Special Services


                                          Preventative Medicine 

                                                                                                                                       Updated Aug. 4, 2023

The benefits of preventative healthcare refers to measures taken to prevent illness or disease before it occurs.  Some of the benefits include:   

1. Early detection and treatment:

This can help identify potential health issues before they become serious. More timely treatment can significantly improve the chances of successful outcomes.

2. Disease prevention: 

Measures such as vaccinations, screenings, and lifestyle modifications (e.g., healthy diet, exercise, good hobbies) can reduce the risk of developing various diseases. This helps individuals maintain good health and avoid the risks of complications associated with chronic conditions.

3. Improved quality of life: 

By focusing on preventing illness, individuals can maintain optimal health and well-being free from the burden of chronic diseases, and enjoy a higher quality of life.

4. Personal empowerment: 

When Individuals take an active role in managing their health with healthy behaviors, self-care, and some health monitoring, they can make informed decisions about their well-being.

Overall:

Preventative healthcare focuses on maintaining good health and preventing the onset of diseases, leading to numerous benefits for individuals.

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy                  

                                                                                       Updated Sept. 5, 2022

                                                                                          Program begun 1983

Many patients face occasional difficult social problems in their lives.  Some are definitely caused by the actions of other people, but sometimes patients face problems because they simply do not know how to handle a particular kind of problem.  “Cognitive” methods of problem solving are based on patient-physician discussions so the patient to develop the skills to think clearly about what the desired solution might be.

 “Behavioral” methods in medical care are usually based on changing the behavior of the patient.  Usually, changing one’s own behavior results in setting things up so that other people become more cooperative.  The idea of “Therapy” refers to the specific set of beneficial decisions developed during physician visits.

In 2008, Dr. Vidaver undertook additional studies in CBT to be able to provide these benefits for many patients during their regular office visits in the setting of primary care medicine.  Most patients do have problems that do not require formal referrals to psychological or psychiatric care.  Rather, most patients can benefit from structured discussions and “notebook exercises” so they can work out their problems mostly by themselves, and with the guidance of a trained physician.

CBT is useful for many patients.  Also, it is financially achievable because it is an integral part of their regular medical care.  Sleep disorders, and family social problems are two of the more common conditions with important medical complications that usually respond well to CBT with office visits every few weeks.  Usually, such therapy can be completed in a few months.  This program is available to most patients upon request.  Of course, complex cases can be referred to additional consultative psychological and psychiatric services.



Sleep Disorders                                               

                                                                                   Updated September 5, 2022

Many people in the United Stated have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, or both.  The Center for Disease Control estimates about one person in five has a sleep disorder.  Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that some medications prescribed for sleep have potentially serious complications.  We approach this set of disorders with a combination of carefully selected medications and behavioral modifications.  So far, most patients have seen improvements in their sleep patterns.  Individualized evaluations can be arranged, sometimes including Sleep Laboratory studies when indicated.  More severe sleep problems occasionally need consultations with sleep specialists.

There are Audio programs that are useful for improving the quality of one’s sleep patterns.  Additionally, we have been able to direct many patients to some of theuseful “video” programs on the Internet including the YouTube site which hosts many videos for meditation and sleep.  Some of the available items have included instructions for relaxation, meditation, self-hypnotic sleep induction and even highly technical “binaural sounds” for improvement of either sleep or relaxation.

Smoking Cessation Program                 

                                                                                      Updated Nov. 6, 2022      

In the last few decades, many adults have decided they would like to quit smoking, but they have found it a difficult effort.  In 2014, we introduced a new program to help people quit smoking.  Some patients have used a gradual reduction, some have done better with nicotine supplements, and a few patents have benefitted from prescription medications.  The medicine Chantix has helped many patients.  

The new “electronic cigarettes” have given us all new choices.  Are all the different the “vape” systems healthy?  We do not know yet while scientific studies are in progress.

Careful review of why someone smokes is important, so the treatments can be individualized.  If you want to quit smoking, please feel free to ask the doctor for help.  Most people have been surprised that after a while of thinking of the benefits of smoking and the health risks, they find it straight forward to stop smoking.

                                                                               


© Lawrence Vidaver 2022, 2023, 2024