Symptoms Home

Many lives have been saved with timely intervention and immediate recognition of a symptom that points to a disease or an illness. Let's start with the basic, what is a symptom and how will it help me recognise an impending disease? Symptom is a deviation from the normal functioning of the body that is noticed by the patient, indicating the presence of an illness. It becomes very important to research the common medical symptoms that plague you and me.

Take a look at the following common medical symptoms experienced by many individuals. Information about each symptom has been provided along with the treatment.

Symptoms that affect adults (men and women) and children alike

• Abdominal bloating can be referred to a sensation of abdominal enlargement or a sense of fullness. It occurs due to disturbance in the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, leading to an increase in intestinal gas.
• Causes of bloating includes presence of excess fat in the diet, air swallowing, irritable bowel syndrome, any obstruction in the bowel, or constipation.
• Treatment is directed towards correcting the underlying problem of bloating. Also avoid carbonated drinks, foods that are difficult to digest, avoiding chewing gum as this leads to air swallowing.

• This relates to pain felt in the abdomen and the condition can be acute or chronic in nature. Abdominal pain is diagnosed by doctors depending on certain features of pain like duration, location and other related symptoms.
• Probable causes of upper abdominal pain are inflammation of the gall bladder, peptic ulcers, pneumonia, and heart attacks. Causes of lower abdominal pain includes acute appendicitis, hernias, inflammatory bowel disease, or pelvic diseases.
• Management largely depends on the causes of pain. Conditions like appendicitis require immediate surgery. Other causes like infections can be treated by administering antibiotics.

• A common gastrointestinal disorder experienced by many individuals, refers to a condition where there is a reduction in the frequency of bowel movements. A person passes stools less than 3 times a week and there is pain and difficulty while passing stools.
• You get constipated when your large intestine absorbs excessive water from stools, making it very dry and hard. Causes can be poor diet, lifestyle changes, taking certain medications, obstruction the bowels or diseases.
• Treatment of constipation includes eliminating its causative factors. Other measures to fight constipation are having plenty of fibre, drinking plenty of water, regular exercises, defecating when the urge comes and making certain lifestyle changes to suit your body.

• It is a digestive disorder where a person passes increased stool water leading to increased frequency of stools. This occurs when there is a problem in the absorption mechanism of the intestines.
• A common cause of diarrhoea is infection. Some are viral infections but other include bacterial or parasitical. As diarrhoea is self-limiting, treatment involved is supportive.
• Many cases of diarrhoea are self-limiting and mild, but if you present with severe dehydration, it can be a cause for concern.

• You have fever when your body temperature rises above the normal body temperature. Fever is considered to be a form of illness, but it plays a role in fighting infections.
• Causes of fever include: flu-like illness, colds, urinary tract infection, sore throats, glandular fever, upper respiratory infections and serious infections like meningitis and pneumonia.
• Treatment are based on the causative factors and the duration of fever. But general advice for fever includes: drinking plenty of water, taking a sponge bath and taking paracetamol.

• Gastrointestinal fistulas are abnormal connections within the gastrointestinal tract. It leads to connections between parts of the intestine and other organs or tissues.
• Causes could be inflammation, trauma or cancer.
• Treatment entirely depends on the underlying cause and the extent of the fistula. In some cases, you may receive antibiotics that will stop the fistula draining and cause it to heal. At times, you are not allowed to eat for a period and nutrients are supplied in the form of a drip.

• Inflammation presents with 4 main features like redness, heat, pain and swelling. It is a natural process where the body responds to any kind of injury. This injury could be in any form; an infection, toxin or a chemical.
• There are two kinds of inflammation, acute and chronic. Common causes of inflammation include: physical trauma, allergic reactions and for chronic inflammations, they are syphilis, rheumatoid arthritis, or certain fungi.
• Anti-inflammatory medications are given to control and interrupt the inflammation. Common medications include: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) and Steroidal anti-inflammatories (cortisol, prednisolone).

• Yellow discolouration of skin due to increased levels of bilirubin in the serum is called jaundice. This is normally found in the white part of the eye (sclera), skin and mucous membrane.
• Causes are increased levels of bilirubin production due to increase in the number of red blood cells getting destroyed, failure of the liver to excrete the bilirubin produced, blockage to the passage of bile into the gut.
• Treatment varies according to the causes mentioned above.

• Nausea is when you have an unpleasant sensation of wanting to throw up and is associated with cold sweat. Whereas vomiting is when there is forceful expulsion of your stomach contents through your mouth.
• Causes of nausea and vomiting include: indigestion, allergies, liver problems, gallstones, food poisoning, flu, gastroenteritis (viral), pregnancy, meningitis, high blood sugar levels in cases of diabetics.

This is an emotional and sensory experience common to any kind of disease. It is usually caused due to damage to nerve cells, tissue. Common types of pain include the following: chest pain, abdominal pain, headache, joint pain.

When you visit your doctor complaining of pain, he/she will ask many questions about the location and quality of pain. These questions are:

• Is the pain poorly or well localised? It is important to know the exact location of pain to determine its cause.
• Does the pain radiate to other places?
• How does the pain start Is it continuous or intermittent?

Various tests are performed depending on the location and severity of pain like x-rays, MRI or ultra sound. Those who suffer with chronic pain may be required to finish a specialised questionnaires like the McGill Pain Questionnaire or Pain Disability Index.

Pain management is a difficult topic. Some pain needs medical intervention whereas some pain is self-limiting! Chronic pain requires a more holistic approach rather than normal pain treatments.

Symptoms that indicate the presence of cancer

• Cancer signs and symptoms will depend upon the kind of cancer, its location and its severity. Mechanisms that cause these symptoms are erosion, compression, and occlusion.
• General signs and symptoms are: unexplained weight loss, pain in advanced cases, fatigue, fever with night sweats, and skin changes like itching, pigmentation.
• 7 cancer signs and symptoms:

1. Sudden change in bowel movements
2. Difficulty in swallowing
3. Persistent cough
4. Bleeding or discharge that is unusual from the vagina, rectum or anus
5. Non-healing sores in the mouth
6. Feeling of a lump in the breast or testes
7. Changes in the warts or moles

• These are common symptoms seen in cancer patients due to cancer medicines. Agitation is a state of physical activity and restlessness associated with mental disturbance. Confusion is characterised by disorientation as regards place, person or time.
• There are many causes, some of them are infection, anaemia, dehydration, high/low blood sugar, tumour in the brain, epileptic seizures
• Treatment includes giving reassurance to the patients at regular intervals, keeping the patient's room well lit and quiet.

• This is a common complication of cancer disease and is a result of chronic pain. This pain results due to tissue damage or because of the disease itself.
• Types of cancer pain include: pressure pain, aching or gnawing kind of pain, pain which the patient can 'pin-point'.
• Cancer pain can be managed by proper support and counseling, treating the pain itself, providing the right kind of information.
• Drugs used to treat cancer pain are simple analgesics like paracetamol, aspirin. They also include corticosteroids, antiepileptics and muscle relaxants.

• Dyspnoea or breathlessness is when you have difficulty in breathing. This is a common symptom experienced by those suffering from cancer, especially lung cancer.
• Breathlessness occurs due to weakened ability of the lungs to expand, increased levels of carbon dioxide in your blood or decreased levels of oxygen levels in your blood.
• Most common cancers that cause breathlessness are breast and lung cancers. Other causes include anaemia, general fatigue, heart damage, anxiety.
• Treatment here involves taking care of the cancer and addressing the issues causing breathlessness in the first place.

• Fatigue is when there is lack of energy presenting with severe body- tiredness that is not relieved by sleep. A very common symptom often reported in cancer treatment.
• Certain cancer treatments commonly associated with fatigue are radiotherapy, chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant.
• It is difficult to treat fatigue. But in known causes of fatigue, you can do the following: improve energy levels by exercising. Cancer patients should exercise to remain active as much as possible. Treating anaemia helps relieve fatigue and offering psychological support to patients.

• It is a condition when you have low levels of white blood cells in your blood circulation.
• High risk individuals are those who receive treatment for cancer like radiotherapy or chemotherapy. White blood cells are necessary for fighting any infection. Hence their reduction in number poses a huge health problem.
• Main causes of neutropenia are when white cells are destroyed due to infections or allergic reactions or because of autoimmune diseases.
• Treatment depends on its cause and severity. Drugs causing neutropenia are immediately discontinued.