Factors Which Can Be Used To In Diagnosis Of A Disease

Factors Which Can Be Used To In Diagnosis Of A Disease

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u Biological factors PAGEREF _Toc379619060 h 1Sociocultural factors PAGEREF _Toc379619061 h 1Environmental factors PAGEREF _Toc379619062 h 2Stressors PAGEREF _Toc379619063 h 3Personality PAGEREF _Toc379619064 h 3Behavior PAGEREF _Toc379619065 h 3Role of psychology PAGEREF _Toc379619066 h 3

Diagnosis is a process that involves determination or identification of disease or illness. There are various factors which determine an individual’s susceptibility to an illness. These can be categorized broadly as biological factors, sociocultural factors, environmental factors, stressors, behavior, and personality. Since they lead to development of an illness they can consequently be used in the diagnosis of a particular illness.

Biological factorsThere are various biological factors which can be used in diagnosis of a disease. These factors can help a physician make conclusions on a particular individual based on the factors. These factors include family history of the illness, if there is history in a family of a particular illness then it is easy to diagnose the disease on an individual from the family. Secondly if an individual has been exposed to an infectious organism that causes a particular illness then a diagnosis of the illness can be made easily. Third if the immunize system of an individual is not functioning well then it can be easy to make diagnosis. There can also because of an individual’s medical history to make a diagnosis particularly if it is the same illness being diagnosed as before. There are also other congenital disabilities or complications at birth that can aid in diagnosis. Other biological factors are age, gender and physiological conditions.

Sociocultural factorsThere are sociocultural factors which can aid in the diagnosis of an illness. These include family circumstance like the social class, family size, family conflict, and family disorganization. An individual’s plays an important role in their health and therefore such family circumstances can be of aid when it comes to diagnosis of an illness. This is because there are factors within the family such as family disorganization or conflict that can lead to development of certain illnesses. Hence an assessment of an individual’s family can be used to make diagnosis. Secondly access to healthcare can be useful in disease diagnosis, for instance if an individual fails to aces the appropriate medical care there can be secondary diseases which can develop and therefore knowledge of whether or not an individual accessed medical care can be 8used to diagnose secondary diseases. There are also some heath related cultural and religious beliefs which can help to diagnose an illness. There are some illnesses that some cultures and religious hold specific beliefs on. Therefore a physician can use the knowledge they have on the particular illnesses under these cultural and religious beliefs to make their diagnosis. Other siociocultural factors include prejudice and discrimination, health promotion in a workplace and health related legislation.

Environmental factorsThere are certain environmental factors that can be used to diagnose an illness they include architectural feature like crowding, toxic construction materials, quality of air, noise insulation can be used to make diagnosis of an illness. This is because these architectural features play a big role in development of certain disease and therefore whether or not an individual is exposed to these features can be useful in making diagnosis. The quality of water can be used to diagnose an illness bad quality of water leads to development of some illnesses and hence water quality qualifies as a diagnosis tool. In an area where there is poor solid waste treatment there can be development of some illnesses therefore this can be used as a diagnosis for certain illnesses ( Cherry, 2010).

StressorsThere are various stressors that one goes through in their life these can be used to diagnose an illness. These stressors affect an individual in a big way and hence knowledge of the stressors can help a physician diagnose some illnesses these stressors include major life changes like divorce, loss of a job; frustrations, pain and discomfort, the climate in an individuals workplace and so on.

PersonalityOnes personality can also be used in diagnosis of a disease. Some of individual’s personal attributes can lead to development of an illness and therefore they can be used in the diagnosis. These include attributes like psychological hardiness, attribution lifestyle, and tendencies to hold in feelings of frustration and anger, depression or anxiety, hostility and so on.

BehaviorThere are various aspects of the behavior of a person which are predisposing factors to certain illnesses. Therefore they can easily be used by physicians to diagnose certain illnesses .these factors include diet of an individual, alcohol consumption, patterns of sleep, compliance with medical advice, safety practices and so on (Cherry, 2010).

Role of psychologyCancer and coronary heart diseases are very serious health problems that cause many deaths today. There has to be a solution when it comes to these health problems when it comes to their understanding and management. Psychology had contributed greatly when it comes to the understanding and managing these two health problems. First psychology has made contribution towards understanding as well as treatment of coronary heart disease as well as cancer. This is through the identification of risk factors that are common to both health problems, the contributing psychological issues of the health problems and the causative behavior patterns. The risk factors of development of coronary heart disease include family history, conditions of the individual’s health like high blood pressure, obesity, cholesterol levels that are high and obesity. Other factor include consumption of alcohol, a choice of food that is poor, smoking; behaviors that are considered as type A like anger and hostility, pressure at one’s workplace, chronic fatigue as well as emotional stress; sudden stressors and lifestyles that are considered as sedentary. However there can be reduction of these risk factors through the adoption of lifestyles that are healthy such as stopping to smoke, controlling one’s weight, dietary choices that are healthy, reduction of high blood pressure and levels of cholesterol, modification of behavior and finally exercising regularly (Tate, 2008).

Cancer is caused by the mutation of cells and can be found anywhere in the body. However individuals with weak immune systems especially people that are experiencing psychological factors have more chances of developing cancer. Psychologists in the health field researched on the issue of cancer and discovered that discovering as well as treating cancer in relation to the gender, age as well as where the cancer cells are located in an individual.

Psychological help is therefore quite important when it comes to managing these health problems. Psychological support can help an individual accept the diagnosis of cancer or coronary heart diseases and therefore not give up hope when it comes to treatment.it can also help the patient get more information on the illness .psychological help also assists the patient not to sink into depression and get them involved in other activities that will distract them from the illness (Tate, 2008).

Even though an individual might not be able to change some of the contributing factors to their health problems there are still numerous factors which can be controlled or changed through the choices that a person makes or their change in lifestyle. The mind and body are separate entities but they are somewhat connected to some extent. Psychology has therefore made breakthroughs that are important pertaining to the understanding and managing of the factors that contribute to poor heath. Beyond any reasonable doubt, through continued research psychology will continue in the advancement of identification of treatment methods and at the same time enhance the understanding of the factors that influence health particularly the psychological factors.

References

Cherry, K. (2010).What is health psychology? Retrieved April 3, 2013 from http://psychology.about.com/od/branchesofpsycholog1/p/health-psychology.htmTate, A. (2008).The role of psychology in health problems. Retrieved April3, 2013 from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-role-psychology-health-problems-1041157.html?cat=5