Diagnosing and deciding on Effective Treatment for Diseases of Unclear Causes

Responding to Cindy

Hello,

Thank you for your post. Diagnosing and deciding on effective treatment for diseases of unclear causes, such as diverticular disease and diverticulitis, is a common challenge in healthcare settings. The major in such a case is to develop an accurate diagnosis that can enable the development of effective therapy for the disease and achieve better patient outcomes. Attending to a patient who manifests diseases like diverticular disease and diverticulitis creates an opportunity to learn about the disease and attempt to determine any possible causes that have not been identified from previous cases or in research. As observed in the case of the patient presenting diverticulitis, following the standard path of diagnosis can help develop an objective diagnosis that can support decisions on the type of treatment to prescribe for the patient.

The first step is to identify the patient’s history and the disease. The history may consider the previous diagnosis, if any, and the patient’s previous lifestyle may be a relatable risk factor for developing diverticular disease in the first place. The history may highlight any exposures that may suggest disease-cause factors besides the identified risk factors. To improve the diagnosis, the physician or nurse can consider other non-specific symptoms and red flags of the development of diverticular disease and diverticulitis, then a physical examination. The findings at this level can guide the clinical testing, including clinical sample tests and imaging tests. Treatment can focus on medications that help with the rapid reduction of the symptoms. However, the treatment approach should always be individualized and based on the severity of the diverticulitis diagnosed (Peery, 2021).

References

Peery, A. F. (2021). Management of colonic diverticulitis. BMJ, 372. https://doi.org/10.1136/BMJ.N72