Better Health & Living
6 Warning Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore
Here are some small symptoms that can spell big trouble.
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Bellyache. Dizziness. Confusion. Constipation. All pretty harmless conditions that everyone has at one time or another. But they can also be signals that you have a serious, even life-threatening disease. New studies on ovarian cancer, stroke, and a little-known metabolic problem called celiac disease carry a clear message for you and your doctor: Don’t ignore the early warning signs, no matter how tiny. Paying attention could save your life. Here’s what to look for.
Symptom: Confusion
Possible diagnosis: Stroke
There’s nothing vague about the classic symptoms of stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts, depriving brain cells of oxygen. A stroke can cause sudden numbness, trouble walking, dizziness, or inability to speak. But a stroke that affects the right side of the brain, which has symptoms that aren’t “typical,” can be much more difficult to detect than one that affects the left side. And the delayed diagnosis can have serious consequences.
Symptoms of Stroke
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion; trouble speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing with one or both eyes
- Sudden difficulty in walking; dizziness; loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden severe headache with no known cause
German researchers, who looked at the medical records of 20,000 patients who were admitted to hospitals for strokes over a 5 1/2-year period, discovered a glaring difference: People who had strokes that damaged the left side of the brain were more likely to be admitted to the hospital within three hours and receive lifesaving drugs and treatment than those who had strokes on the right side of the brain.
The difference? A left-sided stroke can leave you with sudden speech problems, providing an instant clue that something has gone wrong. People who’ve had left-sided strokes may find it difficult to use their right hands, which are dominant for 90 to 95 percent of the population. By contrast, people with right-brain stroke—about 40 percent of all stroke victims—usually don’t have difficulty communicating, so loved ones and co-workers may not realize there’s a problem, at least at first. The stroke may cause loss of feeling in the left side, which may not be as noticeable for people who are right-handed. They are likely to be confused, though, making them less apt to recognize that something is wrong, says E. J. Kenton III, MD, director of the Stroke Prevention/Intervention Research Program at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Bottom line:
Learn all the warning signs of stroke. If you experience any of them, call 911 right away. The clot-dissolving medicine t-PA, which helps patients who have strokes caused by blood clots, can be given safely and effectively only within the first three hours after the stroke occurs. It improves recovery odds by up to 30 percent. For more information, visit the Web site of the American Stroke Association at www.strokeassociation.org.
Symptoms: Abdominal Pain, Bloating
Possible diagnosis: Ovarian cancer
Fewer than 20 percent of ovarian cancers are caught in the early, more curable stages, largely because this is a disease whose symptoms “whisper.” The most common—abdominal swelling and pain—can be subtle or vague and can often be mistaken as indications of more common problems such as diverticulitis or irritable bowel syndrome. Plus, there’s no effective screening test for this cancer, which strikes 20,000 women a year.
Now, research shows it may be possible to diagnose ovarian cancer at much earlier stages, potentially saving thousands of lives. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine studied the Medicare records of nearly 2,000 women who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and noted the women’s symptoms in the months leading up to diagnosis as well as the diagnostic tests they were given. They did the same for women with breast cancer and for a control group of women who were cancer-free. Women with ovarian cancer were far more likely than the others to report so-called target symptoms of the disease, such as abdominal swelling and pain, in the three months before they were diagnosed. In fact, nearly 30 percent of women with ovarian cancer reported abdominal pain, while just 4 to 5 percent of women in the other groups had this particular symptom. Women with ovarian cancer were also more likely to have complained of gastrointestinal distress, pelvic pain, and abdominal swelling 10 to 12 months prior to their diagnoses.
Ovarian Cancer Symptoms
- Abdominal swelling caused
- by fluid buildup
- Feeling of fullness
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Pelvic pressure
- Back or leg pain
- Frequent urination
- Gas; bloating; chronic stomach pain; constipation; diarrhea; indigestion
- Unexplained weight gain or loss
Researchers found that only a quarter of the women with ovarian cancer underwent the tests most commonly used to detect it: pelvic imaging and a blood test to detect CA125, a protein that’s often elevated in women with ovarian cancer. While neither test is sensitive enough to pick up all ovarian tumors, the researchers say the screenings may have provided earlier diagnoses for some of the women who complained to their doctors about abdominal symptoms up to three years before their cancers were finally detected.
Bottom line:
When unexplained symptoms persist, ask your gynecologist about testing for ovarian cancer, particularly if you have strong risk factors for the disease, such as a family history of ovarian cancer in first-degree relatives (mother, sister, or daughter) or an inherited mutation of the breast cancer gene BRCA1 or BRCA2. Pelvic imaging and CA125 testing are not recommended as screening tools for patients without symptoms or strong inherited risk. For more information, go to the American Cancer Society’s Web site at www.cancer.org
Symptoms: Chronic Diarrhea, Constipation, Abdominal Pain
Possible diagnosis: Celiac disease
Imagine a disease that means eating a sandwich, a cookie, or a slice of pie will make you sick to your stomach. That’s what happens with celiac disease, a disorder that wreaks havoc on the digestive system and interferes with your body’s ability to absorb nutrients. It’s triggered by gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. Common symptoms include gas, chronic diarrhea, constipation, and abdominal pain.
Symptoms of Celiac Disease
- Abdominal cramping, gas, distention, and bloating
- Chronic diarrhea or constipation or both
- Fatty stools
- Anemia
- Weight loss with large appetite; weight gain
Once thought to be rare, celiac disease affects as many as three million Americans, or about 1 percent of the population, a new study has found. It can be detected by a simple blood test, but the average wait for diagnosis is an astounding10 years. Why? It’s not on anyone’s radar.
“Most gastroenterologists only consider celiac disease if someone has the classic symptom of diarrhea, but symptoms are much more diffuse than that,” says Charles O. Elson III, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
His advice: If you have unexplained gastric symptoms and other conditions have been ruled out, push your doc to test you for celiac disease. But don’t start a gluten-free diet based on your suspicions. Diagnostic tests work only when your diet contains gluten.
Bottom line:
Anyone with persistent gastrointestinal symptoms, including chronic diarrhea, malabsorption of nutrients, weight loss, and abdominal distention, should be tested. If your doctor is unable to find any other causes for your short stature, delayed puberty, iron-deficiency anemia, or recurrent miscarriage or infertility, request a celiac blood test, since these could also be signs of the condition. For more information, go to www.celiac.org
Julie A. Evans writes about health and other topics from her home in Ohio.
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