Six Serious Medical Symptoms Requiring Immediate Care

emergency

Like the red-light warnings on your car’s dashboard, the human body sends out a flare when something goes awry. Chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness – these are just some of the medical symptoms most people recognize as “something’s wrong.”

But other problems can creep up, too – aches and pains, and lumps and bumps. So when are they important and when are they just the normal signs of getting older?

In his book, Your Body’s Red Light Warning Signals, Dr. Neil Shulman says a great deal of suffering and death could be avoided if you recognize and respond to your body’s signs that something’s wrong.

Shulman’s advice? Be familiar with standard medical symptoms to help preserve your good health. And if you know something's not right with your body, see your doctor.

Here are six warning flags to keep in mind:

  1. Unexplained weight loss or loss of appetite. If you’re eating the same amount of food – not dieting – and have to adjust your belt a few notches tighter, you could have a serious underlying medical illness.
  2. Slurred speech, paralysis, weakness, tingling, burning pains, numbness and confusion are all signs of a stroke. Go to an emergency center immediately. Early treatment may prevent permanent damage to the brain and even save your life.
  3. Black, tarry stools may indicate a stomach hemorrhage or small intestine ulcer. It’s important to stop the bleeding and rule out cancer as a cause.
  4. A headache with a stiff neck and fever is an indicator of a serious infection called meningitis. If you can’t put your chin on your chest, that may mean bacterial meningitis, which requires antibiotics immediately to kill the bacteria before it infects and scars the brain.
  5. A sudden, agonizing headache could mean bleeding in the brain. Go to an emergency room immediately. A brain aneurysm is rare, but it can happen – even in people under 40. If treated before it bursts, it could save your life.
  6. For women: Vaginal bleeding after menopause is a warning sign of possible uterine cancer, which is treatable if caught early. Don’t assume it’s just a small cut or something in your urine that will go away on its own.

    For men: A lump in your testicle     with or without a small lump in the groin could be testicular cancer, which is more commonly found in testicles that did not naturally descend from the abdomen to the scrotum. Check yourself while showering to determine what “normal” feels like, then you’ll know if something feels abnormal.

- Source: WebMD; Body's Red Light Warning Signals by Neil Shulman, M.D

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