Danger Signals of Dreaded Diseases

by Joseph D. Tabora, M.D.

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Heart failure, stroke and cancer often have symptoms that signal their impending occurrence. Unfortunately, many people either are unaware or simply ignore these red flags, missing their chance of avoiding medical catastrophes. Here are ten danger signals and what they may foretell.

  1. Amaurosis fugax, or a sudden but transient blindness. The blindness lasts from several minutes to a few hours and spontaneously gets better. This symptom is a prelude to a more damaging stroke.
  2. Transient ischemic attack, or TIA, is a sudden neurologic deficit like slurring of speech, drooling of saliva, or weakness in the arm or leg. The symptom may mimic those of a full blown stroke but the deficit recovers after a day. Like amaurosis fugax, TIA may portend a more fatal stroke.
  3. Frequent palpitations, or the frequent sensation of ones heart skipping a beat, seems inocuous. But if it occurs because of the uncoordinated contraction of a part of the heart (atrial fibrillation), palpitations predispose to clotting of blood in the heart and increase the risk of having an embolic stroke.

  4. Bipedal edema, or the swelling of both feet and legs at the same time, may be an early sign of heart failure.
  5. Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, or the occasional waking at night gasping for breath, is another early sign of heart failure.
  6. Orthopnea, or difficulty of breathing when lying on bed, is evident by the need to use more than one pillow to breath easily. This is another sign of heart failure.
  7. Unexplained weight loss is a danger sign for many conditions. If you are not intentionally losing weight, the cause must be identified promptly.
  8. A wound or sore that does not heal for more than a week must be carefully evaluated. Skin cancer may manifest as a wound that never heals.
  9. Recurrent diarrhea, especially when a routine stool examination does not show any probable cause, may be a symptom of cancer of the colon or rectum.
  10. Scyballous stools, or stools similar to goat-droppings, may be another sign of colon or rectal cancer.