Families are increasingly turning to trusted GPs for personalised care, early diagnosis and a clearer path through today’s crowded healthcare system.
Published Apr 22, 2025 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Apr 22, 2025 | 8:00 AM
Dr Bindu Suresh
Synopsis: As more people turn to specialists and online searches for medical advice, family doctors are making a quiet but important return. On the Health For You podcast, Dr Bindu Suresh explains why every family needs a GP who knows their history and can offer early, personalised care.
In an age where specialists dominate the healthcare conversation, the role of a family physician is quietly making a powerful comeback.
On this week’s Health For You podcast, South First spoke to Dr Bindu Suresh, General Physician at Apollo Clinics, about why every family needs a go-to doctor. From managing lifestyle diseases to decoding the early signs of chronic conditions, Dr Bindu breaks it down.
She also shares practical insights on preventive healthcare and how Apollo’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered ProHealth package is helping families stay one step ahead.
Excerpts follow.
I think social media has played a significant role in this shift. Over time, we have seen an explosion of information online – people today are much more aware of various medical specialities and super-specialities. While awareness can be a good thing, it is also a double-edged sword.
Let me give you a common example: Someone has a headache. Instead of consulting a general physician or family doctor first, they immediately search online. The first result they often encounter is something alarming – like “visit a neurologist” or worse, “could be a brain tumour.” This triggers anxiety, and people rush to consult a super-specialist, bypassing the crucial first step of primary care.
But headaches can have a wide range of causes – it could be something as simple as a tension headache, stress, lack of sleep, a migraine, or even a hypertensive headache. A well-trained family physician can evaluate these possibilities thoroughly and guide the patient accordingly. Not every case needs advanced imaging or a neurologist’s attention right away.
Unfortunately, this culture of self-diagnosis online has created social pressure too. There is a perception that you are being more responsible or modern if you immediately go to a specialist. It has become almost fashionable to skip the family doctor. Over time, this has led to the erosion of the traditional model where families relied on a single trusted physician who knew their medical history intimately and could make nuanced, personalised decisions.
In essence, the move away from family doctors was not just medical – it was also driven by technology, perception, and social behaviour.
Let me be clear – Google is not a diagnostic tool. It can give you an overview or help you understand possibilities, but it is not meant to deliver a final answer. What tends to happen is that people type in something simple – say, a stomach ache or a headache – and within a few clicks, they are reading about cancer or some other serious disease. This creates unnecessary anxiety and fear.
Some people then convince themselves that they have a serious condition based on what they read online. They come to us not just with symptoms, but with a self-diagnosis already in place. That is where it becomes dangerous, because it delays proper evaluation, creates panic, and sometimes even leads people to start incorrect home treatments or demand irrelevant tests.
So yes, it is okay to look up basic information – awareness is not bad in itself. But it becomes harmful when people take that awareness as confirmation.
A family physician, as I mentioned earlier, is someone who knows the family very well. They have either been associated with the family for generations, or they may be a younger physician who has gained the trust of one member of the family. That person then brings in their children, their parents, even their relatives – everyone starts going to that physician for primary care. That doctor becomes their family physician.
The beauty of that is the connect with the family. You know everything about them – you can identify potential risk factors, hereditary issues, and guide them on what preventive steps to take.
For example, someone might come in with constant headaches and say, “My blood pressure seems to be fluctuating.” If you, as the family physician, are aware of a strong family history of hypertension, and you know the person’s lifestyle – say they travel a lot, work long hours, and are sleep-deprived – then you can suspect that the headaches could be related to developing hypertension. That insight comes from knowing the family and their history.
Yes. There was an elderly man – about 80 years old – who was brought in with a history of fever that had been going on for quite some time. It was on and off, mostly in the evenings, and always accompanied by chills and shivering. Naturally, the family began to worry – was it something serious, maybe even cancer?
They had already done the rounds. Every specialist had been consulted, every test imaginable run. When they finally came to me, they had a huge file with all the investigations. The family is well known to me, but for some reason – maybe I was not available earlier – they had not come to me initially. They were exhausted. The fever had not gone, and the patient did not want to see any more doctors.
That is when I looked at the reports and noticed something that had been overlooked. They mentioned that a urine routine test had been done long ago and did not show anything conclusive. I asked to see the report. It showed 10 to 15 pus cells – something that could easily have been brushed off as a contaminated sample. But I said no, let us repeat it. Let us do a culture.
Turns out, the patient had a urinary tract infection. Once the correct antibiotic was started based on the culture report, the fever disappeared within 48 hours. It was such a simple thing. But it had been missed because people tend to jump directly to complex diagnoses. This is where the role of a family physician really stands out. You know the patient, the family, and you look at the full picture – not just the reports.
Hypertension is definitely number one. Second would be diabetes. Then, thyroid disorders. I am seeing quite a few patients with thyroid issues these days.
After that, we see a lot of vitamin deficiencies – especially vitamin D deficiency – mainly because there is a complete lack of exposure to sunlight. Most people leave their homes from basement parking in the morning and return only late in the evening, so there is no sun exposure at all. Even children board their school buses almost from their doorstep. These days, I think even school assemblies are not held outdoors like before.
And it plays a role at many levels – it is extremely important for metabolism, healthy skin, hair, and even for managing obesity.
We also see a lot of vitamin B12 deficiency, mostly due to dietary habits. People are eating, but what they are eating matters a lot. So, deficiencies – especially D and B12 – are a big concern. That would be number four.
Then comes obesity and cardiac diseases. We are seeing quite a lot of that too.
That is a real challenge. When you are a family physician, patients often ask, “Can we wait a bit?” If the situation demands, we have to convince them. One medicine can prevent multiple complications. We explain that medicines are not necessarily lifelong. If lifestyle changes are sustained, they can be tapered off.
Yes, typically I would recommend a basic master health check-up appropriate for one’s age. Different age groups require different sets of tests. For example, there are specific health check-ups for children, teens, young adults, middle-aged individuals, and the elderly. For women, after the age of 40, certain hormonal changes begin, and post-50, the perimenopausal changes set in – so their tests need to be tailored accordingly.
For children under 13, we typically do a basic preventive health check-up that includes general blood work, haemoglobin levels, and vitamin checks – particularly D and B12.
For adolescents, the focus is on deficiencies too – especially calcium, since they are in their growth phase. If there is a family history of thyroid issues or if we notice abnormal growth patterns, we include thyroid tests as well.
For young adults up to around 35 years, I usually recommend a yearly master health check-up. This would cover general blood tests, a baseline electrocardiogram (ECG), chest X-ray, and an ultrasound. Given the rising incidence of cancer, many packages now include cancer markers too.
For women, we have started including ultrasound screenings of the breasts as part of routine checks. These are non-invasive and help us detect any suspicious changes early. If needed, further tests can be planned based on these findings. Pap smears are also part of the basic checks for women in this age group.
After 40, the health check-up becomes slightly more detailed. We add tests like a treadmill test (TMT), pulmonary function test (PFT), and other cardiovascular assessments.
When we talk about chronic conditions like cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiac risks, the earlier we screen, the better we manage.
It is extremely important. Once you know that a condition runs in the family, you should look beyond just your father. Think about your grandfather and even your great-grandfather. If you notice a pattern across generations, try to find out when each of them developed it.
For example, if your father developed diabetes at 40, you could be at risk of developing it even earlier – say, by 30 or before. That makes it crucial to start early with a basic health check to understand where you currently stand.
The next step is lifestyle modification: regular walks, mindful eating, and limiting carbohydrate intake. You should also assess your family’s dietary habits – are you consuming too much rice, or are there hidden sources of carbohydrates in your daily meals? Identify those and make small but consistent changes.
And it is not just about you – it is also about the children. The habits you introduce to your child today will shape their future health. If you are disciplined about eating, they will follow suit.
Teach them that certain food products, especially ultra-processed ones, can lead to long-term issues. We are seeing a rise in gluten allergies and other food intolerances now, largely due to excessive consumption of junk food.
So, set limits – say, eating out once a week is fine, but not every other day. Avoid making food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato part of your daily routine. Let children learn to appreciate homemade meals and understand moderation.
The Apollo ProHealth package is very thoughtfully designed. It is powered by artificial intelligence and focuses on comprehensive screening for all probable lifestyle diseases. This allows for early detection – helping us identify what you are at risk for even before symptoms appear.
Once the screening is done, you meet your physician, who then provides personalised preventive guidelines. They will advise you on how to avoid worsening of any early signs, and how to bring about small but impactful lifestyle changes to keep everything under control. That is the key to prevention – early awareness and action.
It is a combination of both. There are detailed blood tests and scans involved. The results come with a Smart Clinical Assessment (SCA) dashboard that shows your health profile in detail.
Based on that, we can tell you what you may be at risk for – not just in the immediate future, but even long-term. And once we know that, we can help you start taking preventive steps right away. That is what makes the ProHealth package so effective. It is like a health dashboard for you and your family. It allows you to monitor potential issues and take control of your health proactively. That is the entire philosophy of ProHealth.
It is overhyped. If you are having good food, you know what you are eating – including your minerals, vegetables, everything in the diet – then actually, you do not need multivitamins.
When your body is weak – say, you develop a cough or cold or something – at that time your body needs a little more of the vitamins to fight it out. You can take them for those 10 days or 15 days until you start feeling okay.
But then after that, for the youngsters – I would still prefer you having good food.
Till a certain age, your body has a lot of reserves. Even if for 2–3 days you do not eat properly, your body reserves are very good. That itself will help you. So you do not have to just take in multivitamins or pop in iron or anything like that.
Of course, if in your health check you find a deficiency, then for that time period you have to take it. But always understand where you can get vitamins naturally from. Now, after a certain period of time – when the body reserves come down, when the metabolic rate is down, when you cannot eat certain things – that is when you should start taking some supplements.
(This article was produced in partnership with Apollo Clinics)
