Often in modern medicine, the term "iatrogeny" is used - this concept refers to those conditions that are directly or indirectly associated with the actions of medical personnel. Often, the doctor even poses a certain danger to the patient and can cause injury to him by incorrectly communicating with him or performing certain manipulations.
Classification of iatrogenic diseases. Psychogenic type
Depending on what are the causes of iatrogenicity, several types are distinguished. The first of them is psychogenic diseases, the second is organic. The latter are divided into medicinal, traumatic, infectious. There are iatrogenic and mixed types. A serious emotional state of a patient can arise from careless words of the attending physician, inactivity of the personnel of the medical institution, from familiarizing the patient with his medical history. The mental balance is also affected by the abundance of information, sometimes clearly exaggerated or biased.
Psychogenic iatrogenia is a state of depression, neurosis, hysteria, the development of various phobias, as well as other disorders in the patient’s nervous system. A person develops distrust of the words and actions of the doctor, any manipulations scare him. Of course, such types of iatrogeny also depend significantly on the patient’s general
emotional state and his balance. Often such people require the help of a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Iatrogenic drug type
This is a fairly large group of diseases that can develop as a result of illiterate medication. The manifestations of such iatrogenic are diverse. These are allergic reactions after taking medications, and all kinds of side effects: intoxication, shock, impaired functioning of other organs, mutagenic effects of drugs on body cells. Such iatrogenic forms include drug dependence and conflict when taking incompatible substances. These conditions can develop from illiterate selected drugs, their incorrect intake.
Also, drug iatrogenic reactions include, complications after the introduction of the vaccine. The most dangerous conditions are complications after the introduction of anesthesia, anesthesia, emergency resuscitation. Iatrogenic medicine includes another species that develops when doses of x-ray and laser radiation are exceeded.
Traumatic iatrogenic
Such conditions can develop as a result of medical manipulations, examinations, surgical intervention. Traumatic iatrogenism is both burns that can have a different nature (chemical, thermal, radiation), and injuries (accidental or not). Invasive research methods have recently gained widespread popularity, because they give a more complete picture of the disease. However, with insufficient qualification of the doctor, such manipulations are quite dangerous. Therefore, if it is possible to choose a less traumatic method, preference should be given to him.
Another category of iatrogenic of this type is the abandonment of foreign objects in the body of the operated patient. This situation can be avoided with the increased attention of all doctors during the operation. Also in this category are deprivation of a person's medical care, and the so-called surgical aggression (that is, unnecessary surgical intervention, for which there was no indication).
Iatrogenic Infectious Diseases
This is also a fairly large group of diseases. Sometimes they are called nosocomial infections, however, in fact, such conditions arise mainly due to medical manipulations. Depending on the location of the lesion, iatrogenic blood, infections of wounds, genitourinary, cardiac systems, damage to the respiratory system, skin integument, etc. are excreted. Bacteria, fungi, and viruses can be causative agents. Infectious iatrogenia is a consequence of violations of the elementary rules of asepsis, disinfection, improper patient care. Particular attention should be paid to the surgical instrument, materials for wound dressing. This condition can also be observed in medical personnel (as a result of non-compliance with hygiene, neglect of protective equipment when working with patients). Factors that cannot be influenced include old equipment and staff shortages. Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely eliminate the ingress of microorganisms during surgery.
How to reduce the number of iatrogenic diseases: actions by doctors
Any medical worker must constantly improve their skills, improve their skills, and replenish their knowledge. When conducting surgery, it is very important not to be distracted and carefully perform all the manipulations. In addition, you should not forget about ethics when communicating with patients and about such a thing as medical secrecy. Disclosure of information about the patient, his condition can cause nervousness, a severe mental state.
Patient Actions
Patients, in turn, in order to avoid the development of iatrogeny should study reviews about the doctor, the medical institution they plan to contact. Very often people who are in a state of hypochondria become like “professional” patients. They go from one specialist to another, undergoing a lot of examinations in order to find the disease. Often he is not at all. Such actions increase the risk of iatrogenic diseases. The causes of iatrogenic drug - in frequent cases of uncontrolled medication. Therefore, it is important to follow the rule: only a specialist prescribes drugs. It is also unjustified to take a large number of drugs, because the mechanism of their interaction has been little studied, therefore, all kinds of adverse reactions are possible.
In the modern world, we can talk about informational iatrogeny. A large amount of available information is one of the reasons for self-medication, which can lead to irreparable consequences. That is why iatrogenic prophylaxis is
a concern for one's own health, which does not go beyond the permissible limits and is not fanatical.