Chronic Disease Management

Managing your chronic illness can be a challenge on the best of days. Finding the right provider in Davenport for managing chronic diseases is important for your long-term health.

Essential Health of the Quad Cities offers an integrated approach to managing illness that includes check-ups, monitoring, testing and labs, coordinating treatment, and patient education. We aim to improve your quality of life while reducing your overall healthcare costs by preventing or minimizing the effects of a disease.

Membership in Essential Health gets you unlimited access to our practice, and you can come in for regular and routine check-ups, screenings, and more, at your convenience. We offer several different membership options including corporate memberships and individual and family memberships.

What Does It Mean to Have a Chronic Disease?

Chronic diseases are sicknesses or conditions that normally last three months or longer and may worsen with time. Chronic diseases tend to happen to older people and can usually be treated but not cured.

Chronic diseases affect a patient for a lengthy period, during which they do neither improve nor disappear. They may serve you for several years or the rest of your life. These disorders are particularly challenging to treat since patients frequently. They must learn to live with their chronic disease rather than attempting to cure it to find permanent relief from the symptoms.

A chronic disease has an effect not only on a person’s physical health but also on their emotional health and their mental health. It can also affect everyday activities, relationships, and a person’s impression of themselves.

The common chronic diseases are:
• Heart Disease
• Stroke
• Depression
• Cancer
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Asthma
• Arthritis
• Osteoporosis

Dealing With The Effects of A Chronic Disease

The honest truth about having a chronic disease is that it may be a condition that you don’t recover from – however you can treat and manage it. Chronic illnesses have symptoms that are particular to the condition, but they may also bring other symptoms such as pain, exhaustion, and mental issues.

You might start to experience pain and exhaustion on a more regular basis. Along with your disease, you most likely have specific things you need to take care of yourself, such as taking medication and engaging in physical activity. Keeping up with the obligations associated with managing your health can sometimes lead to stress.

Chronic illness can cause physical changes that can impact a person’s appearance. These shifts can potentially transform a healthy self-image into a negative one. When you don’t have a positive self-image, it’s common to alienate yourself from your friends and other people in social situations. Mood disorders like depression and anxiety are frequent problems of chronic diseases, but the good news is that these conditions are preventable or treatable.

The ability to work might be negatively impacted by chronic illnesses as well. Because of morning stiffness, restricted range of motion, and other physical restrictions, you might need to adjust your work to compensate for these issues.

When To Seek For Help

Thinking about your situation and the unpredictability of future events can be stressful. It may contribute to the manifestation of symptoms that are related to stress.

Dealing with a chronic illness is something that you should not go through alone. In addition to requesting support from your primary care provider, you should consult a mental health provider as soon as possible to aid in better comprehending and managing the effects of your disease.

Ways To Live Your Live To The Fullest Despite Having A Chronic Disease

The most important thing you can do is to get help as soon as you notice that you are becoming less able to deal with things. It will be easier for you to comprehend and manage the multiple effects of a chronic illness if you take action as soon as possible. Learning how to manage stress will help you retain a happy attitude on life on all levels, including the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual.

If you go to your primary care physician and a mental health practitioner for assistance, they will be willing to modify a treatment plan for your special needs if you ask for their help.

You may improve your quality of life and restore a sense of control over your life with the help of these tactics, which everyone deserves. If you show signs of depression or stress, your doctor may prescribe medication to boost your mood and make you feel better.

Other than seeking help, you can also do the following to improve your daily life:

• Exercise as much as possible.

Regular exercise helps in managing your symptoms and improves your overall health. Cardiovascular benefits can be achieved by exercise. Your doctor may advise you to practice certain workouts to relieve discomfort or increase strength. Depending on your health, you may also need to avoid specific exercises entirely or during flare-ups. Before beginning to exercise, you may need to contact a physical or occupational therapist in some circumstances.

• Keeping a healthy diet and eating well.

Consuming nutritious food can assist in avoiding, delaying, and managing chronic diseases. A healthy diet has a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, low-fat dairy products, and limitations on added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium.

• Make sure you get enough sleep.

Lack of sleep has been associated with the development of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression, as well as poor management of these conditions. A minimum of seven hours of sleep per day is recommended for adults to keep their bodies healthy.

• Avoid unhealthy coping techniques such as drinking too many alcoholic beverages, smoking, or using drugs.

◦ Even for long-term smokers, quitting smoking reduces the chance of significant health problems such as heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases. Consuming an excessive amount of alcohol over some time can result in various conditions, including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and liver damage. You can lessen the severity of these risks to your health by limiting the amount of alcohol you consume.

What is Chronic Disease Management?

Essential Health assists patients with chronic diseases in better managing their symptoms and accessing suitable treatments to achieve better health outcomes and prevent problems.

The discomfort caused by the disease is one of the primary focuses of the services that are provided to treat chronic conditions; as a result, these services strive to improve patients’ physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

For instance, if you enroll as a member of our chronic disease management, we will provide you with individualized care and the aid of trained professionals in managing your chronic disease.

Stop by Our Offices

Finding the proper specialist in Davenport for chronic disease management is critical for your long-term health. Our offices are designed to be warm, welcoming, and friendly to new patients.

Essential Health of the Quad Cities offers an integrated approach to managing an illness that includes check-ups, monitoring, testing and labs, coordinating treatment, and patient education. By decreasing disease impacts, we aim to improve your quality of life while lowering total healthcare costs.

Membership in Essential Health gets you unlimited access to our practice, and you can come in for regular and routine check-ups, screenings, and more, at your convenience. We offer several membership options, including corporate, individual, and family memberships.