Disease Management

Disease management can be defined as the use of information systems, clinical practice guidelines, and case management to improve a patient's health status and quality of life.

Following you can see videos with basic information for some of the most commons diseases. You can also print a brochure.

Wellness Programs

WEIGHT REDUCTION PROGRAM

Weight reduction programs are meant to help patients that suffer from obesity to lose weight.

What is it?
Obesity is considered to be a weight of 20% more than normal for a person, based on his or her height. Obesity is not just feeling fat or overweight. It is weighing more than is healthy for your body. It is the result of having too much fat on the body. Being obese can bring about other health problems and cause an earlier than normal death.

What causes it?
Food contains energy called calories. Your body needs calories to live. The main cause of obesity is taking in more calories than your body uses. The extra calories are stored in your body as fat. Many things can add to obesity. If other members of your family are obese, you also may tend to be obese. An inactive lifestyle can add to obesity. Eating a poor diet such as to many foods high in fat also contribute. Friends and family may pressure you to eat more than you should. Some people eat when they are lonely or sad.

What are the symptoms?
You may feel heavier than you should. You may have a difficult time getting around or you might get tired quickly when you exercise. You may not feel good about yourself and you may have difficulty sleeping. Other health problems such as high blood pressure, arthritis or diabetes may be affecting you.

How is it treated?
A comprehensive history, physical examination, laboratory tests and body measurements will help us decide on the best treatment for you. Dietary and lifestyle changes are the main treatment. You will be given guidelines about what and when to eat. Exercise will be needed to help you lose weight. A personalized exercise program will be designed to meet what you are able and like to do.

It is important to avoid fad diets. Skipping meals does not help either. If you skip meals, your body reacts by thinking it is being starved. This causes your body to slow down the amount of calories it uses, and may make you feel more hungry.

New and specific medications are now available to help patients lose weight. These medications are not meant or indicated for everyone. We will discuss the specific indications, benefits and risks of using these medications with you.

Obesity can bring about other health problems such as heart attacks, diabetes, high blood pressure, gall bladder disease, arthritis and gout. We will help you reduce the risk of developing these problems and/or treat them as well. Obesity also can cause social embarrassment and work discrimination.

Long term weight maintenance is the goal. Gaining and losing weight over and over is worse for your body than being slightly overweight. Your progress depends on maintaining your motivation. With the support from the people around you, and if you follow a healthy diet and exercise properly, you can live a healthy, productive life.

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SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM (stop smoking)

What is it?
You may have been asked to quit smoking or you may have wanted to quit for some time. Smoking has been proven conclusively to have many adverse effects on your health, and the health of those around you. Lung disease, lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, ulcers, osteoporosis, premature skin wrinkling, yellowing of teeth, and many other conditions are strongly related to smoking. Many people delay quitting thinking it may be too hard, or they may quit and then go back to smoking. It is hard for most people to quit because smoking cigarettes is truly addictive. The nicotine in cigarettes causes a chemical addiction, and having gotten used to smoking in social, pleasurable, and relaxed situations causes a psychological addiction as well.

The addictive affect of nicotine occurs after you have had a cigarette. When you smoke, the nicotine is absorbed into your blood stream and your body develops an amount or level of nicotine that it becomes used to. Without a cigarette for a few hours, the nicotine level drops, causing the person to feel nervous and edgy, like they need a smoke. Having another smoke brings up the level of nicotine, relieving this nervousness. Smoking will not relieve a nervous feeling caused by real day-to-day problems.

What causes it?
Many smokers begin early in life, some before age 18. Smoking has been socially acceptable for some time. Advertisements show young, healthy people playing sports, enjoying the outdoors and entertainment while they smoke. Teenagers often begin smoking with friends. A high percentage of teen smokers come from homes where one or both parents smoke. Education about the health affects of smoking do not usually prevent teens from beginning.

What are the symptoms?
Due to nicotine's chemical addiction, you may have withdrawal symptoms for 3 to 10 days after quitting. You may feel edgy and nervous. These symptoms will fade with time depending on how strong your addiction is. You may notice an increase in your cough. This is how your body begins to rid itself of the nicotine and carbon monoxide. The healing begins the first day you quit.

Due to nicotine's psychological addiction, there may be times after the initial withdrawal that you feel like lighting up a cigarette. Social situations or times that you normally would have smoked can feel unnatural without a cigarette. The first week can be the hardest and is most often when a relapse can occur. Relapses occur because of the strength of the addictions and a possible weakness in the patient's motivation to quit and/or in the smoke-ending program.

How is it treated?
Trying to quit on your own, or quitting secretly, has in most studies proven to not work very well. You will benefit greatly from the support of friends, family, and us. There are also many classes and groups to help you quit smoking. The most important thing to help you quit is your motivation and commitment.

For any attempt to quit smoking, you will find the following general advice helpful:

• List your reasons for quitting. Refer to the list during your attempt/program.
• Pick a date to quit.
• Let family, friends, and co-workers know you are quitting.
• Take quitting a day at a time.
• Stay focused on not smoking each day.
• You will need to change some of your habits.
• Times that you normally smoked or places that you usually had a cigarette may be more difficult for you.
• If you smoked after eating, get up from the table as soon as you finish you meal.
• You may want to take a walk after eating in place of smoking.
• Change anything commonly connected with smoking for you: remove all ashtrays, sit in a different chair.
• Choose activities that make it difficult to smoke and perform at the same time, such as gardening, swimming, or washing a car.
• Think positively about your new lifestyle and believe that you can make it.
• When the urge to smoke strikes, know that you can make it through that urge. Urges only last a few minutes.

Our smoking cessation program has proven very effective because it is individualized to each patient's needs. Mentally and physically preparing you to quit is a very important part of our program. Periodic follow-up visits are instrumental in helping us help you sustain your motivation, as well as insuring that our individualized plan for you is working. Smoking cessation aides are available to help you. Nicotine replacement therapies, like patches or gum, are available to help reduce the withdrawal symptoms that can result from the chemical addiction. The oral medication bupropion, brand named Zyban, is available to reduce the "cravings" that can result from the psychological addiction. The use of these aides are individually considered, recommended and properly taken advantage of to maximize your chance for success.

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TRAVELER'S IMMUNIZATION

What is it?
As the world becomes a smaller place, the chances of our coming into contact with a contagious disease, to which we have not previously been exposed, increase. Catching malaria or meningitis can really mess up your day, not to mention your long awaited and hard earned travel plans. Many parts of the world have their unique organisms, and the respective diseases that they cause, just waiting for the unsuspecting and unprotected. Verdugo Hills Medical Associates is a licensed travel immunization and yellow fever vaccination administration site.

What do we offer?
We offer an extensive line of travel services including:

1. Travel consultation: a provider will review your present and past travel and medical history, as well as your specific itinerary, with you. Your provider will then look up, via our on-line CDC access, the most current health related information and recommendations as they relate to your specific travel plans. This allows us to offer you the best chance of a more pleasant travel experience .

2. Travel immunizations: travel immunizations can be classified as those that are recommended and those that are required.

A. Recommended immunizations are for diseases that the Center for Disease Control, or we, know you will be sufficiently exposed to during your specific travel route, but that are not required to get in or out of the countries you are visiting.

B. Required immunizations are for diseases that the Center for Disease Control tells us you are required to have in order to either get in or out of one or more of the countries you will be visiting.

C. Our comprehensive supply of travel immunizations consists of such vaccines as: yellow fever, cholera, typhoid, meningitis, Japanese encephalitis, hepatitis A and B, tetanus, diphtheria, polio.

D. You will receive an official international traveler's vaccination certificate as proof of your having received your vaccinations.

3. Prescribed medications for the prevention of specific diseases such as malaria, traveler's diarrhea etc.

4. Printed copy of CDC approved recommendations for anyone traveling to the countries you will be visiting.

How can I access it?
We offer our travel services by appointment, in our primary care suite, or on a walk-in basis in our urgent care suite. Special arrangements can be made for providing travel immunization services off-site for large groups.

When should I start?
We strongly recommend that you make arrangements to come in for a traveler's consultation as soon as you know when and where you are going. Any immunization requires some time between administration and when the patient is actually protected. Many immunizations require an initial dose followed up by a booster, necessitating a minimum period of time between them. The sooner you get started, and the more time we have to adequately protect you, the better are your chances for desirable results. See Health Map

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Verdugo Hills Medical Associates
Discount Prescription Drug Card

This program is being provided to you and your family to help lower your prescription drug costs. Simply create and print your FREE Prescription Drug Card below and receive savings of up to 75% (discounts average roughly 30%) at more than 56,000 national and regional pharmacies. This card can be used as your primary plan and/or it can be used on prescriptions not covered by your insurance plan. This program also includes other value added programs which will be listed on the card. Please enter your name and e-mail address in the box below and we will generate a printable membership card for you (no application/enrollment or eligibility required). This program has “LOWEST PRICE” logic to guarantee that you get the best deal on your prescriptions. (You pay the lower of a discount off Average Wholesale Price–AWP, discount off MAC Pricing or Pharmacy Promotional/Retail price). This card is pre-activated and can be used immediately!