General practitioner and therapist, Dr. Andrea Alejandra Maizel, explains how she goes about her daily work in this regard.
About this, Magelcommented: “For us, the ideal is a comprehensive workup of the patient with chronic diseases, as we know that these can be seen not only by a general practitioner, but also by specialist psychologists, nutritionists, ophthalmologists, cardiologists.” and can also be seen by dentists.All these disciplines are fundamental because in both hypertension and diabetes they affect all these areas.
“Our job is to bring prevention through informative and educational talks about these diseases to the population in general. Education is also done inside the office, for example, with foot care, we review them, We explain to patients how to take care of their feet, especially diabetics,” he said.
Following this line, the professional explained that it is essential that the patient is educated and knows how to inspect his feet and attend immediately in case of any injury, blister or pain. This is necessary so that the injury does not progress further and thus the dreaded event of amputation can be avoided.
“We do this in the morning in the waiting room when they come in for treatment and that’s where we have the most people. Usually the patients are engaged, they talk and in the office we can see the growth and appreciation of the knowledge that is given to them, that is, the information and education is useful to them and to be able to pass it on to the family. Share it with a member of the community or a neighbor,” he said.
In this sense, the doctor stresses that, referring to the warning symptoms of diabetes or hypertension, it should be clarified that they are the so-called silent diseases. Many times they do not produce anything and hence the patient comes late or when they already have some complication of these diseases. This is the reason why it is advised to consult once a year.
simultaneously, Magelexplained: “There are some things that can appear early, in the case of diabetes, an increased desire to drink water, which is called polydipsia: increased thirst, varying degrees of appetite, sudden weight loss without dieting. having, also the urge to urinate a lot or when they do so a lot happens, in addition to dry mouth, and some sores that don’t heal. Usually these are all symptoms that come for a consultation. But it should be noted that if these symptoms are not present, this does not mean that the disease is not present.
The diagnosis is first made by the clinical practitioner, then it will be assessed by the interdisciplinary team. In addition, for example, it may attract the attention of the dentist, since there are certain pathologies of the mouth that are characteristic of diabetes. In general, all professionals have to be vigilant in making a diagnosis.
Finally, the expert commented: “Once the diagnosis is made, the patient enters the hospital Hypertension and diabetes program of chronic diseases of the province And apart from consulting various professionals like cardiology, nutritionist, dentistry, psychology and ophthalmology, medicine is dispensed through pharmacies. We remember that patients from the San Cayetano Polyclinic and the region can come to make an appointment from Monday to Friday from 7 a.m., and there they can access the diagnosis,” he concluded.
