Family medicine doctors provide comprehensive patient care. You can receive preventive and restorative screenings and treatments at a family practice to avoid acute or chronic health problems. They also provide the compassionate counseling you need to keep you, your children, and your senior parents thriving.
Let’s talk about the 3 common health conditions family providers treat and where you can go in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch, FL, for quality, comprehensive care.
Upper Respiratory Infection (URI)
The common cold or COVID-19; whatever the viral origin, the upper respiratory infection frequently sends patients of all ages to their family doctors. As repetitive and stubborn as these illnesses can be, some preventive and treatment measures have recently changed. Here are the updates.
Stress Reduction
Researchers now believe that stress increases your chances of developing an upper respiratory infection. As such, your family doctor may recommend getting sufficient sleep each night (seven to eight hours or more depending on your age) and developing ways to relax. Common ways include reducing your workload, meditating, praying, exercising, and developing and maintaining quality interpersonal relationships. A relaxed body has an immune system well-equipped to fight off disease.
Nutrition
We all know about low-fat, low-sugar, and reduced-salt diets’ health benefits. However, adding some things to your diet can keep those viral infections away and you out of the doctor’s office.
To ward off URIs, add vitamins E, A, D, and C to your diet. Vitamins derived from natural sources, i.e., from the foods we eat–are best. However, supplementation helps, too. So, ask your doctor for the latest recommendations on these immune system-friendly nutrients.
Vaccines
These injections contain small amounts of weakened or killed viruses/bacteria or even genetic material which strengthen the body’s immune response to disease. Your family doctor will show you which vaccines you should get to ward off communicable diseases such as influenza, shingles, and today’s more worrisome threat, COVID-19 illness.
Also, your family doctor keeps your vaccine record for distribution to other providers, your employer or others per your instructions.
Hypertension
Blood pressure consistently higher than 130/80 is considered hypertension and pre-hypertension is blood pressure between 120-130. Sadly, this chronic health problem plagues almost half of American adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Besides weight reduction, exercise, medication, and other tried and true ways to manage blood pressure, what’s new in its treatment? Frankly, treatment for hypertension begins much sooner than it used to. Getting ahead of hypertension reduces the risk of stroke and heart attack, particularly among males.
So, expect your family doctor to watch your adult blood pressure carefully. He or she also will recommend lifestyle changes related to caffeine, smoking, diet, exercise, and stress at a much younger age (as needed) than your parents or grandparents experienced.
Diabetes
If you have diabetes, or if it runs in your family, your family doctor will monitor your fasting blood sugar levels with a yearly blood test. However, of late, physicians have added an A1C test to the routine metabolic panel.
Just what is the A1C test? It measures an average of your blood sugar levels over a few months. Normal A1C is 4.5 to 5.7. Higher numbers indicate pre-diabetes (5.7- 6.4) or type-2 diabetes (6.5 or higher). Monitoring A1C annually can detect this serious chronic health condition early before dangerous complications such as heart disease, neuropathy pain, kidney failure, and more gain a foothold.
When Should I See My Family Doctor Near Me?
To take full advantage of the many cutting-edge assessments and treatments your family doctor in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch, FL, has, please call us to make an appointment for a routine annual physical. Or, if you have an acute health problem, such as a URI, rash, back pain, or other pressing need, contact us, Intercoastal Medical Group, right away.
We have over 100 board-certified physicians, including those in family practice. Plus, with 9 locations, there’s one convenient to your home or workplace. Please consult our website to locate and call an office, or request an appointment online. We’re here to help you with the latest and best medical care available.
