Warning Signs of Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Attack, Stroke

Some symptoms act as warning signs that a serious disease is developing. If you know these warning signs and heed them, you may detect the disease before it becomes life-threatening. Some diseases, like cancer, are often curable if they are detected early. Other diseases, like diabetes, cannot be cured, but early detection and treatment may reduce the injury they cause the body.

Here are the warning signs for four diseases that, if detected early, can often be stopped or controlled.

Cancer

The American Cancer Society lists the following seven warning signs for cancer. Let your doctor know immediately if you experience any of these signs.

• Change in bowel or bladder habits. Most people occasionally have a brief period of constipation, diarrhea, or a change in the frequency of bowel movements or urination. These do not necessarily indicate cancer but can be due to flu, changes in your diet, stress, etc. Tell your doctor about any changes in bowel or bladder habits that last two weeks.


• A sore that does not heal.


• Unusual bleeding or discharge. Coughing up blood, blood in vomit, blood in the urine, or significant amounts of blood in the stool should be called to your doctor's attention. Small amounts of blood in the stool can be due to hemorrhoids. Tell your doctor about even small amounts of blood in the stool if it does not go away in a few days.


• Thickening or lump in breast or elsewhere. Most lumps, even in the breast, are not cancer. However, they should not be ignored.


• Difficulty swallowing or indigestion that lasts more than a month and causes more than occasional minor discomfort.


• Change in the appearance or size of a wart or mole.


• Nagging cough or hoarseness. Cough and hoarseness are commonly associated with a cold. However, if either lasts more than a few weeks, tell your doctor.
  

Diabetes

The warning signs of diabetes are often vague and might not cause you to think you need to see a doctor. However, if you have any of the following symptoms and there is no other obvious cause (fatigue from working hard, or frequent urination because of drinking lots of fluids, for example), discuss the symptoms with your doctor.

• Increased thirst


• Frequent urination (especially at night)


• Increased appetite


• Unexplained weight loss


• Fatigue


• Frequent unexplained skin infections


• Slow-healing wounds


• Frequent vaginal infections


• Difficulty with erections


• Persistent blurred vision


• Persistent tingling or numbness in hands or feet

Heart Attack

Call 911 or other emergency services immediately if you or someone you are with has warning signs of a heart attack.

• Chest pain that is crushing, squeezing, increases in intensity, or occurs with other symptoms of a heart attack is the key warning sign of a heart attack.

Other symptoms of a heart attack include:

• Sweating


• Shortness of breath


• Chest pain radiating to the arm, neck, or jaw


• Nausea or vomiting


• Dizziness


• Rapid and/or irregular pulse

Stroke

The National Stroke Association lists five warning signs of stroke. If you or someone you are with experiences any of these symptoms, call 911 or other emergency services immediately.

• Weakness, numbness, or paralysis of the face, arm, or leg, especially on only one side of the body, that does not go away in a few minutes


• Blurred or decreased vision in one or both eyes that does not clear with blinking


• Newly developed difficulty speaking or understanding simple statements
  


• Sudden unexplainable and intense headache


• Severe dizziness, loss of balance, or loss of coordination, especially if another warning sign is present at the same time

If the symptom was definitely there and then goes away in a few minutes, call your doctor immediately. Symptoms that go away in a few minutes may be caused by a transient ischemic attack (TIA). TIAs are a strong sign that a major stroke may soon occur.