What Is Internal Medicine?

Helping you maintain your health is the goal of doctors who practice internal medicine. Dr. Sarah Payberah, your Plano, TX doctor, discusses several benefits of internal medicine.

Treating the entire person

Internal medicine doctors focus on diseases and conditions that affect adults. Unlike other specialists that focus on certain areas or systems of the body, these doctors treat the entire body. Some internal medicine doctors also subspecialize in certain areas, such infectious disease, nephrology or rheumatology. Internal medicine doctors are the physicians to see if you experience any of these health problems:

• Viral illnesses, such as the flu
• Injuries
• Asthma, COPD or other respiratory illnesses
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Joint pain
• Mental health issues
• Neurological conditions
• Urinary tract infection or other urinary problems

Problem solving

Although some diseases present very obvious signs and symptoms, others are a little more difficult to diagnose. Internal medicine doctors are accustomed to evaluating symptoms that may not seem related on the surface and using their education, expertise and experience to determine a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Convenience

Since internal medicine doctors treat a range of problems, you'll only have to travel to one office, whether you have a sinus infection or suffer from high blood pressure. In addition to being more convenient, seeing the same doctor allows you to develop a strong patient/doctor relationship.

The ideal advocate in Plano

Internal medicine doctors don't just treat illnesses and diseases, but also offer guidance regarding ways you can reduce your risk of common diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease. Prevention is an important part of what they do. They offer checkups, provide screenings that can detect diseases in the earliest stages and offer vaccines that will help you stay healthy, such as flu, shingles and pneumonia vaccines.

If your internal medicine doctor thinks that you could benefit from a visit to a specialist, they will offer a referral and support the recommendations and treatment plan the specialist provide.

Preserve your good health with a visit to your internal medicine doctor. Call Dr. Payberah, your Plano, TX doctor, at (972) 981-7830 to schedule your appointment.