain diseases.
Natalia Edel notes that one of the most frequent risks after surgery is thromboembolism, an acute blockage of a blood vessel with a thrombus. Another danger is infection with the hepatitis C virus if the operation was performed under inadequate sterile conditions. Of course, in the ordinary hospital of the developed world, this risk is minimal - but do not forget to inform the doctor if you had to seek emergency medical care when traveling to exotic countries.
3
Do you smoke
An experienced doctor, most likely, will determine the smoker without any prompts - according to the color of the teeth and the shade of the face, the quality of the nails and other signs. However, to notify the doctor in advance about this, it means speeding up his recovery at the expense of promptly selected treatment. This is especially important for smokers with experience. For example, in the case of asthma attacks, the doctor may suspect panic attacks in a patient, but when reporting smoking, he will immediately direct to an ECG.
Smoking in women aged 35 years and older is a contraindication to the administration of hormonal contraceptives, since the risk of heart problems becomes too high. In addition, smoking affects the respiratory, cardiovascular and reproductive systems, contributes to the development of diabetes and is a proven cause of lung cancer. When prescribing medications to a smoker, the doctor should take into account that the likelihood of side effects and complications is higher compared with a non-smoker patient.
4
How much do you drink alcohol
This information is important for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, heart and blood vessels, the solution of psychological problems - and for the prevention of alcohol dependence itself. According to Natalia Edel, when a patient confesses to frequent alcohol use, this can significantly save the budget both at the examination stage and during treatment. The doctor does not prescribe dozens of studies to clarify, for example, the causes of liver enlargement, but immediately selects the optimal treatment.
The diagnosis, when the patient complains of drowsiness during the day and insomnia at night, also depends on the amount of alcohol consumed - too large doses can disrupt the cycles of sleep and wakefulness. Appointment of sleeping pills in this case does not solve the problem, but it can cause damage to the body - in particular, the combination of alcohol with barbiturates, strong sedatives, is simply life threatening. Galina Dymarskaya adds that while taking many medicines, alcohol should be completely excluded because it reduces or neutralizes their effect. Alcohol can not be combined with drugs that have a toxic effect on the liver.
5
You had unprotected sex with a new partner
Intimate life, in the case of unsafe sex, is a parameter that can be a key when making a diagnosis. Before prescribing treatment, the doctor must eliminate the risk of serious infections, such as HIV and hepatitis viruses. Often it makes sense to conduct a pregnancy test.
Natalia Edel explains that, for example, hepatitis viruses and HIV do not make themselves known immediately, but most often these viruses can be identified within a month after infection (although six months after unprotected sex, you should repeat the analysis to make sure they are not ). Awareness of the doctor about the situation will speed up the diagnosis and allow you to take preventive measures.
6
You are a carrier of a dangerous infection.
Patients do not like to talk about infections - such recognition may be accompanied by shame or fear of condemnation. However, this should be done to minimize the possibility of infecting other people. For example, in the case of infections with hepatitis viruses or HIV, any contact with blood can cause transmission of the virus - and if strict aseptic norms are not followed, it is possible even with gastroscopy. Syphilis in general can be transmitted through everyday life - and once, before the gloves spread, finger syphilis was an occupational disease of obstetricians and even dentists.
Doctor Rosa Serdyuk notes that a professional should react very calmly to the recognition of an infected patient - listen carefully, carry out an examination and prescribe a suitable treatment, usually together with other specialists, for example, an infectious diseases specialist. It is also important to clarify how well a person knows about his condition and whether he receives help — if not, he should be encouraged to contact information from specialized institutions. If the reaction of the doctor is inadequate - the accusation of depravity, humiliation, the threat of divulging medical confidentiality, disgust - this is the reason to look for another specialist.
7
You eat a lot of junk food
Passion for juicy pizza, huge burgers and Belgian waffles can be hidden from friends, colleagues and coaches - but not from the attending physician. Frequent consumption of harmful foods and overeating (including healthy foods) are important information for assessing the health of the digestive system and the organism as a whole. A person may suffer from chronic gastritis caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori - or have similar symptoms simply because there are too many fatty, spicy, fried foods in the diet. In this case, in the first case, the doctor will prescribe treatment with antibiotics, and in the second, he will advise you to limit yourself to a balanced diet.
Rosa Serdyuk notes that the silence about the excessive consumption of junk food confuses the doctor, who oversees the process of metabolism and the work of the digestive tract. Indicators of cholesterol, creatinine, blood, glucose and other trace elements change, and to make a correct diagnosis, you need to understand how this is related to food habits.
8
You move a little
Accurate information about the physical activity of the patient allows the doctor to distinguish between the excess of the daily norm of calories from a serious condition - metabolic disorders, for example, for hormonal reasons. In the first case, it is enough to make some feasible changes to your routine, in the second, special therapy will be required. Doctor Galina Dymarskaya notes that a sedentary lifestyle, as well as indiscriminate nutrition, contributes to excess weight. In such patients, as a rule, there are problems with the heart and joints (overweight increases the load on them) and an increased risk of developing diabetes.
9
You violated the treatment regimen
It was a hard week and failed to take the pills on a schedule? The main thing is to confess this to the doctor. The specialist who prescribed the treatment expects a certain result. If the latter is not present, two options are possible: the doctor will doubt the diagnosis and send the patient for an additional examination or decide to simply increase the dose of the drug or prescribe another. Remember: to help the medicine, it must be taken.
Sometimes it makes sense to discuss possible options - for example, you will buy a more expensive medicine, but instead of three different pills you will take one, which contains three necessary components. The same goes for contraceptives: if you forget to take pills or often break off spontaneously on a weekend trip leaving them at home, it is better to discuss the situation with the gynecologist and change the drug to a long-acting implant, vaginal ring or intrauterine system.
10
Your symptoms are not serious.
Often, a minor at first glance symptom hides a serious health problem that requires an immediate solution. Weak discomfort under the left shoulder blade may be a sign of a heart attack, and a slight, but frequent headache - signaling a herniated intervertebral disk. Natalia Edel says that there is a clear pattern of diagnosis: having a full set of symptoms, a specialist must consistently exclude possible diseases.
Imagine the situation: the patient complains of pain in the joints, which has never happened before. This symptom can serve as a "bell" of incipient arthritis, but if neither age, nor test results, or family history indicate arthritis, it will be difficult to determine the diagnosis. And only if the patient suddenly remembers that he was bitten by a tick last summer, everything will become clear: arthritis is one of the manifestations of Lyme disease, an infectious disease transmitted by ticks. Therefore, it is necessary to honestly answer the doctor's questions, even if it seems that they are in no way connected with your complaints.
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