Acute and Chronic Illnesses
At Conroe Family Physicians, we treat both acute and chronic illnesses. What is the difference you may ask? Acute illnesses are ones that have a more sudden onset and require more immediate treatment. Once treatment takes place, the medical issue is expected to begin to resolve and should not need continuous treatment. Some examples of minor acute illnesses would be strep throat, influenza, or a viral infection. Acute illnesses can also be more serious in nature as well, such as a heart attack, stroke, or a broken bone. In any case, the quicker the treatment process begins, the faster you will begin to travel the road back to being healthy.
Chronic illnesses, on the other hand, will generally develop over a longer period of time which may not be found if routine physicals are not performed to monitor your overall well being. For example, you may begin developing joint pain but not realize that arthritis is beginning to form. By letting your doctor know your symptoms in your routine exams, your physician can monitor this as it progresses and begin treatment as early as possible to avoid long term complications.
Some other examples of chronic illnesses are:
- Asthma
- Cancer
- COPD
- Diabetes
- Epilepsy
- Parkinson Disease
Diseases that are chronic or acute in nature should be treated as soon as they are found and managed with a caring physician’s care. If you have any symptoms such as headaches, joint pain, stiffness, chest pain or anything out of the ordinary, please don’t ignore them. Talk to us today and make an appointment. What may seem minor today may be something progressive tomorrow. Let’s get you an appointment and back to feeling your best.