Few patients truly understand the importance of keeping their doctor informed about how they are feeling especially when they are in relatively good health. When issues do arise, individuals tend to turn to friends, family, or the internet instead of their doctor. Sometimes this is because they are dealing with an issue which embarrasses them and other times it is because they don’t think their doctor can do anything about their issue.
It is important to build relationships with patients so that they feel comfortable coming to their doctor when they do have an issue. As part of this relationship, it is important that doctors connect the dots between what might seem like a harmless issue and possible serious long- term issues that might develop. One area where this is vital is explaining the possible consequences of a variety of infections.
STIs, Reproductive Issues, and Long-Term Fertility
One area that patients have a high rate of avoidance towards is discussing reproductive health issues. Patients often do not feel comfortable coming with their questions because they worry they might be judged. This hesitance can take many forms including not having annual Pap and HPV tests, or not being truthful when asked for their sexual history. One of the challenges is that patients do not connect the idea of STIs with serious consequences such as long-term fertility issues.
Patients are often unaware that untreated STIs can lead to permanent fertility issues. If on the other hand doctors have a good relationship with their patients, they will be able to communicate the importance of honest and frank conversations around reproductive health. A patient needs to be made aware that having an untreated STI can impact their long-term options around whether they can start a family.
UTIs and Long-Term Kidney Damage
UTIs are a common enough condition that many patients don’t see as a big deal that may require medical treatment. In addition, many patients don’t know that individuals of all ages may suffer from UTIs. Most patients are not aware of how to identify UTIs in infants and young children because symptoms are different from those in adults. Untreated UTIs can lead to severe kidney damage.
It is important that doctors communicate with patients about how UTIs can impact their bodies. It is also important that doctors sit down with patients who have a high occurrence of UTIs and develop treatment plans to help them avoid getting future UTIs. Patients tend to feel that UTIs are common and therefore minimize the possible damage that could be occurring to their bodies.
Respiratory Infections and Long-Term Damage
There are many different respiratory infections that a patient might get from relatively rare ones such as Whooping Cough to more common issues such as the flu, bronchitis, or pneumonia. Of course, the respiratory illness that is at the forefront of patients minds is COVID which has been sometimes found to produce long term issues such as fatigue, breathing issues, pain, memory, concentration or sleep problems, or increase the risk for depression or anxiety. There is a wide range of vaccines and other methods to decrease the risk of a patient getting a respiratory infection. It is important for doctors to listen to their patients and meet them where they are when it comes to becoming vaccinated. There is a lot of misinformation that doctors have to be equipped to debunk on a patient-to-patient basis.
While the possible long-term effects of STIs, UTIs, and respiratory infections may be easily understood by doctors, for most patients this is a grey area. Therefore, doctors need to commit to building and deepening their relationships with patients over time. If a doctor already is seen as a trustworthy and nonjudgmental source of information patients will reach out to them when they have health concerns.
Building on these relationships, doctors can treat their patients’ infections when they are small and before they have caused any permanent damage. Building relationships is key towards minimizing challenges such as embarrassment on the part of the patient. It is important that doctors are proactive in asking about their patients’ health and being willing to question their patients if something they say is not adding up. Together doctors working with their patients can reduce the number of individuals who develop serious long-term consequences of infections.
