The increase in some conditions such as Multiple sclerosis, along with cancer and diabetes they have had an important increase in Mexico and the world because “we are living through a stage of epidemiological transition, a result of the evolution that modern life has had.”
The neurologist Carlos Pla Casamitjana warned the previous, in the activities that this Thursday took place in the mayor's office Benito Juárez, on the occasion of the World Day of Multiple Sclerosis.
The specialist explained that today both in Mexico and in the world there are several factors that have changed the living conditions of society, hence there is a transition between morbidity from infectious diseases, to first world complications such as cancer, sclerosis multiple and diabetes. Added to this is a higher life expectancy compared to a few years ago, which added to the stress and conditions of modern life they have derived in factors that favor the development of diseases that previously did not occur so frequently.
Mexico is facing the challenge of ensuring that it has enough specialists for the coming years, since this same transition will lead to greater demand for them. And it is not that there are going to be more sick people, but because there are more factors that cause these diseases, the ideal is to be attended more efficiently from a preventive and non-palliative perspective, he explained.
The doctor said that as the cases of these diseases have increased, it is also known more of the factors that detonate, so it is possible to apply strategies to prevent their development and for this the presence of more specialists is essential.
Of course, he warned that in the case of Medicine, there is a “certain phobia of neurology”, because many doctors even show an aversion to studying this science, so that today in the world there are very few neurologists, as in Nigeria where only there is one.
In the case of Mexico, he said, “we are not few but if we are counted the specialist in neurology and this leads us to the problem that there are not enough specialists to treat a problem like multiple sclerosis”. Pla Casamitjana assured that the best strategy to deal with a condition such as multiple sclerosis It is teamwork, where doctors, family and civil society can join efforts to help their treatment and prevention.
He warned that the first thing to understand is that multiple sclerosis is a very complex and silent disease, so that whoever gets to suffer from it sometimes does not realize until it has moved too far.
That is why the role of specialists, such as neurologists, is indispensable for the early symptoms such as fatigue and excessive weakness, lack of balance, difficulty eating or talking, visual disturbances, tremors and stiffness in extremities or others, diagnose if it is sclerosis.
In case you already have this disease, it is also important to have a multidisciplinary support, since the patient should not only visit the neurologist, but also the psychologist, the urologist, the gastroenterologist and the ophthalmologist, among others.
Similarly, he added, the family can play a preponderant role, to provide support to the patient and help him to follow his treatments with attachment and discipline, in addition to the treatments that are prescribed.