Common Symptoms and Predisposing Factors

I recently bought a new book called "Complete Family Health Guide New Medicine" and thought I would type up some of our more common complaints and possible reasons for them.

This is not intended to scare you in any way but is to provide alternate reasons for some symptoms and illnesses - for example a headache could be a simple side effect of dehydration.

So please do have a read if you have any of these problems and consider the alternate reasons for your aches and pains.

I will add more when I get time.


Headaches

Why might I have this?

Predisposing Factors

• Tense neck muscles
• Depression
• Food sensitivities
• Low magnesium levels
• Prolonged use of painkillers
• Noisy, stuffy environment
• Poor posture
• Trigger points and joint restrictions
• Polluted environments

Triggers

• Stress
• Caffeine withdrawal
• Too much caffeine
• Low blood-sugar levels
• Dehydration

Sinusitis

Symptoms

• Pain and tenderness in the face that may be worse when bending forward
• Nasal discharge
• Nasal congestion or blockage
• Headache and possibly toothache, if the sinuses behind the cheeks are affected.

Predisposing Factors

• Infection
• Allergy
• Polyps in the nose
• Deviated septum
• Food sensitivity
• Yeast infection
• High levels of histamine in the body
• Trigger points in jaw muscles
• Upper chest breathing

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

What are the symptoms?

IBS involves abdominal pain that is relieved by defecation. Related symptoms may include:

• A change in the frequency of stool
• A change in the appearance of the stool

There may also be:

• Fewer than three bowel movements in a week or more than three a day
• Hard or lumpy stools
• Loose (watery) stools
• Straining during a bowel movement
• Urgency (having to rush to have a bowel movement)
• A feeling that the bowel is not emptied completely
• Passage of mucus during defecation
• A feeling of fullness or bloating

Why might I have this?

Predisposing Factors

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Food sensitivities
• Imbalance of organisms in the digestive tract
• Lactose and fructose intolerance
• Sorbitol (an artificial sweetener)
• Trigger-point activity from muscles of the abdomen or back
• Smoking

High Blood Pressure

What are the symptoms?

High blood pressure does not usually cause symptoms but if your blood pressure is very high then you may have:

• Headaches
• Nosebleeds
• Dizziness
• Blurred Vision

Why might I have this?

• Predisposing Factors
• Smoking
• A diet high in salt
• Lack of exercise
• Excess weight
• Being over 60
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Excess caffeine
• Nutrient deficiency

Triggers

Stress



Palpitations

What are the symptoms?

Awareness of the heartbeat

Additional symptoms may be experienced, depending on the cause:

• Palpitations with panic attacks may be associated with nausea and increased sweating
• Palpitations associated with atrial fibrillation may be accompanied by light-headedness and shortness of breathe
• Palpitations associated with other rapid arrhythmias may be accompanied by shortness of breathe, fainting and chest pain

Why might I have this?

Predisposing Factors

• Underlying arrhythmia
• Overactive thyroid gland
• Anaemia

Triggers

• Caffeine
• Nicotine
• Alcohol
• Anxiety
• Panic Attacks
• Calcium-channel blockers

Back and Neck pain

What are the symptoms?

• Pain in the back or the neck which may be mild or severe
• The pain may come on suddenly or develop over a period of days or weeks
• Persistent numbness in one limb or a persistent weakness of certain movements may reflect pressure on a nerve root

Why might I have this?

Predisposing Factors

• Habitual poor posture
• Stress
• Certain occupation, such as working on computers
• Pregnancy
• Joint dysfunction or muscle spasm
• Prolapsed disc
• Muscle and ligament pain
• Degenerative disease

Triggers

• Sports injury
• Whiplash
• Lifting a heavy object awkwardly

Fibromyalgia

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of Fibromyalgia usually develop slowly over weeks and may include:

• Persistent connective tissue pain affecting almost any part of the body
• Fatigue, sleep disturbance and/or unrefreshing sleep
• Fibromyalgia is associated with other conditions, particularly migraine and irritable bowel syndrome – many people who have Fibromyalgia also have these
• Fibromyalgia is often associated with depression and anxiety
• Tenderness to pressure at 11 or more of 18 tender points (base of skull, neck, shoulder, shoulder blade, breastbone, elbow, hip, thigh, knee)
• Symptoms may become worse if stress levels increase

Why might I have this?

Predisposing Factors

• Stress
• Sleep deprivation
• Another disorder, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or hypothyroidism
• Being sensitive to paint solvents and other chemicals
• Being sensitive to cleaning products, heavy metals, silicone

Triggers

• Injury, trauma or major surgery
• Infection (bacterial or viral)

Thyroid Problems

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of hyperthyroidism include:

• Weight loss, despite increased appetite
• Palpitations
• Trembling of the hands (tremor)
• Lowered tolerance to heat
• Excessive sweating
• Anxiety and insomnia
• Swelling in the neck (goitre)
• Frequent bowel movements
• Muscle weakness
• Irregular menstruation
• Protruding eyes (exophthalmos) in Graves’ disease

Symptoms of hypothyroidism include:

• Tiredness
• Poor memory
• Weight gain
• Constipation
• Deepened voice
• Swelling in the neck
• Lowered tolerance to cold
• Puffy eyes and dry, thickened skin
• Generalised thinking of the hair
• Heavy or less frequent menstrual periods
• Weakness and aching of muscles
• Joint pains

Why might I have this?

Predisposing Factors

For hyperthyroidism:

Genetic predisposition


For hypothyroidism:

Previous radioiodine treatment or surgery for hyperthyroidism
Autoimmune problems

Top post Nic! :yesyes:

Piglet :flowers:

Thanks Nic your a star. xxx

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_30_114.giffor that Nic was very interesting hun.

Hope Your well,

Take Care,

Love & Hugs :hugs: Pip's X X X Xhttp://on1.aimgit.net/images/girly/c...sKittens54.gifhttp://aimgit.net/images/thanksAvtrDollGlitter.gif

Thank you so much Nic.

Laura :)

Thanks Nicola for this.

Please be careful of the above link. This person left a number of malicious postings in the forum tonight.

This is a very useful post thank you. However, there is an error on Hypothyroidism. The symptom isn't less frequent menstruation but heavier, MORE frequent and more painful menstruation.

I hope that helps.

Thanks again:yesyes:

Wow, this is a very helpful post, thank you!

It's actually saved me a lot of anxiety; having looked at the IBS symptoms, I've realised that something I was worrying about being serious is likely only IBS :ohmy:

Very nice and inspirational information you have shared. Your study on this condition is great are very nice.

A very comprehensive list, thank you for all that work!

Might there be information regarding lumps or bumps? The kind of things we often misdiagnose as cancers, or tumours? I understand there's a lot of variety in such things, though so perhaps a list of it's own might be better? Does anyone have a source? Is there one already?

Late post but thank you for posting this - adds to the "common" reasons for the stuff we worry about.