Understanding Eosinophil-Associated Disease

Understanding your diagnosis can help you be an active participant in your care. Recognizing and treating symptoms, sticking with your treatment plans, and scheduling follow-ups with your doctor will help you better control your eosinophilic disease.

Patient going over paperwork with doctor.

Being knowledgeable about your condition can be empowering and can help you to have more productive conversations with your doctors and help you to be an engaged collaborator with your healthcare team.

Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell that are involved with many medical conditions, including infections, cancers, and allergies. When too many eosinophils are found in your digestive system, tissues, organs, and/or bloodstream without a known cause, you may be diagnosed with an eosinophil-associated disease. Your diagnosis and symptoms will depend upon where eosinophils are accumulating in your body.

The symptoms of eosinophilic disease may impact daily life, such as school and work. These are chronic conditions that need to be managed by you and your doctors throughout your life.

To learn more about your eosinophilic disorder and access a variety of resources, visit APFED’s main website.

What are Consensus Guidelines? How Can They Help?

Some subsets of eosinophilic disease have published guidelines which are designed to help doctors provide consistent, appropriate, evidence-based care to their patients. These guidelines represent a standardized set of best practices and recommendations for treating a healthcare condition. They’re created through collaboration with experienced medical professionals who specialize in a particular area of eosinophilic disease care and research.

Regularly updated with new research, these guidelines give providers a standard way to diagnose, treat, and manage your specific eosinophilic disease.

Knowing about them can help you have informed discussions with your doctor about your care and treatment.

Additional Resources:

Finding Credible Sources of Information

Accurate information is crucial for making informed decisions about your eosinophilic disease care. The Internet is a powerful tool, but finding reliable medical information can be challenging with the vast amount available. Following these steps online can help you find accurate and credible information about your health:

Seek Out Reliable Websites and Associations

There are several reputable sources of health information online, including those focused on eosinophilic disease. A few examples include:

Medical societies are organizations composed of medical professionals, such as doctors, researchers, and other healthcare professionals, who come together to advance medical knowledge, share expertise, promote professional development, and advocate for issues relevant to their field of medicine. These societies often have educational resources for patients and families about specific diseases.

Be Aware of Domain Endings

Be mindful of poor site design, overly commercialized websites, and domain endings, which are the last part of a website’s domain name. Governments or educational institutions typically have the domain endings “.gov” and “.edu”. Nonprofit organizations typically use “.org”. These websites are often credible places to begin versus a commercial website that often uses “.com”. Be cautious of websites that are difficult to navigate or those that have excessive advertisements.

Look for Citations and Read Research in Peer-Reviewed Journals

Credible sources should provide citations to evidence-based research authored by qualified professionals. Be mindful of websites or written information offering medical advice that does not reference a peer-reviewed study.

Check the citations to verify the accuracy of the information. Peer-reviewed medical journals are a valuable source because research is rigorously reviewed by experts in the field before it is accepted for publication. Some reputable medical journals include: the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Lancet, to name just a few.

Journal articles and written information should be authored by medical professionals or organizations with recognized credentials in treating eosinophilic diseases. Individual authors should have medical and/or doctoral degrees in relevant fields and/or affiliations with respected medical institutions or organizations.

Be Cautious About Social Media

Patient and caregiver groups online can offer empathic support from others facing similar conditions; however, it’s important not to confuse this support with clinical expertise. Exercise caution when reading social media content, as these platforms can disseminate misinformation alongside helpful information. Don’t change your treatment plan based on social media information without first talking to your doctor.