Treatment of Diseases through Improved Diagnostic Techniques - Essay Example

College Treatment of diseases through improved diagnostic techniques Diagnostic measures are the set of rules and procedures followed in the hospital and any medical institute to determine the ailment that a patient suffers from. The efforts to improve diagnostic techniques are currently on the rise in every clinical outlet and hospital. The improvement in the diagnosis has led to improvement of understanding diseases and other illnesses that have similar symptoms. This gives the doctors ample data to determine the exact illness despite the many similarities in the symptoms. The main reason for proper diagnosis is to check for the development of a certain disease particularly those which build up in stages. For instance, diseases like cancer, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. The above three are among many of the diseases that occur in stages and detection at the early stages might be a challenge. However, with the correct diagnosis from the beginning, the disease can be determined at an early stage and prevent further spread. The role of improvement in diagnosis procedures is mainly to provide the patient’s safety. (Knottnerus, 2002). A wrong diagnosis could lead to wrong treatment which could then lead to further complications or the spread of the disease that originally required to be treated. Cases of patients dying due to wrong diagnosis are familiar to many whereby the correct disease is discovered during its final and most severe stage and no treatment whatsoever could save the patient and this leads to death. The patients are the first priority to the doctors and their well being depends on the diagnosis given to them together with the treatment. Improvement in diagnosis is moreover focused on so as to maintain and enhance the image and professionalism of a given doctor and identity in their area of practice. A doctor who gives the wrong diagnosis for a number of times may be regarded as incompetent and consequently suffer from career suicide as no one would trust to hire such a doctor. Therefore, all doctors and more so, clinical institutions try as hard as they can to maintain high level of professionalism to their patients so as to gain trust and confidence from the patients. A hospital that has records of patients’ deaths due to wrong diagnosis may be closed up by the authorities. Diseases like cancer and the HIV/AIDS virus are on the rise all over the globe and improved diagnostic techniques have led to the doctors, the patients and the whole society understanding the treatment of the diseases as these require a community’s responsibility. More often than not, the doctors are challenged to improve on their understanding on the tiny little bits of these killer diseases so as to discover them at an early stage and treatment may commence immediately to give the patient more years to live. The community is involved in the campaigns to understand the treatment of these diseases so that the number of victims suffering may low with a significant percentage. Cancer kills a large number of people in the world annually. The main types of cancers on the rise include breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer and cervical cancer. There are many other kinds of cancer but the mentioned are the mainly diagnosed all over the globe. The cancer diagnosis at the early stage can be treated through continuous chemo therapy, thus, reducing the spread of the cancerous cells. Cancer results from cellular outgrowths which destroy or outnumber normal cells in the body. The spread of cancerous cells in the affected organ prior to their detection may result to the organ being removed as a whole so as to prevent infection of the whole body. Based on the diagnoses that are prevailing, cancer is detected through screening of the body and the doctors are able to determine how far the cells have spread and their effect on the normal cells (Ackerman & Del Regato, 1970). Chemo therapy is the main form of treatment used to kill the cancerous cells, especially at the initial stages before they multiply. Cellular injury of the normal body cells occurs at the affected organ and a diagnosis determines which type of cancer it is by checking the location of the cellular injury by cancerous cells. The diagnosis can be carried out through a physical examination whereby the doctor touches the affected area to check for discomfort of the patient and unusual growths. For instance, breast cancer is physically determined by the presence of a lump on the breast which tends to be swollen and hard. This outgrowth is one of the symptoms of breast cancer and early detection through the patients help could assist in fast diagnosis. Women are asked to check for lumps and immediately seek medical attention on sight of a lump. Another characteristic of cancer is abnormal weight loss of the patient, this can be a cancer alert that doctors are now using in their diagnosis for cancer. Asking the patients questions regarding their weight is a key factor to look into so as to come up with possible conclusions from the diagnosis (Films For The Humanities & Sciences (Firm), Films Media Group, & Information Television Network. 2006). Cancer is proved to be genetically inherited by some people and, therefore, hard to prevent its occurrence. The cellular composition with traits of cancer and DNA structure can never be altered even by the doctors. Up on detection of cancer in a family, the rest of the members are advised to go through screening to check for any possible cancer cells. This is a diagnostic improvement in the medical care to improve early detection of cancer and help treat and cure the disease. However, the possible causes of cancer are as well environmental. For instance, skin cancer is due to the global warming disaster and patients are diagnosed with the disease happen to work under the sun in most cases. The questionnaires that doctors give to their patients regarding what environments they live and work in can help the doctor come up with a diagnosis for the cancer. HIV/AIDS is another killer disease and the improved diagnostic techniques have attributed to reduced loss of lives. Everyone is advised by doctors to go for a HIV test so as to help doctors narrow down their options during a diagnosis. The symptoms of HIV are from the acute stage where normal illnesses like fever and colds are observed. It is upon the doctors to immediately carry out a HIV test on the patients so as to determine whether the patient’s condition is a HIV related illness (Spach & Hooton, 1996). The laboratory results of a blood test take less than ten minutes to recognize the HIV virus, hence, helping the doctors in their diagnosis. If the virus is detected, early treatment is started on the patient. The use of ARVs is helping many with the virus. HIV/AIDS is a virus and infectious through blood contact. The disease occurs by the development and growth of CD4 cells which then kill the white blood cells and the body becomes unable to fight any diseases or infections, hence, the continuous illnesses affect the victim easily. The CD4 count is done by the doctors to determine the treatment plan that the patient is to undergo. Technology has enabled this diagnosis as when the CD4 cells are counted then the doctors determine the stage in which the patient is at. The disease processes by altering the normal functioning of the blood cells, particularly the white bold cells, hence, lowering the immunity of the patient to diseases. The free HIV test is helping doctors diagnose the killer disease at early stages as people turn out to know their status (Vargo, 1992). Diabetes is a lifestyle disease killing most elderly people in the society. Nonetheless, statistics data are now showing the spread of the disease in young people. The amount of sugar levels in the blood is now determined by how much intake people allow for their bodies. Feeding habits have greatly led to the increased number of people living with diabetes. As a lifestyle disease, the doctors easily diagnose it using the technique of checking the sugar level in blood. The technology is an improvement in the medical field and early detection of the disease is on the rise. Prevention of the disease is also possible through regulating intake of a patient after recognizing a high sugar level in the blood diagnosis (Krentz, 2004). The doctors are able to advise the patient on their feeding habits, thus, preventing the occurrence of the disease. However, diabetes happens to be genetically caused and treatment on early diagnosis is possible by all means. The study of disease process by doctors is conducted through various methods so as to increase understanding and improve on the diagnosis. Consequently, improved and high quality diagnosis methods give the doctors an easy time detecting the possible diseases consequently narrowing the options down to the most likely ones, hence, improving the understanding of trends of certain diseases. Recurrent diagnoses of a certain illness give the doctors the expertise in fast diagnosis through intuitive reasoning. An experienced doctor does not have to employ analytical reasoning by going through lab tests or other complex procedures due to their long term practice that has given them an understanding of certain diseases. In conclusion, there are several ways on how to improve diagnostic techniques used by doctors. The main one is constant individual deliberate practice by the doctors. This serves as a reminder of the symptoms, concepts and the causes of certain diseases. With that, a doctor understands diseases broadly, hence, gives the correct diagnoses. Online research and expansion of the line of thinking by involving other experts helps in understanding a disease’s process and making diagnosis easier. Improved understanding of diseases through the enhanced diagnostic techniques has led to fast identification of the correct illness and a consequent treatment plan is put underway with immediate effect. Efforts to give the doctors an understanding of the diseases must be made by both the individual doctors and the clinical organizations through training and practice to yield correct and early diagnoses of diseases. Bibliography Ackerman, L. V., & Del Regato, J. A. (1970). Cancer: diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. St. Louis, Mosby. Films For The Humanities & Sciences (Firm), Films Media Group, & Information Television Network. (2006). Early breast cancer, with knowledge comes hope. New York, N.Y., Films Media Group. Knottnerus, J. A. (2002). The evidence base of clinical diagnosis. London, BMJ Books. [Online] Available at http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=233056 Krentz, A. J. (2004). Emergencies in diabetes diagnosis, management and prevention. Chichester, West Sussex, England, J. Wiley. Spach, D. H., & Hooton, T. M. (1996). The HIV manual: a guide to diagnosis and treatment. New York, Oxford University Press. Vargo, M. (1992). The HIV test: what you need to know to make an informed decision. New York, Pocket Books. Read More