Get the Right Team in Your Corner To Manage Your Chronic Illness

The numbers surrounding chronic illness in the United States are alarming. A whopping 194 million Americans are living with at least one chronic disease, including 6 in 10 young people, 8 in 10 middle-aged people, and 9 in 10 older adults.

Notice that we referred to living with a chronic disease, which is an important point. Many chronic illnesses are irreversible and often progressive, but that doesn’t mean you can’t lead a perfectly happy and productive life, as long as you manage your chronic condition well.

To that end, our team of internal medicine providers at LaSante Health Center offers comprehensive care for chronic illnesses. We think of our role as partnering with patients to optimize their health and wellness, despite the existence of a chronic illness.

Common chronic diseases

Technically, a chronic illness is defined as one that lasts for 3-6 months or more, and there are plenty that fit this bill. In our experience, which mirrors what's happening on a nationwide scale, the most common chronic illnesses include:

• Cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, which affects nearly half of adults
• Lung disease (16 million Americans live with lung disease due to smoking) 
• Diabetes, which affects more than 40 million Americans
• Chronic kidney disease, which affects more than 1 in 7 adults
• Arthritis, which affects 58.5 million adults
• Obesity, which affects more than 40% of adults 

There are plenty more chronic issues that we did not include on this list, as well as lifestyle issues, such as being inactive, but this gives you an idea of the seriousness of the health situation in our country.

Chronic illnesses cast a wide net

What most chronic diseases have in common is that they cast a wide net over your health. For example, a seemingly simple diagnosis of cardiovascular disease or diabetes is anything but simple and can impact you from head to toe. 

Chronic diseases, especially those that aren't managed well, have a tendency to create complications. After all, these diseases hardly exist in a vacuum, and they can very much extend their reach into other areas of your health.

Our role as primary care providers and chronic illness specialists is to help you stay one step ahead of potentially serious complications by managing your condition and optimizing your health throughout.

Orchestrating the right care

Another problem that people with chronic diseases face is trying to coordinate medical care. In an increasing world of specialization, you need to have a team that runs point on your health and that can make sure that all of your medical needs are covered.

We can act as a central point in your care so you can be sure that specialists are all working toward the same goal — your health.

Spotting trends

Another benefit of having our team manage your chronic illness is that we routinely collect information about your health so we can spot trends and intervene quickly.

Access to the best care

We pride ourselves on keeping up to date on the latest healthcare practices in chronic diseases. And we bring this knowledge to each of our patients to ensure that they’re benefiting from the latest science. 

As you can see, getting the right chronic illness healthcare team in your corner is incredibly important and makes all the difference for your health. 

To sit down with one of our chronic illness specialists, we invite you to call our Brooklyn, New York, clinic at 718-487-9707, or use our online booking tool to set up an appointment. You can also visit our clinic during our hours of operation.

Our team proudly serves the Flatbush and East Flatbush, Crown Heights, Park Slope, Little Haiti, Little Caribbean, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens communities.