Posted by Solstice on November 18, 2011, at 22:09:36
In reply to Re: psychopharmacologist vs psychaitrist » Solstice, posted by ed_uk2010 on November 18, 2011, at 12:32:04
> I don't think I explained it well at all. A specialist will be involved with the initial diagnosis but the specialist might not be a neurologist. For example, children may be referred to a hospital paediatrician. The specialist will decide on the treatment and titrate the dose but the medication will then be continued by the GP. They call this 'shared care', and it happens with most long term conditions here. Do your GPs only treat minor conditions?Pretty much. I suppose there might be exceptions, but I can't imagine a GP here treating epilepsy. I am in electroneurodiagnostics, and I see a LOT of epilepsy, along with other disorders that result in seizures. I'm around neurologists all the time. The treatment of epilepsy here is highly specialized. Generally, a GP or pediatrician will refer a patient to a neurologist for any condition that causes seizures. A Neurophysiologist who specializes in seizure disorders would read the EEG and report to the Neurologist, who would treat the epilepsy. Depending on the type of epilepsy, etc., the patient would see the neurologist periodically - if mild maybe only if there is a breakthrough of seizures and medications need to be adjusted. Although there are indeed some 'mild' epilepsies, those often don't even require treatment. There are a couple of benign types that can appear in childhood which are often outgrown. In the neurophysiology field here, there has been a dramatic increase in understanding of patients, particularly the elderly, being in 'status epilepticus' (seizures that last more than 10 minutes), that are what we call 'non-convulsive.' Since the body is not actually seizing, no one is aware that the brain is seizing - and seizures that last more than 5 - 10 minutes can cause great harm to the brain. Anyway, people generally have a GP, but chronic conditions are treated by a specialist, and there are varying degrees of specialists. For example, a GP might treat high blood pressure, but if the patient develops thyroid problems, they will probably see an endocrinologist, who will closely monitor treatment of their thyroid problem, and that treatment will be communicated to the GP.
I went with my newly-became-an-adult son to see his new GP (after transfer from his pediatrician), about his sleep problems. The GP said "I want you to see a neurologist." So we saw the neurologist, who ordered a sleep study. After the sleep study, we go back to the neurologist.
No doubt about it, specialists are highly used in this country.
Solstice
poster:Solstice
thread:1002759
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20111110/msgs/1003033.html