http://www.care2.com/greenliving/7-dangerous-health-symptoms-you-shouldnt-ignore.html
7 Dangerous Health Symptoms You Shouldn’t Ignore
By Veronica Peterson, Editor, Healthy & Green Living
The sudden death of actress Natasha Richardson not only came as a tragic shock but as a warning to all that seemingly mild symptoms can sometimes be fatal. True, no one wants to rush off to the ER at the first sign of every ailment so a little knowledge goes a long way. Below are some dangerous symptoms you can’t afford to ignore.
1. Horrible Headache
If you’re experiencing a headache worse that any you’ve had before–get to the doctor. This is a symptom of brain bleeding and could be the beginning signs of an aneurysm. If your headache is accompanied by stiffness and you can’t move your neck, meningitis could be a possible culprit and you’ll need antibiotics immediately to prevent permanent damage.
2. Intense Stomach Pain
Do you still have your appendix? Don’t take the chance that it may rupture–head to the ER immediately. An appendix could rupture as soon as 48 to 72 hours after symptoms start. The infection from a ruptured appendix is very serious can be life-threatening.
3. Pins and Needles Feeling in Your Legs or Feet
According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes and one-quarter of those are undiagnosed. Elevated blood sugar levels could damage your circulatory and nervous systems, lead to full-blown diabetes and eventually life-threatening complications if not treated.
4. Slurred Speech, paralysis, confusion and numbness
All are signs of a potential stroke. Run, don’t walk to the ER. Catching the warning signs early on could prevent permanent damage to your brain.
5. Pain and Swelling in Your Calf.
Deep Vein Thrombosis or DVT is a potentially fatal problem that strikes more than 600,000 people a year just in the U.S. If you’re a smoker, just had surgery, are obese, or have been sitting still for over three hours you could be at risk. If your symptoms appeared suddenly, and have lasted a few hours see your doctor as soon as possible. If you’re having shortness of breath, chest pain, or difficulty breathing–a clot may have traveled to your lungs. So, get to the ER immediately.
6. Chest Pain
Chest pain is the most common symptom ER docs see and one of the most important. Fifty percent of deaths from heart attacks happen within the first four hours, so get to the ER quickly. Chest pain doesn’t always signal a heart attack but it is still worth the time spent to have it checked out.
7. Shortness of breath.
Most of us feel a little breathless after climbing a flight of stairs, but if you’re gasping for air when laying or sitting down, it’s a possible sign of heart failure. Other causes are asthma, anxiety or a blood clot in the lungs.
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13 comments
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Thanks Veronica, as you said NO-ONE WANTS TO RUSH OFF TO THE ER at the first sign of an ailment you're just pointing out the signs which should not be ignored as they indicate something which could be life threatening. So see your doctor and take it further if you're still concerned. Too often medical staff ignore the concerns of patients. Thanks for this information - it was very useful and not "SLIMY" like Alex R posted - idiot!
Incidents like Natasha Richardon's tragic death should make us more aware.
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Thanks Veronica, as you said NO-ONE WANTS TO RUSH OFF TO THE ER at the first sign of an ailment you're just pointing out the signs which should not be ignored as they indicate something which could be life threatening. So see your doctor and take it further if you're still concerned. Too often medical staff ignore the concerns of patients. Thanks for this information - it was very useful and not "SLIMY" like Alex R posted - idiot!
Incidents like Natasha Richardon's tragic death should make us more aware.
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I don't like scare tactics, but I think this situation was used as a lead off to help us to keep in mind that we are not immune to things happening. It seems to me the article was written with good intentions. Its also possible that some of us out here may not be aware of what some symptoms are. Thanks for being concerned about our well being.
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Gosh I bet Veronica is wondering why she posted her comments now!
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I don't believe we need the scare tactics -- I think people will make their own decisions based on their own situations. That said, I ended up in the ER on 6 separate occasions over the period of a week (actually more -- I didn't count multiple ER admissions on one day). The final admission resulted in an emergency surgery followed the next day by another emergency surgery. The medical bills were quite large and weren't much worse only because I got rides from neighbors to the ER on all but one occasion. I have to say the ambulance bills are the most outrageous of all I viewed. Still, ER room practice is very expensive and for those without decent health insurance, prohibitive. Even with decent health coverage, it is prohibitive due to ever-increasing premiums. There comes a time when some of us just say, it's not worth it. Soooo, advising trips to the ER at the drop of a hat is not good advice for most folks. Most of us know (as another poster said, on a gut level) when it's a real emergency that requires immediate medical attention. I didn't find this post very helpful.
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These are all valid and useful signs of a more serious condition, stroke, cardiac arrest, and swelling of a calf is a blod clot...just know the signs. Doesn't mean you're on the way to the ER.
And if you have a suspicion that could be serious - follow your intuition and have it checked at some point..it could save your life. It did mine.
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Shortness of breath could also be COPD...when I had it checked out, they also found out that I had lung cancer. Don't need to rush to the ER..but definitely should have it checked out.
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Given most peoples health insurance (provided they have any) only cover a small portion of trips to the ER (costing the patient around $200+ a visit not counting ambulance fees) this is a sure fire way to encourage people to break their budget/go into debt using the death of one woman as a scare tactic.
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I'm with you Tsandi ~
Sounds like an ad for "your local hospital" promoting Allopathic Medicine...and the scare tactic with the ACCIDENTAL DEATH of Natasha Richardson, kinda slimy if you ask me. And the article prefaces rushing off to the ER, yet that's it's solution to almost every incident it covers.
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