Manhattan Primary Care

Our team of award winning, board-certified NYC primary care physicians in Midtown Manhattan and on Upper East Side, New York are dedicated to providing the care you need to stay healthy and to help prevent potential disease and illness. Routine exams can detect potential health problems and deal with them before they develop further or worsen. Finest Reputations in NYC and Manhattan In our practice, you will ALWAYS see a real physician as we feel that a close physician patient relationship is one of the most important ways to maintain health. In many practices in the modern health care environment, patients are seeing midlevel providers rather than their own physicians regularly and our juggled from provider to provider. Our practice spends the times necessary to identify issues often missed into today’s busy health care environment. These components have led to our primary care team having one of the finest reputations in NYC and Manhattan.

Cancer is a major cause of illness and death worldwide, and here at Manhattan Primary Care, our primary care physicians NYC focus is on prevention and prompt detection. Initially, cancer can cause few, if any symptoms, and our goal is to check for early signs of cancers, when the disease is frequently more treatable and which allows for a better long-term prognosis. A screening will check your body for cancer, sometimes before you develop symptoms. Regular cancer screenings can find colorectal, cervical, breast, prostate, and lung cancers early when treatment can be more effective and potentially less invasive. Colorectal Cancer Screening Usually, colorectal cancer develops from small polyps found in the colon or rectum. Regular screening can detect these polyps, removing them before they become cancerous. Regular screenings usually begin at age 50, but some people might benefit from earlier screenings. You might need to be tested earlier if you have a family history of: Colorectal cancer Inflammatory bowel disease Genetic syndrome that increases your risk Colorectal Screening Tests There are several colorectal cancer screening tests, and stool tests to detect signs of blood and which are usually carried out yearly. Other tests, such a colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy, use a lighted tube to examine the colon visually and to remove any polyps detected. CT colonoscopy uses a CT scan to produce virtual images of the entire colon.

A medical clearance checkup or pre-surgical evaluation is scheduled with a primary care, New York City doctor prior to a planned surgery. During this evaluation, our NYC primary care doctors evaluate your health and any issues that may lead to your surgery and recovery being as safe as possible. It may include diagnostic tests such as urinalysis/EKG/blood work or other evaluation depending on the specifics of your condition. Studies have shown that a physical exam and evaluation prior to surgery can help and may even shorten recovery times and lead to better outcomes. If you are preparing for planned surgery under general anesthesia, it’s important to have a preoperative evaluation. The goal of this evaluation is to reduce the risk of surgery and to ensure you recover as quickly as possible. Our experienced primary care physicians can provide comprehensive preoperative assessments that will help to determine if you are fit for surgery. The procedure for pre-surgical clearance will include: General health assessment Physical examination Laboratory tests. General Health Assessment Initially, our physician will need to review your complete medical history and surgical history and your family’s medical history. They will also ask you about your social history, which is your use of tobacco and alcohol, use of any drugs, your history of allergies, and any recent drug therapy and unusual reactions. Your medication use is particularly crucial. It’s possible you may need to discontinue using some drugs preoperatively because of the risk of interactions with drugs used during anesthesia. We will ask if you have had any previous reactions associated with anesthesia or if there is a family history of adverse reactions to anesthetic. Your general health assessment is a comprehensive review designed to look for any signs of inadequately controlled chronic diseases or undiagnosed disease. Diseases affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular systems are especially important when assessing a person’s fitness for anesthesia and surgery.

Vaccines are safe and effective in preventing disease. A vaccine uses a small amount of dead or weak virus or bacteria, or artificially made proteins that imitate the virus, producing immunity to a specific disease. Although immunity is achievable when a person is exposed naturally to a virus, there is the risk of serious disease and potentially even death. How Do Vaccines Work and Who Should Receive Them? When you are vaccinated, you are injected with a weakened form of a disease which triggers your body’s immune response, so it either produces antibodies to that disease, or it starts other processes that help to enhance your immunity. Afterward, if you are exposed to the actual disease, your immune system is more prepared to fight the infection. Some vaccines are given only once while others require booster shots occasionally to continue protection against disease. Usually, vaccination will prevent disease or will reduce its severity. It is much safer and more cost-effective to prevent disease than to treat it. Over the year’s vaccines have prevented epidemics of infectious diseases that were once common, including: Whooping cough Mumps Measles Vaccines have helped almost to eradicate some diseases such as smallpox and polio. Proof of immunization is often a prerequisite for daycare or school enrolment, so it’s important to ensure your child receives their vaccines.

Osteoporosis is a disorder where bones are more fragile and likely to break. Our doctors in New York City recommend a bone density test to determine if you have osteoporosis. Previously, physicians would only suspect osteoporosis if you had already broken a bone by which time your bones could be quite fragile. A bone density test is a way to calculate your risk of breaking bones more accurately. One effective test is called a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry or DXA scan. It uses x-rays to measure the amount of bone minerals and calcium in a specific segment of bone. The bones most often tested are: Hip Spine Forearm Another method is to use quantitative computed tomography, but this uses higher levels of radiation than other tests. A third test uses ultrasound and is typically used to test the heel of your foot and can detect the early signs of osteoporosis. Bones that have higher mineral content are denser and tend to be stronger.

Here at Manhattan Primary Care, a leading NYC doctor Dr. Fathollahi provide comprehensive weight management and weight control programs that are tailor-made to provide you with optimum results. Weight management is often complex, which is why our doctors do not offer a one-size-fits-all program. Instead, our physicians provide individualized programs comprising of nutritional, exercise, and behavioral components. Being at a healthy weight reduces your risk for health problems. These problems include: Heart disease Stroke Type II diabetes High blood pressure Sleep apnea For most people, a healthy weight is defined by their body mass index (BMI), a simple calculation based on a person’s height and weight. Waist size is another reliable indicator of overall health. However, maintaining a healthy weight is only part of the equation, as good nutrition and regular exercise are also critical for good health.

Chronic diseases are long-term health conditions that frequently worsen over time. In developed countries, chronic diseases are the leading cause of disability and death. Many people will develop chronic disease with age, and as a result, management of chronic diseases is emerging as an important challenge. Without the correct management or with poor management, chronic conditions can deteriorate, increasing the risk of people developing other chronic health problems. Come to our primary care clinic and meet doctor New York City specialist Dr. Fathollahi for the best possible individualized ongoing support for you and family members. Common chronic diseases include: Diabetes Lupus High blood pressure Arthritis Sleep apnea Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Depression Multiple sclerosis Chronic disease management is designed to provide support and ongoing care to assist people affected by a chronic health condition. The aim is to provide excellent medical care combined with all the resources, skills, and knowledge to manage chronic diseases on a day-to-day basis. Support may include regular visits with a primary health care provider or other physicians, referrals to specialist services and programs, or referrals to community-based programs.