Recent Articles
Even a little exercise linked with lower stroke risk in people with afib
Testosterone therapy without evidence of deficiency may boost heart risk
Weight-loss drug may lower risk of heart attacks and infections
What to eat on the DASH diet
Migraine: How it's diagnosed and what that means
Tricep workouts you can do at home
Mindfulness practices to reduce stress and improve focus
Antihistamines may not offer meaningful relief from eczema symptoms
Overweight and taking blood pressure medications: Study finds it's a trend that's working
FDA approves first mRNA-based flu vaccine
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Diabetes Archive
Articles
When You Visit Your Doctor - Peripheral Artery Disease
Peripheral Artery Disease
Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:
- Do you develop pain, cramps, aches, fatigue, or numbness in your leg muscles when you walk?
- At what distance do you develop symptoms?
- Do they go away when you stop walking?
- Do you ever develop these symptoms at rest?
- Do you have decreased sensation in your feet?
- If you are a man, do you have erectile dysfunction?
- Are you doing everything possible to modify the risk factors that can worsen this disease (smoking cessation, treating elevated blood pressure and cholesterol, and controlling diabetes)?
- Are you exercising regularly and at progressively more strenuous levels?
- Are you taking an aspirin every day?
- If you have diabetes, do you practice meticulous foot care (cleaning, applying moisturizing lotions, and wearing well-fitting protective shoes)?
- Do you know when to seek emergency medical care for peripheral artery disease (if your leg becomes suddenly painful, pale, cold and numb)?
- Do you get chest pain or pressure with exertion or at rest? If so, you may have coronary artery disease.
- Do you have sudden brief episodes of blindness (like a shade being pulled over your eyes) or sudden episodes of weakness in an arm or leg, or difficulty speaking? These could be warning symptoms of stroke.
Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:
- Heart rate, blood pressure, and weight
- Pulses in your feet and groin, and behind your knees
- Listen with the stethoscope over your carotid arteries in your neck
- Heart and lungs
- Neurologic exam (reflexes and sensation in your legs)
- Muscles (looking for atrophy in leg muscles)
- Skin, looking for changes related to reduced circulation
Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:
- Blood tests, including glucose and cholesterol levels
- Ultrasound of your carotid arteries
- Doppler Ankle-Arm Indices
- Exercise Stress Test
- MRI/MRA
- Angiography
When You Visit Your Doctor - Rash
Rash
Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:
- How long have you had the rash?
- Where did it start?
- Has it spread?
- Is the rash only on parts of your skin that have been exposed to the sun?
- Does it itch or hurt?
- Is the rash red, pink, or purple?
- Is the rash smooth or bumpy?
- Have you had sores in your mouth, eyes, or other mucous membranes?
- Have you had blisters on your skin?
- Have you had trouble breathing?
- Have you had a fever?
- Have you symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection (for example, a cold)?
- Have you had vomiting or diarrhea?
- Are you taking any prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, herbs, or supplements? Did you start any of them in the past two months?
- Have you had any new exposures to foods or chemicals?
- Any exposure to insects?
- Have you had any recent sun exposure?
Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:
- Temperature
- Examination of your skin, mouth, eyes, mucous membranes, lymph nodes, liver, and spleen
Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:
- Skin scrapings for microscopic analysis or culture (if the rash looks infectious)
- Complete blood cell count or other blood tests (if you appear sick or have a fever)
- Skin biopsy
When You Visit Your Doctor - Sarcoidosis
Sarcoidosis
Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:
- Have you had difficulty breathing? For how long? How far can you walk without feeling winded?
- Do you ever have chest pain or tightness? If yes, is it related to activity?
- Have you had a persistent cough? If yes, is your cough dry or do you produce sputum?
- Do you suffer from fatigue or malaise?
- Have you had any fevers?
- Have you recently lost weight? If so, how much?
- Do you have pain in your joints, bones, or muscles?
- Have you noticed any lumps in your neck, armpits, or groin?
- Have you noticed any rashes or changes in your skin?
- Have you had blurry vision or watery eyes?
- Have you ever had red or painful eyes or a past diagnosis of uveitis?
- Do you smoke cigarettes?
- Have you had an abnormal chest x-ray in the past?
- Do you have a family history of sarcoidosis?
- Are you taking any medications?
- Have you ever been on steroids or any other treatment for you sarcoidosis?
Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:
- Temperature, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, heart rate
- Heart and lung exam
- Joint exam
- Skin exam
- Lymph node exam
Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:
- Plain chest x-ray
- Chest CT scan
- Pulmonary function tests
- Bronchoscopy with lung biopsy
- Blood tests
- Formal eye exam
When You Visit Your Doctor - Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections
Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections
Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:
- With each of the bladder or urinary tract infections that you have you had, as far back as you can remember:
- What were the dates of each?
- Was a urine culture done to prove you had an infection?
- What treatment was given, and how quickly did you get better?
- Did you have a fever, pain in your back, or nausea and vomiting?
- Have you ever been told that you have abnormalities in the way your kidneys or bladder, or the tubes connecting them, are built?
- Do you frequently develop bladder or urinary tract infections after sexual intercourse?
- Do you have any chronic medical problems (for example, diabetes or neurological disease)?
- Are you on any antibiotics to prevent recurrent bladder or urinary tract infections? If so, which one?
- If you are a woman, what type of contraception do you use (for example, a diaphragm, spermicide)?
Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:
- Abdominal exam
- Genital exam
- Back exam for the presence of tenderness in the area of the kidneys
Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:
- Clean-catch urine specimen for urinalysis and culture
- Ultrasound of the bladder
- Full pelvic/renal ultrasound
- Abdominal CT scan
- Cystourethrogram
When You Visit Your Doctor - Shingles
Shingles
Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:
- Do you have a history of chicken pox?
- Does your skin hurt, itch, or feel numb?
- Is the pain sharp, dull, or piercing? How long have you had it?
- Do you have a rash? If so, for how long?
- Is the rash in more than one place on your skin?
- Is the rash on one side of your body only?
- Has the rash at any time looked like small blisters?
- Do you still have pain even if the rash is gone?
- What triggers the pain (for example, a light touch)?
- Do your symptoms interfere with your ability to sleep or perform activities of daily living?
- Are you taking any medications?
Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:
- Skin exam almost always confirms the diagnosis
Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:
- Skin scraping to examine under the microscope, or for viral culture, immunofluorescence, or polymerase chain reaction testing (rarely needed)
When You Visit Your Doctor - Vaginitis
Vaginitis
Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:
- How long have you had this vaginal discomfort?
- Does it itch or burn?
- Do you have vaginal discharge? Does it have a bad odor? What is the consistency?
- Are you pregnant?
- Are you sexually active?
- Is sexual intercourse painful?
- Do you have pain or burning with urination?
- Are you urinating more frequently?
- Do you have urinary incontinence?
- Are you post-menopausal?
- Do you have vaginal dryness?
- Do you have diabetes?
- Have you recently taken antibiotics or corticosteroids?
- Is your immune system suppressed in any way?
- Do you take birth-control pills?
- Do you wear tight pants or synthetic fabrics (nylon)? (These are all predisposing factors for yeast infections).
- Have you or your partner ever had a sexually transmitted disease?
- Do you have fevers, chills, abdominal pain, joint pain, or a rash?
Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:
- Abdominal examination
- Pelvic examination
Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:
- Sample of the vaginal discharge to examine under a microscope (wet smear)
- Cultures of the vaginal discharge
When You Visit Your Doctor - Spinal Stenosis
Spinal Stenosis
Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:
- Where is the pain in your back?
- Does it radiate to your legs?
- Is it worse when you walk?
- Does the pain from walking occur suddenly or gradually?
- Is it relieved by standing?
- Is it relieved by sitting or lying down?
- What bothers you more, the pain in your back or the pain in your legs?
- Does the pain worsen when you cough or sneeze?
- Do you have numbness or decreased sensation in your legs?
- Have you had problems with your balance?
- Have you had any changes or difficulty in your ability to urinate?
- How long have you had the pain?
- Is it getting worse?
- How much does it limit your usual activities?
- How is your quality of life affected by the pain?
- Have you ever had spinal surgery?
- Have you ever injured your back?
- Have you ever had hip surgery?
- Do you have diabetes?
- Do you have poor circulation, such as peripheral artery disease?
- Do you have foot ulcers?
- Have you ever had vascular surgery?
- Do you have any sort of neuropathy (nerve damage)?
- What are you doing to treat the pain?
- Have you seen a physical therapist?
- Are you interested in an injection of a cortisone-like medication into your back? Do you know anything about this procedure?
Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:
- Spine
- Hip
- Pulses in the feet, behind the knee and in the groin
- Neurologic exam
Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:
- X-rays of the spine
- CT scans of the spine
- MRI scans of the spine
When You Visit Your Doctor - Thrombocytopenia
Thrombocytopenia
Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:
- What medications do you take (including over-the-counter drugs and herbal remedies)?
- Have you been ill recently?
- What other medical problems do you have?
- Could you be pregnant?
- Have you ever been tested for HIV?
- Have you had fever?
- Have you had rashes?
- Have you had diarrhea?
- Have you had abdominal pain?
- Have you had headache?
- Have you had neurologic symptoms?
- Have you been lightheaded?
- Have you been short of breath with minimal exertion?
- Have you had chest pain or pressure?
- Have you had a cough?
- Do you have any bruises or nosebleeds?
- Do your gums bleed when you brush your teeth?
- If you are a woman, have you had unusually heavy menstrual periods?
- How long have you had symptoms?
- Does anyone else in your family have low platelets?
- How many alcoholic beverages do you drink in an average week?
Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:
- Eyes
- Mouth
- Heart
- Lungs
- Abdomen
- Skin
Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:
- Blood tests, which might include complete blood count with microscopic evaluation, kidney function tests, liver function tests, antinuclear antibody, an HIV test
- Bone marrow biopsy
When You Visit Your Doctor - Insomnia
Insomnia
Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:
- Are you particularly stressed at work or at home?
- Are you depressed or anxious?
- Do you have any underlying medical problems such as hyperthyroidism or sleep apnea?
- Do you snore?
- Do you have chronic pain or difficulty breathing at night?
- Do you have restlessness or twitching of your legs at night?
- Do you drink caffeine-containing beverages after noon (such as coffee or sodas)?
- Do you use stimulants? Drink alcohol? Take sedatives? Smoke cigarettes?
- Do you take any medications?
- What time do you usually go to bed?
- What time do you get up in the morning?
- Do you eat or work before going to bed?
- Have you noticed changes in your sleep patterns?
- Do you wake frequently at night?
- Do you feel tired during the day?
- How long do you stay in bed before you fall asleep?
- Do you have worries about not sleeping?
Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:
- Blood pressure, heart rate, weight
- General physical exam
Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:
- Complete blood cell count
- Thyroid function
- Sleep study with monitoring of heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen level, eye movements, and brain waves
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Recent Articles
Even a little exercise linked with lower stroke risk in people with afib
Testosterone therapy without evidence of deficiency may boost heart risk
Weight-loss drug may lower risk of heart attacks and infections
What to eat on the DASH diet
Migraine: How it's diagnosed and what that means
Tricep workouts you can do at home
Mindfulness practices to reduce stress and improve focus
Antihistamines may not offer meaningful relief from eczema symptoms
Overweight and taking blood pressure medications: Study finds it's a trend that's working
FDA approves first mRNA-based flu vaccine
/
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