Serious Medical Symptoms Watch For& To Know
Do you know what can or cannot tell you about your medical or health condition? Are you aware of which signs are of grave importance or which ones can be viewed as normal aches & pains? Do you have any clue about what to do if you discover a lump? Your body sends up a flare to alert you that something is wrong or going wrong. We are all aware of the fact that chest pains, shortness of breath, tightness in the chest, dizziness are all some of familiar medical symptoms for cardio-vascular problems. These are not the only that problems can slip up on you. You need to be aware of any & all aches, pains, bumps, lumps & rashes. You especially need to know when are they important as well as when are they not something to be concerned about!
"Your Body's Red Light Warning Signals", a excellent book by Neil Shulman, MD, gives in detail an owner's manual for the human body. Shulman's book literally lists 100's of real symptoms that can signal life,death or even serious disability. Dr. Shulman, a professor of internal medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, is the author of a number of medical books along many scientific papers. He likens to this sort of thing to "terrorists inside our bodies," These symptoms are "killing way too many people. There's tremendous suffering & horrible deaths that could be avoided if only people knew that something is wrong." It happens all of the time! A symptom is missed & it leads to a tragic ending. A symptom caught just in time & a life is saved. Literally, it is just that dramatic says Dr. Shulman.
Warning Signs
Here are "6 flags" the 6 medical symptoms you need keep in mind:
1. If you have unexplained weight loss &/or loss of appetite, you may have a serious underlying medical illness.
"If you're on a diet, you are expecting this to happen. But if you're eating the same way and now have to adjust your belt a few notches tighter you could have a serious problem," Dr. Shulman says.
"With ovarian cancer, the opposite is true," Dr. Shulman says. "Fluid builds in the abdomen, and women think they are gaining weight. But if you have been at the same weight range for years, and doing nothing different, see a doctor."
2. Slurred speech, paralysis, weakness, tingling, burning pains, numbness, and confusion are signs of a stroke, and you should get to an appropriate emergency center immediately. Early treatment may prevent permanent damage to the brain or even save your life. Slurred speech can often go unnoticed, says Dr. Shulman. It is, you might have a blood clot in a blood vessel going to the brain or bleeding in a blood vessel.
Other Indicators
3. Black, tarry stools may indicate a hemorrhage from an ulcer of the stomach or the intestine. It is important to stop the bleeding and to rule out cancer as a cause. What you eat can cause changes in the color of stools. But black, tarry stools mean there may be bleeding higher in the intestine, says Dr. Shulman. It could be a sign of a bleeding ulcer or cancer in the intestine.
4. A headache accompanied by a stiff neck and fever is an indicator of a serious infection called meningitis. In fact, if you cannot put your chin on your chest, that is a sign you may have bacterial meningitis, states Dr. Shulman. You need antibiotics immediately to kill the bacteria before it infects & scars the brain.
5. A sudden, agonizing headache, more severe than any you have felt before, could mean you are bleeding in the brain. Go to an emergency room immediately. A cerebral or brain aneurysm is rare, but it can & does happen even in people under 40. "It can be very disastrous if it's not treated," Shulman says. If you have a severe, crushing headache, you may have an aneurysm, which is a blood-filled pouch bulging out from a weak spot in the wall of a brain artery. If treated before it bursts, it could save your life.
6a. For women: Vaginal bleeding after menopause is a waning sign of possible cancer.
Some women are in denial when they discover post-menopausal bleeding. "Others think it is a little cut, or something in their urine," says Dr. Shulman. Bleeding after menopause is a sign of uterine cancer, which is treatable & curable if caught early.
6b. For men: A lump in your testicle with or without a small lump in the groin could be serious. Testicular cancer is more commonly found in testicles that did not naturally descend from the abdomen to the scrotum. Guys, when you take a shower, check yourself, says Shulman. "That does not mean that you must do it every day but once in awhile. It is so simple, simpler than washing your hair. If it becomes an automatic act, then it's easier to remember. If you know what 'normal' feels like, then you will know when it feels abnormal."
'Squeaky Wheel' Works
It's an old, old saying: The squeaky wheel gets the grease. But it's vitally important in medicine, says Shulman. If you know something's not right with your body -- if you've got that severe, crushing headache, but doctors aren't taking it seriously -- stand up for yourself.
Tell doctors you know it could be a problem "I want you to rule this out," you should say. If they balk, here's your line: "I want you to write on the chart that you refused to do proper tests." Doctors are human; they get tired and distracted. It helps to get extreme, to get their attention, says Dr. Shulman.
"Sometimes you have to make a scene," he tells WebMD. "The one person most likely to be concerned about whether you live or not is you. You have the greatest empathy for yourself." All adults from senior year of high school& up should be familiar with standard medical symptoms, to help them preserve their good health.
Sources:
Your Body's Red Light Warning Signals
By: Neil Shulman, MD, professor of internal medicine,
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
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