Doctor of functional diagnostics

In the human body, everything is interconnected, if the function of one organ is disrupted, the work of many other organs and systems changes. The functional connection affects not only the state of health, but also the course of the disease, information about this is especially important in the chronic form of the disease, when the test results are within the normal range, but the person still feels unwell. A functional diagnostics doctor helps to find out how the organs cope with their functions, their adaptive capabilities, resources and the mechanism of pathology development.

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Who is a Functional Diagnostics Doctor?

If a patient is given a referral for diagnostics, he often asks himself the question: what is the difference between a specialist who will conduct the examination and a therapist, and who is a functional diagnostics doctor?

A diagnostician is a specialist with a higher medical education and postgraduate training in the specialty "Functional diagnostics". The doctor must possess the following amount of knowledge and skills, applying them in practice:

• Fundamentals of the legislation of the Ministry of Health and all documents regulating the activities of a medical institution.
• Etiology, pathogenetic mechanism of development of pathological processes, clinical symptoms and specificity of the course, development of diseases. All laws of normal and pathological physiology, methods of systemic analysis of physiological functions.
• Rules and methods for identifying general and specific symptoms of major diseases.
• Clinical manifestations, symptoms of emergency conditions and methods of providing assistance.
• Principles of complex therapy of the main pathologies and diseases.
• General principles and fundamental bases, methods and techniques of clinical, laboratory, instrumental diagnostics of the functions of organs and systems of the human body.
• Rules for determining the main functional methods and ways of examining a patient to clarify the primary diagnosis.
• Classification and criteria of metrological characteristics of the equipment used.
• General rules for the organization and instrumental equipment of the functional diagnostics department.
• Rules and regulations for the preparation of relevant medical documentation and reporting.

A functional diagnostics doctor may have the following qualification categories: second, first and highest.

When should you contact a Functional Diagnostics Doctor?

Ideally, every reasonable person should understand the full value of their main resource – health, and undergo regular medical examinations, including a comprehensive examination of the functions of organs and systems. If this is done, the question of “when to contact a functional diagnostics doctor” simply will not arise. Unfortunately, most often patients end up in the diagnostics office on the referral of the attending physician, that is, when the first symptoms of the disease have already appeared.

It is also advisable to conduct a comprehensive health check before such events:

• Before going on a long journey, especially to countries with an unusual climate or conditions for the body.
• In advance of various health-improving activities - a trip to resorts, sanatoriums, etc. (often functional diagnostics and other studies are mandatory).
• Before starting sports or fitness activities.
• A comprehensive examination is necessary for those who adhere to conscious parenting and conception.

Such preventive measures help to assess the level of work of internal organs and systems interconnected with them, as well as to exclude the risks of possible complications and exacerbations. In the case of conception of a baby, a functional examination of both parents will help to correct the state of health and reasonably plan the birth of the desired baby.

What tests should be taken when visiting a Functional Diagnostics Doctor?

As a rule, the study of functions is carried out when the patient already has clinical manifestations of a particular disease. The attending specialist decides which tests to take when contacting a functional diagnostics doctor; everything depends on the patient's condition and the form of the pathology - acute, chronic or initial stage. It happens that functional studies are carried out before laboratory tests or in parallel with them.

There are several types of functional methods that do require preliminary analyses, such as:

• Evaluation of the function of external respiration – the diffusion capacity of the lungs. It is necessary to donate blood to determine the level of hemoglobin.
• Bicycle ergometry requires preliminary electrocardiogram and echocardiography.
• Transesophageal echocardiography – FGDS results are needed.
• Spirometry requires fluorography and x-ray of the lungs.

No tests or special preparation are required for the following types of research:

• Ultrasound of the thyroid gland.
• Ultrasound of the lymph nodes.
• Ultrasound of the salivary glands.
• Duplex ultrasound of the cervical vessels.
• Duplex ultrasound scanning of the vessels of the upper and lower extremities.
• Echocardiography.

The diagnosis is made based on the analysis of all diagnostic information, so it is impossible to say what is more important. All types of examination are significant and evaluate the condition of the body according to the task set by the doctor.

What diagnostic methods does the Functional Diagnostics Doctor use?

The main methods of functional diagnostic examination can be divided into 5 categories:

1. ECG - clinical electrocardiography:

• Monitoring of daily electrocardiography.
• Stress tests.
• Vectorcardiography.
• Pericardial mapping.
• Phonocardiography.
• Determination of heart rhythm variants.

2. Functional state of external respiration:

• Inhalation provocation tests.
• Graphic recording of changes in lung volume – spirography.
• Assessment of the degree of airway obstruction – peak flowmetry.
• Evaluation of the functional state of the lungs - body plethysmography.

3. Assessment and analysis of the functional state of the nervous system (central and peripheral):

• EEG - electroencephalogram.
• Determination of the causes of sleep disorders, apnea syndrome – PSG or polysomnography.
• EP – evoked potentials of the brain.
• Electromyography.
• TMS – transcranial magnetic stimulation.
• Echoencephalography.
• VKSP – method of evoked skin sympathetic potentials.
• Functional tests.

4. Ultrasound of the heart – echocardiography.
5. Assessment of the state of the vascular system:

• Rheography.
• Oscillography.
• Dopplerography.
• Phlebography.
• Vaginography.
• Load test method.

It is quite difficult to answer the question of what diagnostic methods the Functional Diagnostics Doctor uses, since this area of medicine is developing very intensively and is replenished with new, more advanced and accurate methods of early detection of pathologies every year. Also, the choice of method is directly related to the organ, system, their functional relationship.

In addition to the above methods, doctors also use the following:

• Dopplerography of the heart.
• TEE – transesophageal cardiac pacing.
• Variational pulsometry.
• Bicycle ergometry – ECG with load.
• Thermal imaging diagnostics.
• Pneumotachometry.
• Rheoplethysmography.
• Doppler ultrasound of the brain.
• Duplex, triplex ultrasound diagnostics of vessels (arteries, veins).
• Acoustic impedancemetry.
• Endoradiosounding.

What does a Functional Diagnostics Doctor do?

The main task of the physician of the functional diagnostics department is to conduct a thorough and, if possible, comprehensive examination in order to detect pathology early, that is, to study the condition of an organ or system, to exclude or identify a possible disorder before the development of obvious clinical symptoms and changes in the body.

What does a functional diagnostics doctor do step by step?

• Screening of patients at risk to detect the disease at an early stage and prevent its development.
• Identification and assessment of anatomical and functional abnormalities in the functioning of organs and systems at various stages of the disease.
• An examination aimed at dynamic monitoring of changes in the body's condition during therapeutic measures.
• Conducting tests - stress, medication, functional for adequate selection of effective therapy.
• Evaluation and analysis of the effectiveness of therapeutic prescriptions.
• Examination of patients before planned and unplanned operations.
• Dispensary examinations.

In addition, the doctor prepares and issues reports with the results of examinations, participates in collegial analyses of complex clinical cases, consults colleagues on issues of his specialization - functional diagnostics, constantly masters the latest developments, methods and equipment, takes part in specialized events (courses, forums, congresses).

What diseases does a functional diagnostics doctor treat?

A functional diagnostics doctor does not treat or prescribe medication, he has a different task. If the question arises about what diseases the doctor treats, then it is more likely about what organs and systems he examines. These may be the following types of examinations:

• Examination and assessment of external respiratory functions
• Cardiological functional diagnostics.
• Functional diagnostics of the digestive organs.
• Functional diagnostics of the kidneys.
• Endocrinological functional examination.
• Gynecological functional diagnostics.
• Neurological functional diagnostics.

As a rule, the patient gets to the functional diagnostics office by the referral of the attending physician - a general practitioner or a specialist. The functional diagnostics doctor conducts an examination in order to clarify, correct, confirm the preliminary diagnosis determined earlier. The diagnosis is made on the basis of the analysis of all the results, thus, the functional study is an aid in diagnosis, not a treatment of the disease.

Advice from a functional diagnostics doctor

Functional diagnostics is a completely safe and painless type of examination. Before each procedure, the doctor talks to the patient, explaining the essence of the method and how the process will take place. This not only reduces the patient's anxiety, but also helps to qualitatively assess the functional state of the body, because highly sensitive devices react sensitively to any vegetative changes on the part of the person being examined. In this regard, in addition to the basic recommendations for preparation, almost all diagnosticians advise the patient to exclude any provoking factors, both physical and emotional. Specific preparatory rules also exist, they depend on which organ will be assessed and in what way. During some procedures, it is not recommended to eat, while for others there are no such restrictions.

However, the main recommendations relate to another issue that is relevant to modern man, its name is prevention.

Not only doctors of the functional diagnostics department, but also all other specialists related to medicine, are supporters of preventive, early detection of pathologies, since such a timely assessment of the functioning of human organs and systems allows us to identify the disease and stop it at the initial stage of development.

The advice of a functional diagnostics doctor, first of all, concerns the well-known saying "Bene dignoscitur bene curatur", which means - well defined, therefore well treated. A comprehensive study of the functions and resources of systems, the state of organs is necessary not only for those who are already ill, but also for those who are listed in the category of relatively healthy people. Modern technologies, methods and advanced diagnostic equipment allow us to identify minimal, initial changes, disorders at the functional level with maximum accuracy, which means a unique opportunity for fast and effective treatment.