Be alert to the 5 distress signals sent by your body

The human body is like a precision instrument, but when something goes wrong, we cannot take it apart like we do to repair an instrument. We can only use some superficial observations to infer what has gone wrong inside. In most cases, once the body becomes abnormal, it will send out a signal of "abnormal functioning", and we must learn to find clues of the disease from it. Especially in life-threatening emergencies, the body will even desperately "call for help" from us. At this time, it must be taken seriously and dealt with in a timely manner, otherwise it may be life-threatening.

Splitting headache, beware of cerebral hemorrhage

Occasional headaches and fever are common, and everyone has experienced them to some extent, but there are several types of headaches that are not so common and can even be life-threatening if not treated in time. Miao Zhongrong, director of the Interventional Center of Neurology at Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University and director of the Emergency Interventional Department at Beijing Tiantan Hospital, said that if the headache is very severe and accompanied by hemiplegia or impaired consciousness, it may be a typical sign of hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage. Patients with a history of hypertension should be vigilant. If the headache comes on suddenly, occurring within seconds or minutes, and is extremely severe with distending or explosive pain, accompanied by vomiting and neck stiffness (spasmodic contraction and pain in the neck muscles, stiff neck, and limited movement), you should immediately realize that it may be subarachnoid hemorrhage and call 120 for emergency help. Patients with impaired consciousness should lie flat with their heads turned to one side to avoid choking on vomit and wait for the ambulance to arrive. If respiratory or cardiac arrest occurs, simple first aid can be given through artificial respiration and chest compressions.

A huge rock pressing on the chest or a heart attack

"When you experience severe, tight, compressive pain in the chest and feel shortness of breath, the following three situations cannot be ruled out: one is acute myocardial infarction, two is aortic dissection, and three is pulmonary embolism." said Xu Dingli, director of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University and deputy director of the Cardiovascular Disease Branch of the Guangdong Medical Association. Patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obesity, diabetes, etc. should be highly vigilant if they experience the above-mentioned pain.

Americans often say, "If you have chest pain, call 911 (the U.S. emergency number)", which shows how severe chest pain can be. For patients with relevant medical history, such as cardiovascular disease, if the symptoms are not relieved 20 minutes after taking a tablet of nitroglycerin or Jiuxindan, it should be considered that it may be an acute myocardial infarction and the 120 emergency number should be called immediately. If the blood vessels can be opened within 60 minutes, the golden rescue period for myocardial infarction will be seized. If you don’t understand your condition, don’t take medicine randomly to avoid taking it by mistake and worsening your condition. Xu Dingli reminded that family members must dial 120 and not drive the patient to the hospital by themselves. While waiting for the ambulance, the patient should lie flat as much as possible. Some patients with myocardial infarction cannot lie down (they will experience shortness of breath if they lie flat). They can adopt a semi-sitting position, leaning against the bed.

Abdominal pain is like a knife cutting, beware of pancreatitis

Liu Side, professor at the Institute of Gastroenterology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, pointed out that life-threatening abdominal pain can be divided into two categories. The first type is rupture of abdominal viscera caused by trauma, accompanied by massive internal bleeding, and the patient is prone to shock. We generally judge the extent of the patient's injury by the extent of the abdominal pain. If the abdominal pain is only localized, the organ may not have been completely ruptured, but there is a hematoma under the capsule, which will not pose a threat to life in the short term. If the abdominal pain is widespread and affects the entire abdomen, it is judged that the internal organs may have ruptured and blood has filled the abdominal cavity. At this time, the patient is prone to shock and even life-threatening. This type of pain is constant, cannot be relieved by rest or changes in posture, and tends to gradually worsen.

The second type is abdominal pain caused by underlying diseases. Patients with gallstones and cholecystitis are prone to suppurative obstructive cholangitis. The signs of onset are: abdominal pain accompanied by fever and jaundice. If medical treatment is not sought within 48 hours, the mortality rate is over 50%. Patients with underlying diseases are advised to actively seek treatment and not let minor illnesses grow into major ones.

In addition, acute abdominal pain can also occur if you are allergic to something or eat poisonous food. Some patients are not aware that they have a history of allergies to drugs (such as amoxicillin) and may experience abdominal pain, pale complexion, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing, shock, etc. due to accidental ingestion. The mortality rate of anaphylactic shock is very high and is often accompanied by sweating and confusion, so immediate medical attention is required. If you accidentally ingest certain foods, such as mushrooms, and experience abdominal pain accompanied by diarrhea, gastrointestinal nausea, vomiting, etc., you should seek medical attention immediately. It is best to induce vomiting on your own while waiting for an ambulance. The method is: lie on your side or prone with your face down, use certain stimulants, such as fingers, spoons, chopsticks, etc. to press the root of the tongue to stimulate the throat and induce vomiting. If you experience abdominal pain after overeating and drinking, and the pain is mainly located slightly above the navel and makes you restless, and the pain is severe like a knife cut and continues to worsen, and affects your waist and back, and the pain is relieved when you bend over or lie down, then you may have acute pancreatitis. If not treated promptly, severe pancreatitis can lead to a series of life-threatening complications.

Blood in the stool is a warning sign for the digestive tract

Coughing up blood is often a warning sign of lung disease. Diseases that may cause coughing up blood include: pneumonia, tuberculosis, bronchiectasis, lung cancer, etc. Vomiting blood may indicate a digestive system abnormality. Vomiting blood from the mouth may be caused by peptic ulcer, rupture and bleeding of esophageal and gastric veins caused by liver cirrhosis, acute gastric mucosal damage, or even gastric cancer. Blood in the stool often indicates gastrointestinal bleeding. The most common are varicose veins in the esophagus or stomach, and bleeding from gastric or duodenal ulcers, which may be life-threatening in severe cases. There are also some stress-induced bleeding, such as acute gastric mucosal lesions. Patients with cerebral hemorrhage may also experience stress bleeding of the gastric mucosa. Liu Side reminded that if there is upper gastrointestinal bleeding, the stool is mostly black in color. If it is as black as tar, it means that the amount of bleeding is heavy. In addition, in the case of lower gastrointestinal bleeding, the color of bloody stool is mostly dark red, but the proportion of lower gastrointestinal bleeding in bloody stool is relatively low, only 10% of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Bleeding in the urine indicates that there may be a problem with the urinary system. If the color of the urine is like strong tea or meat washing water, it indicates that the abnormal organ may be the kidney, ureter, bladder or urethra. The type of lesion may be inflammation, stone, tuberculosis, or tumor. Liu Side reminded that once the above situation occurs, seek medical attention immediately and do not delay the treatment.

High fever that persists indicates multiple diseases

Everyone's normal body temperature is slightly different. If the axillary temperature (tested for 10 minutes) exceeds 37.4°C, it can be considered a fever, and if it exceeds 39°C, it is considered a high fever. The fever caused by the common cold will subside after a period of time as you take medicine or recover from the illness, but if the high fever persists for a long time and the temperature changes by no more than 1°C, you need to be careful, as this may be a warning sign of tuberculosis, immune diseases, infectious diseases, or even tumors. Wen Xinhua, an instructor at the Beijing First Aid Training Center, pointed out that in summer, serious high fevers are often caused by heat stroke and summer infectious diseases. The typical signs of heatstroke in summer are fever and hot body, and the characteristic is that it cannot be relieved by antipyretics. The fever temperature of moderate heatstroke is around 38℃. If it is not taken seriously, it may quickly develop into severe heatstroke with a fever of over 39℃, which may lead to heat stroke, affect the nervous system and cardiovascular system, and even coma.

Moderate heatstroke can be treated by physical cooling such as lowering the ambient temperature, applying ice, etc. If the patient has done strenuous exercise and sweated a lot, he or she can drink some normal saline solution to replenish electrolytes. If heat stroke is not caused by excessive sweating, you should pay attention to ventilation and heat dissipation. If self-treatment is ineffective or high fever occurs, seek medical attention immediately. It should be noted that heatstroke in summer should be prevented first. Once you have heat stroke, it is not only very uncomfortable, but may also cause serious consequences.