{"id":672,"date":"2021-08-15T05:43:24","date_gmt":"2021-08-15T05:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/verztest.com\/frontier_healthcare\/?p=672"},"modified":"2023-08-07T10:14:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T02:14:01","slug":"managing-chronic-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/managing-chronic-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing Chronic Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDo I have to take medications for the rest of my life for my blood pressure\/ diabetes\/ cholesterol?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a question that I get a lot as a primary health practitioner also known as GP. This is also the question that opens up the communication channel that my patient and I share, which enable them to understand and better manage their condition.<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s understand a bit more about these conditions<\/strong>. They fall under this group of condition called \u201cChronic Diseases\u201d<\/strong><\/em>. They are not passed from person to person, are of long duration<\/strong> and generally slow progression<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The four main types of chronic diseases are:<\/h6>\n
\n
    \n
  1. Cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, cholesterol<\/li>\n
  2. Diabetes Mellitus<\/li>\n
  3. Cancers<\/li>\n
  4. Chronic respiratory diseases like chronic obstructed pulmonary disease and asthma<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    They generally cannot<\/strong> be prevented by vaccines or cured by medications<\/strong>. Having said that, chronic disease can be prevented<\/strong> from happening and managing<\/strong> it such that they do not<\/strong> worsen and affect our health further. Over the years, I have learnt that 4 very simple words can help patients manage<\/strong> their condition better. They are: \u201cWhy? What? How? Who?\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
    \n\"Free<\/p>\n

    1. Why?<\/strong>
    \n<\/em><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    “Why do you want to better manage your condition? Why is it important for you?”<\/em><\/div>\n
    \n

     <\/p>\n

    Find a good reason<\/strong> to empower yourself on this life long journey<\/strong> of taking care of yourself. It can be as simple and truthful<\/strong> as \u201cI want to be healthy and fit to play with my grandkids as they grow up.\u201d<\/em> Or \u201cI am afraid of losing my self care ability if I have a stroke\u201d<\/em>. If you have more<\/strong> than one reason, that\u2019s perfect! More to keep you going.Have a good reason to motivate<\/strong> yourself.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    2. What?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    “What causes high blood pressure? What are the complications of poorly controlled diabetes? What will help to lower my cholesterol? What is the level of my blood sugar?”<\/em><\/p>\n

    \u201cWhat\u201d refers to equipping yourself with knowledge<\/strong> of your condition. Knowledge is the key to understand<\/strong> what is happening to your own body, to learn how to take care<\/strong> of it. In this day and age, technology<\/strong> has greatly improved the ease<\/strong> of us gaining knowledge, make use of it! Find out various things about your condition.<\/strong> Clarify with your family doctor<\/strong> if there are information that you are not clear<\/strong> about.<\/p>\n

    Know the parameters of your disease<\/strong>, e.g. your blood pressure reading, measure<\/strong> your reading regularly<\/strong> so that you can share these readings with your family doctor<\/strong>. Keep records<\/strong> of your blood tests, so that you know if your sugar<\/strong> and cholesterol<\/strong> levels are getting better<\/strong> or worse.<\/strong> Be in control<\/strong> of your own health.<\/p>\n

    \"Senior<\/p>\n

    3. How<\/strong><\/div>\n
    \n

    “How do I lower my blood pressure? How do I manage my diet? How much exercise am I supposed to do?”<\/em>Coupled with \u201cWhat\u201d, \u201cHow\u201d leads<\/strong> us to action steps to take care<\/strong> of ourselves. Other than popping pills, there are other important ways<\/strong> to manage chronic diseases. Diet and Exercise are two crucial aspects. A high salt intake can increase blood pressure<\/strong>, hence by choosing food with lower salt<\/strong> or avoiding food with high salt content like processed meat, we can lower<\/strong> our blood pressure. Regular exercise<\/strong> 3-5 times a week and daily walks can help our body use up the extra sugar<\/strong>. Or simply take the chance to know more friends by joining<\/strong> the Zumba<\/strong> or Taichi<\/strong> class at the Community Centre<\/strong> while burning the extra sugar and fats.<\/p>\n

    In addition, also look into \u201cHow will this condition affect me?\u201d This will help you gain understanding<\/strong> of \u201cwhy\u201d is this important for you.<\/p>\n

    4. Who<\/strong><\/p>\n

    “Who are the people that can support you in the journey of health? Who are those that can join you in this? Who are the people whom you can learn from?”<\/em><\/p>\n

    Identify<\/strong> these people in your life. This may include<\/strong> your spouse who will root for you, give you timely reminders<\/strong> and perhaps prepare your healthier meals<\/strong>. May be your friends who exercise regularly<\/strong> with you. Or your grandchild who will research<\/strong> how to better manage your condition with you. There are also healthcare professionals<\/strong> like doctors, nurses, dieticians whom you can approach to learn more about your condition.<\/p>\n

    This sums up the four simple words you can ask yourself and anyone for better disease management. May these be the first step of you mastering<\/strong> your own health.<\/p>\n

    Article contributed by Frontier Healthcare Clinical Content Team<\/em><\/p>\n

    Download (PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    About Frontier Healthcare Group<\/b><\/h2>\n

    Frontier Healthcare (as part of the Qualitas Primary Care Division) runs 18 GP clinics, 2 <\/span>Family Medicine Clinics<\/span><\/a> (<\/span>Clementi<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>MacPherson<\/span><\/a>) and has 37 affiliated GP clinics under its Frontier Primary Care Network Program. Frontier Healthcare supports national schemes such as the Community Health Assist Scheme (Pioneer, Merdeka, CHAS Green, CHAS Orange, CHAS Blue), Baby Bonus, <\/span>Healthier SG<\/span><\/a>, MBS@Gov etc, as well as partnerships with major Insurers, Corporates and TPA partners to bring quality and affordable healthcare closer to the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cDo I have to take medications for the rest of my life for my blood pressure\/ diabetes\/ cholesterol?\u201d<\/p>\n

    This is a question that I get a lot as a primary health practitioner also known as GP. This is also the question that opens up the communication channel that my patient and I share, which enable them to understand and better manage their condition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chronic-care"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/frontierhealthcare.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}