Going for annual physical exams is important because you cannot easily detect internal diseases by yourself. If you do not, you could live with a condition for years and suddenly die from it. The doctor you should visit is one who specializes in internal medicine. In this field, doctors check for new or pre-existing conditions by recording your temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure.
If you want to check your health status, visiting asheboro nc internal medicine doctors is a good place to start. These doctors specialize in five areas discussed below.
Endocrinology
Endocrinology focuses on treating diseases pertaining to hormonal issues. Hormones are important in the body since they communicate with organs and influence functions such as sleep, growth, and metabolism. If they do not work properly, you may suffer from menopause, diabetes, prolactinoma, or cancers of the endocrine glands.
In case you experience muscle weakness, joint pain decreased sex drive, and sudden weight loss or gain, you should see an endocrinologist. The treatment for these symptoms is mainly by medication.
Hematology
This field is concerned with blood disorders. Hematologists conduct complete blood counts and red blood cell indices to assess your blood’s health. They can diagnose and treat leukemia, anemia, infection, and hemophilia.
Besides treating blood diseases, they conduct procedures such as blood transfusions, bone marrow transplants, immunotherapy, and ablation therapy. Since blood disorders affect various organs, hematologists work closely with oncologists, radiologists, and pathologists.
Cardiology
Cardiologists are physicians who treat diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Remember, they do not conduct heart surgeries; cardiac surgeons do them. Cardiology focuses on procedures such as pacemaker insertions, heart catheterizations, and angioplasties.
You should see a cardiologist when you have chest pains, high blood pressure, dizziness, and shortness of breath. If you have these symptoms, you could have coronary heart disease, pericarditis, arrhythmias, or atherosclerosis.
Nephrology
This field is concerned with the treatment of kidney conditions and failure. Nephrologists also address kidney conditions that affect other parts of the body, such as hypertension and autoimmune diseases. The best time to see them is when you begin to experience chronic pain, dizziness, migraines, numbness, and movement problems.
It is important to remember that nephrology is not the same as urology. The former focuses on diseases that affect the kidney, while the latter is concerned with the treatment of urinary tract issues.
Gastroenterology
It addresses diseases that affect the digestive system. The illnesses include jaundice, gastrointestinal cancer, pancreatitis, hepatitis, hemorrhoids, and inflammatory bowel disease.
This field relies on medication for the treatment and not surgery. If a gastroenterologist discovers you may need surgery, they refer you to a gastrointestinal surgeon.
Believe it or not, this list is not exhaustive. There are still other organs that doctors treat not mentioned here. Since we have many internal body parts, the chance of contracting internal diseases is high. With that in mind, you now understand why seeing a doctor is necessary from time to time. Some people visit one when they feel sick, but it is unnecessary to do so. If you wait until you are ill, you may be too sick to recover. As long as you make regular visits, internal medicine doctors can detect early signs of internal diseases.
