Archives for October 2018

Three Common Types of Arthritis and How to Treat Them

Arthritis may be used to describe body pain, but the different types of arthritis can vary significantly based on the way they affect the human body. Some forms of arthritis affect strictly your bones and joints; others, may start to attack your organs and affect your immune system. These are the three most common types of arthritis, how they are diagnosed and what treatment for them may look like.

Osteoarthritis

Also called “the wear and tear disease,” osteoarthritis (OA) presents as the human body ages. During this process, bones and their protective cartilage begin to break down. The deterioration of protective cartilage that serves as a cushion between the bones and joints may make movement painful and flexibility difficult.

While the effects of OA can’t be reversed, you can manage your symptoms and pain with lifestyle changes. Keeping up with your exercise, maintaining a healthy weight and diet and regular physical therapy can help keep your pain at bay. Should your symptoms worsen or you find you are no longer able to live with the pain, you should talk to your family medicine provider about necessary anti-inflammatory or pain medication or possible surgery.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is different from osteoarthritis because it is classified as an autoimmune disease. RA occurs when the immune system starts to attack your body and healthy tissue, causing pain and inflammation within your joints. Over a long period of time, the damage can become irreparable.

A series of tests and exams – to include complete blood count (CBC), radiographs of certain joints, and antinuclear antibody (ANA) testing – will help your family medicine provider determine if in fact your symptoms are those of RA.

Your family medicine provider will likely recommend you take over-the-counter medication before deciding whether you need to address the pain with steroids or more aggressive pain management medication. They will also likely prescribe disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, or DMARDs, to stop the progression of the disease in an attempt to halt further damage. Many family medicine providers are also turning to regenerative medicine, such as non-embryonic stem cell treatments and platelet rich plasma therapies, to treat RA.

Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis creates stiffness and pain in multiple joints, and symptoms can flare up, fade away, and even change location in your body. Family medicine providers will look for swelling close to the tips of the toes and fingers, leading to brittle or cracked nails; it can also find its way to the lower back, wrist, knees, ankles, and tendons.

Because symptoms often mimic other arthritic and inflammatory diseases, psoriatic arthritis can be hard to diagnose. Your family medicine provider will perform a series of blood tests and other diagnostics to rule our RA, gout or other conditions before determining you do in fact have psoriatic arthritis.

If so, your family medicine provider will likely prescribe anti-inflammatory medication or recommend NSAIDs for psoriatic arthritis, but also focus on taming your immune system. Should the damage to your joints become severe, your family medicine provider may also recommend joint replacement surgery.

While there are a number of clues that can help you determine which sort of arthritis you might have, the only way to know for sure is to get checked out by a medical professional.

The friendly staff at Advanced Medical is well versed in the diagnostics and treatment of arthritis and looks forward to serving you. If you have any questions about our primary care services, please call our office at (561) 434-1935. To schedule an appointment, you can call us or use our secure online appointment request form.

What Does Being a Pre-Diabetic Patient Mean?

Being diagnosed as pre-diabetic may seem like a serious sentence, but it really is more of a warning that your condition need not become permanent if you are committed to making some lifestyle changes. Here is what being pre-diabetic means, and what you can do about it.

Two Types of Diabetes – Type 2

There are two different types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2. While Type 2 can be alleviated and possibly even backtracked with proper diet and exercise, Type 1 diabetes cannot. As opposed to Type 2 diabetes, Type 1 is characterized by the body’s inability to produce insulin, the hormone necessary to process the sugar your body takes in. Pre-diabetes refers to the stage before your body is diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and occurs when your blood sugar level is higher than what is deemed normal, but has not yet reached the level of Type 2 Diabetes.

In these cases, your body may not be properly processing sugar, or glucose, after you ingest it. This means the sugar begins to accumulate in your body instead of fueling your muscles and tissues as it normally should. So, each time you consume food, for instance, a sandwich, the sugar from it will enter your bloodstream. Without insulin, it will not enter the cells and you will not feel the energy from said sandwich.

Patterns to Watch

So, what kind of patterns should you be keeping track of that could put you at risk for pre-diabetes? For starters, check your diet. What you’re consuming could be impacting how you continue processing sugar. Red and processed meats make your body work very hard to process it. Also, sugary drinks like juices, sports drinks and sodas are big culprits that elevate your sugar levels, putting you at a higher risk of pre-diabetes. You should also monitor your weight regularly; being overweight puts you at a higher risk of getting diabetes.

Quick and Easy Long-term Fixes for Pre-Diabetes

Again, being diagnosed as a pre-diabetic patient doesn’t have to be permanent if you take serious steps to make a change. Committing to lowering your sugar levels, eating more whole foods, fruits and vegetables, and exercising regularly to keep your weight down will all make a significant difference in bringing your sugar levels back to normal.

The Importance of Regular Diabetic Screenings

It’s important to talk to your family medicine provider and have regular health screenings if you do believe you could be at risk for pre-diabetes, as the condition itself displays almost no obvious signs or symptoms. You may feel sluggish due to your body’s inability to properly process sugar, but it can vary. The more diligent you are with regular monitoring and healthy living, the more likely you are to prevent the long-term effects that come with full-on Type 2 diabetes.

The friendly staff at Advanced Medical welcomes your call and looks forward to serving you for any primary care services, including diabetes screening and care. For a full medical workup, to check your body’s sugar levels and to learn your risk for pre-diabetes or developing Type 2 diabetes, speak to the medical experts at Advanced Medical Clinic. Call us at (561) 434-1935 to schedule an appointment, or you can use our secure online appointment request form.