Philosophy

“Prevention is better than cure” – Hippocrates

The person whose general philosophy and attitude have been decisive for Anatoli Pataridou was her maternal grandmother, who came to Greece at the age of 8 from Asia Minor, with the persecution of Pontians. Although she did not even graduated from the Elementary school of the time, she possessed a wisdom of life which deeply inspired and determined her ideas and beliefs. Growing up near her, she was lucky enough to inherit a set of values such as dignity, morality, and the belief that for every problem experienced by man there is always a cause, which is also the root of its solution. This woman communicated the philosophy of “well-being”, not depending on what someone has – as is the common belief nowadays – but depending on how they treat their body and mind.

Healing process: The healing of body and soul

It is no coincidence that these are the Doctor’s values of daily reference, not only in her personal life, but mainly in her medical course. Besides, according to the same, doctors are not merely asked to heal a suffering body.

Quite often the body suffers because it is affected by a suffering soul, and this is a problem of major concern in her medical career. The importance of a “sound mind in a sound body” which her grandmother believed, and the importance of the everyday effort and struggle to achieve and maintain this health equilibrium, has been recurrent all these years she practices this profession.

It is her view that it is particularly important not only to achieve “well-being”, but above all to preserve it and enrich the set of values on which we base our attitude to life, by everyday effort.

The philosophy of Anatoli Pataridou

For an otolaryngologist, as for doctor who has dedicated his life to the study of the health of the human body, there is nothing more important than warm human interpersonal relationships. These give meaning and quality to our everyday life and provide the incentive to improve and evolve the services provided to our patients.

These relationships are even more important now, at a time when the Internet is prevalent in all areas of our daily lives. Internet access entails the risk of leading us to unscientific and unreliable information, opinions or conclusions.

The substantial assistance provided by an otolaryngologist cannot be replaced by diagnoses and conclusions derived simply by reading a set of webpages. In this sense, human communication between doctor and patient becomes more necessary than ever

Developments in the ENT field

In recent years there has been rapid progress in the ENT field, in terms of the diagnosis and treatment of the most important diseases of the head and throat. The use of modern medical equipment significantly contributed to the above, as the use of endoscopes and the increased possibilities of modern technology have become the indispensable ally of the doctor, both in terms of diagnosis and of surgery.

An otolaryngologist often examines patients with symptoms in these areas, but when the problem starts from other neighbouring organs, endoscopy can provide a much more comprehensive diagnosis. The use of endoscopes, in conjunction with the knowledge and experience of doctors, allows them to identify the real causes of some problems and to avoid unnecessary treatments, whether pharmaceutical or surgical.

Moreover, the development of endoscopic surgery of the nose and paranasal sinuses and throat using laser technology as well as the development of robotic surgery in recent years have led surgery to become what we call minimally invasive.

In this sense, the modern otolaryngologist, using technology is able to significantly contribute to the improvement of the quality of life in adults and children alike.