Gastrointestinal Diseases: After the Diagnosis

Gastrointestinal (GI) Diseases Patient Management

Though you may rely on the same arsenal of tactics to diagnose lower Gl diseases–serology, stool tests, endoscopies, and biopsies–the treatments for each disease vary as much as the conditions themselves. A reduction in symptoms and improvement in quality of life are the objectives for any management plan. Though autoimmune GI diseases are chronic and incurable, testing can help you monitor your patients and modify the management plan as needed to achieve these goals.

Prognosis

The prognosis and outlook for patients with lower GI disorders can include a range of outcomes from fertility problems to an increased risk for certain cancers.¹ Long-term management will be contingent on present overlapping disorders, and your patient’s individual disease manifestation.

Precise management of GI diseases - A tailored approach for your patients

Due to the chronic and incurable nature of many GI diseases, the goals of any management plan need to be centered around reducing symptom flares and improving or maintaining quality of life. Developing that plan, though, can be difficult, as GI diseases have wide variability in symptoms, causes, and manifestations. Thus, management plans are truly individualized and can be developed to address a patient’s individual disease manifestations.²

Ongoing monitoring can help you and your patient to gauge the success of that personalized management plan.

Continued or worsening symptoms may indicate the presence of overlapping autoimmune diseases, which you can monitor through patient follow ups and cross screenings.

Continued testing and monitoring

Patients who have been tested, and subsequently diagnosed with one autoimmune disease are inherently more likely to develop additional, or related autoimmune conditions.³ You may want to consider screening your patients with autoimmune GI disorders for associated diseases.

The awareness and knowledge of coexisting or overlapping diseases can help you establish or refine the most appropriate management plan. If the patient’s condition seems to be deteriorating on their current management plan, cross screening and reevaluation may be necessary. There is universal agreement on the necessity of long term monitoring in CD and IBD, to prevent complications and improve patient quality of life.⁴

Consider testing for associated disorders.

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Conditions & Diseases

Understand allergic and autoimmune diseases.

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Tests

Diagnostic tests give reliable results that support primary care physicians as well as specialists in providing optimal patient management.