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Urology is a branch of medicine that studies the causes, development, treatment and diagnosis of diseases of the genitourinary system in both men and women.
In addition, there is also a pediatrician who treats exclusively young patients. If we talk about who a urologist is, then we can say that this is a specialist who treats people with problems of the reproductive system and urinary functions. Also, this doctor conducts examinations and prescribes appropriate treatment to patients.
Despite the fact that the urologist deals with the treatment of both men and women, most often he is called the male doctor. Why so? This opinion is actually not correct. In fact, the doctor in this area consults men more often, but women also turn to him with their problems.
A gynecologist who is a female doctor cannot always help with a particular problem. His main task is the sexual sphere, but problems with the kidneys and bladder are the lot of the urologist.
In men, everything is much more difficult, since the urinary and reproductive systems are closely related, so urologists who treat men are immediately responsible for the health of both systems.
What does a urologist treat?
Urology is a rather extensive area of medicine and combines several profiles. Urological diseases include inflammatory processes: cystitis, urethritis, prostatitis. In men, you can often find diseases such as prostate adenoma, impotence, varicocele. In addition, urolithiasis is not a rare disease. This disease can occur in both men and women. It can be triggered by malnutrition or non-compliance with the diet. Among female urological diseases, urethritis, infections that are sexually transmitted, can often be found.
Symptoms in urological diseases
The main part of the symptoms of urological diseases, although it has some differences, still has something in common. In order not to start the disease, it is important to recognize the dangerous signs in time. The most common dangerous signals can be: burning and pain in the genitals, as well as pain during intercourse, an external change in the penis. In addition, if a person has a change in the process of urination, this is a clear sign that it is time to contact a specialist. For men, a change in the color or smell of semen can be an alarm signal. Also, unnatural discharge from the genitals, urinary incontinence and frequent trips to the restroom are not the norm.
It is worth noting that people who have chronic diseases are at risk. This also applies to those people who lead the wrong way of life. The development of urological diseases can provoke a promiscuous sex life, excessive consumption of alcohol and improper food, as well as life in a constant stressful state.
It is important to note that today the age threshold for most diseases treated by urologists-andrologists has increased. At the same time, the symptoms of these diseases most often do not appear in the first stages of the disease, which is very dangerous. The effectiveness of the treatment of the disease depends on the speed of contacting a urologist.
It is important to understand that an untimely examination by the attending physician can threaten infertility and impotence. A less radical consequence is depression, loss of ability to work, vitality and lack of joy in sexual life.
Difference Between Urologist and Nephrologist
Quite often, when visiting a doctor, a person does not think about what the doctor specifically treats, what he specializes in, whether it is a specialist for children or an adult. Faced with problems in urology, people often do not understand which doctor they should go to: a nephrologist or a urologist. In fact, a nephrologist and a urologist, although they have some connection in treatment, are still significantly different. A nephrologist is a doctor who deals primarily with kidney problems. He treats:
- pyelonephritis;
- polycystic kidney disease;
- renal failure.
A nephrologist also monitors patients (adults and children) after a kidney transplant.
The urologist-andrologist is, first of all, a surgeon. At the same time, both children’s and adults, both male and female. This is because urinary diseases that cannot be cured by surgery should not be the responsibility of a urologist. Actually, this is the difference. But, given the fact that many polyclinics do not have a separate “nephrologist” rate, the scope of the urologist’s activity is expanding significantly. It is worth noting that the operation on the kidneys is performed by a urologist.
Thus, urology is a fairly broad field, which includes the study of diseases of the genitourinary system, tuberculous lesions of organs and tumors of the organs of the genitourinary system. A nephrologist is engaged in the study and treatment of those diseases that require conservative treatment. An andrologist can use medical methods of therapy in conjunction with surgical ones. The duties of a urologist-surgeon may include performing ureteroscopy, operations on the penis, removal of neoplasms from the urinary tract.
Methods of treatment in urology
Treatment of any disease in the field of urology is a long and multi-stage process. At the first stage of treatment, the urologist deals with the weakening of symptoms and the elimination of pathology. The second stage is the prevention and prevention of relapse. The third stage is the rehabilitation and restoration of the proper functioning of the organs, which was disrupted during the development of the disease.
Methods of treatment of urological diseases can be divided into several types: drug, non-drug and operational. Which of the methods should be applied is decided by the urologist, having directly studied the problem of the patient and his individual characteristics of the organism.
The purpose of the rehabilitation period is to return the patient to normal life. Rehabilitation can take place both at home and in a hospital under the supervision of specialists. The rehabilitation regime includes the optimization of the human movement mode, the organization and observance of proper nutrition.
Pediatric urologist
Urological diseases can also affect children, a urologist most often deals with an anomaly in the development of the child’s genitourinary system, and also deals with the treatment of certain dysfunctions, for example, a phenomenon quite common in infancy, such as urinary incontinence.
The list of diseases is quite wide and includes up to 50 items. For example, in infants it is most often hernia and dropsy, adolescents are faced with cysts of the epididymis, testicular varicose veins, as well as sexually transmitted infections. It is worth noting that obvious diseases that have not yet been started, most often, do not appear.