September 23, 2024

From A Naturopaths Point of View Part 3

From A Naturopaths Point of View Part 3

Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND

Self-diagnosis?

One of the most integral parts of a consult with an Invite nutritionist t is knowing exactly what is going on in your body. In other words it’s important to see a doctor, get appropriate tests and finally receive an official diagnosis. However in this day and age medical information is all over the internet. There’s WebMD, Wikipedia and even google itself! The problem with all this easy to access information is that very often people will use this to self-diagnose rather than go to the doctor and receive the tests they need that can help to determine what the diagnosis actually is. This can be a huge problem for a number of reasons.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? When we say self-diagnose we refer to the process of diagnosing or identifying a medical condition yourself without a doctor. This is a very bad idea for a number of reasons. Very often a self-diagnosis is wrong. What this means is that when you call you can not only receive wrong advice but cause a delay in getting the actual advice that would help you. (1) This is especially true in cases where your symptoms are not unique and can be a symptoms of many different diagnosis. For example fatigue is such a common symptom that it’s almost impossible to form a diagnosis just based on it!

In some case’s delaying proper treatment can be annoying. For example if you have a misdiagnosed rash it can be annoying but not necessarily life threating. In other case’s delaying proper treatment CAN be dangerous and even life threating. For example you may self-diagnosis panic disorder but actually have a problem with your heart that needs immediate treatment! (1) A personal experience that I can mention is as following. An induvial called Invite for a consult and I responded. They had self-diagnosed as having depression. I advised them to go to a doctor and get appropriate testing done. Well it turns out they had extremely high blood sugar and needed medication to control their diabetes. If I had just recommended things for depression they could have become very ill due to the high blood sugar! This was a prime example of just why a self-diagnose is so dangerous since uncontrolled diabetes can have very severe complications!

Additionally there are often things that we don’t notice about ourselves. It is common for people who diagnose themselves to overlook key symptoms. In some case’s an induvial may miss signs of depression and think they have anxiety. (1) Anther example is when someone who is suffering from dementia thinks that they have depression.

Another concern is the actual websites themselves. In fact search engines often bring up either the most severe ailment possible or the most common. Just because a diagnosis is common doesn’t mean it is correct for you! (1)

So what do I think about self-diagnose as a Naturopathic doctor? Well I think it can be a great idea to get a list of your symptoms ready so when you go to see your doctor you are ready. That being said overall I don’t think that to self-diagnose is a good idea nor do I encourage it. Remember that knowledge is power and knowing exactly what is wrong can help us and your doctor help you!

So what are some things that are good for our overall health?

Multi vitamins, in my opinion are a corner stone of health. In fact studies have found that multi vitamins can help improve our health by improving things such as our memory. (2) Please see Invite’s Core, Performance, Men and Women’s Multi as well as our Multi Energy powder! For those who prefer a more simple option we have the Daily Multi with Grape Seed.
Probiotics are another supplement that is amazing for our overall wellbeing. So many studies have found that probiotics can be helpful for everything from diarrhea, constipation and even to help with allergies! (3) check out Invite’s Probiotic Hx, Weight, Women and Immune! And for those who would rather a chewable there is Digestive Probiotic Gummy!
Collagen is another supplement that is amazing for our health. For example studies have found that it is great for our skin. (4) Please see Invite’s Collagen Hx, Collagex HA, Tablets and even our Beauty Collagen gummies. There is even a capsule form called Cartilage Hx!

Our product highlight will be talking about the difference between Krill and Fish Oil. I hope to answer any questions you may have on these fantastic nutrients.

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