What is the problem of treating asymptomatic condition? -

Okay, I am supposed to do GP attachment report and that is the question I got. Basically I need to know if there is any particular problem with treating asymptomatic conditions (like hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and impaired glucose tolerance.) The only problem is that it is asymptomatic! I can t elaborate much on it. Please help!

The largest single problem is compliance. The patient is less likely to submit/agree to treatment if the underlying condition is not affecting their day to day life. Putting a cast on a broken leg is easy...you tell the patient the leg is broken, put them in a cast, tell themin 6 weeks it will be healed, they are in less pain. With something asymptomatic (hyperlipidemia, hypertension etc) the patient as to be convinced that lifestyle alterations/medication is necessary. Particularly with hypertension, this can be challenging, because the side effects can be quite unpleasant from the meds used to treat the disorder, and the lifestyle changes are even less likely (unhealthy lifestyle is just more pleasant). Hope that helps.

Good reason why hypertension is called quot;the silent killerquot;. Not so quot;asymptomaticquot; when you have a stroke now, is it?! If you don t feel any symptoms it is probably that you have slowly compensated so you don t know the difference. Just trust the test results and TAKE THE MEDS before the condition worsens. You could get a stroke and die, or lose a limb (hypoglycemia gt; hyperglycemia gt; diabetes gt; peripheral vascular disease gt; gangrene gt; amputation) from the complications. The conditons you listed are all very dangerous!!

how do you treat if there are no symptoms. so how would you know what to treat with?