Last Updated on July 15, 2022 by Neelam Singh
A Post Graduate from Vinoba Bhave University in Clinical, Nutrition & Dietetics, Priyanka has been working as a dietician for more than 9 years.
What is the best thing you enjoy about treating patients?
Today, when people are highly active on social media platforms, Internet is flooded with all of kind of health related myths. For example every obese or diabetic person is advised to avoid rice, banana, mango, grapes and carbohydrate rich food items. But the reality is that you can eat them all if your body can digest and metabolize them efficiently. These kinds of myths are making people deficient of most essential nutrients. The reality is that treatment cannot be the same for everyone. And I am lucky to have helped many people in reducing their dosage of medicines or eliminating them by suggesting proper diet. So, I really feel good when they acknowledge how diet has made their life easy.
When is a patient easy to treat? (Explain the ideal behaviour of a patient)
Any one can enjoy the benefit of diet and lifestyle modification program for a disease-free life but it is easy and most effective when a patient contact the expert at initial stage and not at an advanced stage.
When is a patient difficult to treat? (Explain things patients do that makes a doctor’s job difficult; if possible, give personal examples)
Sometimes, it becomes really difficult to manage patients with multiple complications, women during menopausal stage or patients after the age of 75.
How helpful is it to the treatment course, if the patient is knowledgeable about the treatment procedure, benefits, risks etc.?
Very helpful. If the patient is knowledgeable about the treatment procedure, benefits and risk associated with it then it helps a lot in the entire treatment plan.
How can a patient improve his knowledge about the treatment procedure (apart from consulting the doctor, of course)?
One can enhance his/her health knowledge by watching credible informative videos, reading research websites and articles, joining educational webinars or seminars.
How medical misinformation act as a problem in the overall treatment procedure?
Medical misinformation is a very big problem.
Let’s take an example of increased level of uric acid in a patient. There are so many myths related to diet for increased uric acid. One of the most common myth is that, “Don’t take protein”. So now, they do not take dals, milk, curd, eggs, fish, chicken, beans and almonds but what about their body. We need protein for muscles, hair, skin, hormones, enzymes, blood, etc. If you will not take protein, how your body is going to perform its vital functions? So, it is very important to have right information regarding dietary therapy to improve the condition of increased uric acid. And for this, approaching a qualified dietician is highly recommended.
A few advice that you always give to your patients (about staying healthy, about escaping misinformation etc.)
Every body is different and we all have different compositions and reasons for weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, knee pain, etc. So, always follow the plan that suits you with the recommendation of a qualified dietician.
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