Hey there, viewers! Most women know how important it is to get a checkup once in a while. But not everyone knows about silent signs of possible sickness. In today’s video, we’ll be talking about 14 symptoms women often ignore, but shouldn’t. Why is unexplained weight loss a problem? What does difficulty swallowing indicate? Is constant indigestion and bloating bad? We’ll be discussing all of these AND more…
1，Unexplained Weight Loss Losing weight is exciting, but only when you’re doing it willingly. Unexplained weight loss is an alarming sign that not everything’s right with your body. It could be hormonal imbalance, thyroid issues, metabolism problems, or even cancer.I don’t mean to scare you. But if you find that you’ve lost quite a bit of weight without effort, get a proper checkup done. An overactive thyroid can lead to faster metabolism. It’s characterized by a faster heartbeat, overproduction of thyroid hormone, and fatigue. Arthritis can be another reason for weight loss. Chronic inflammation can lead to faster metabolism. This leads to losing pounds. Diabetes, depression, and inflammatory bowel disease are among other causes.Experts say one of the earliest signs of cancer is weight loss. Other early symptoms of cancer include fatigue, pain, skin changes, and fever. Cancer increases inflammation in your body, which promotes muscle wasting. It also disrupts your appetite-regulating hormones. The growing tumor also increases the amount of energy you expend while resting. This means you’ll burn more calories, leading to weight loss.Have you successfully lost weight? What helped you reach your goal? Share your experiences with the Bestie community in the comments below.
2，Breast Changes Your breast size fluctuates with weight. This is often due to hormonal changes. When you’re pregnant, your breasts get larger to support the child’s needs. But if you’re experiencing changes for no apparent reason, you need to visit a doctor. Make it a habit to examine yourself and look for lumps. If you find one, don’t immediately assume the worst, but cancer is often one of the reasons.It’s not just lumps that are a cause for concern. A rash that’s stayed for a couple of weeks can also indicate a specific type of breast cancer. Any changes in your breasts, without a clear reason, are signs you need to visit a doctor.
3，Bloating Do you often feel bloated? Well, bloating is indeed a very common problem. It could be for various reasons. You could have had foods that cause flatulence. Maybe your diet is missing gut-friendly bacteria.It’s common for women to feel bloated, especially around their menstrual days. Bloating is such a common occurrence that most of us don’t even think twice about it. But excessive bloating can be a sign of ovarian cancer. If it lasts more than a few days, you need to see a doctor ASAP. There are other signs you need to watch for. If you feel full, even after eating a little, something’s wrong. The urgent need to urinate can be a sign of a urinary tract infection, kidney troubles, and on top of that, cancer.
4，Skin Changes The appearance of moles is a common sign of skin cancer. If they pop up all of a sudden, you need to be on high alert. Keep watch to see if they increase in size. Besides this, you should also keep track of the pigmentation on your skin. Look out for significant changes that could hint towards skin cancer.Skin cancer is the abnormal growth of skin cells. It’s mostly due to overexposure to the sun’s UV rays. Early detection is your best bet against defeating it. This is why you primarily develop skin cancer in areas exposed directly to the sun. For example, your face, ears, arms, and hands are the first places where signs of skin cancer appear. It’s a big myth that skin cancer only affects people with lighter skin tones. It can happen to anyone, even those with darker skin.Some of the earliest signs of skin cancer are the appearance of red bumps, flat lesions, and even bleeding or scabbing sores that don’t heal.
5，Unusual Bleeding Any unusual bleeding needs immediate attention from a doctor. It’s often a sign of ovarian cancer. Blood in spit can be a sign of lung cancer, while blood in stool happens for a number of reasons. It could be anything from ulcers to colorectal cancer. If you ever notice pinkish urine, get a checkup done. Experts say blood in urine is an obvious sign of bladder cancer.
6，Shortness of Breath Are you finding it difficult to catch your breath? You walked up a block and now you’re panting as if you ran a marathon? This could be a sign of dyspnea, a condition caused by a tumor or cancer-related symptoms. There are other reasons for shortness of breath, including stress, anxiety, and blood clot.
7，Difficulty Swallowing Are you finding it difficult to swallow your food? Maybe you need to eat more semi-solid or liquid foods. Usually, changing your diet can help a lot. Like start drinking soups and protein shakes until the problem goes away. But if the problem still persists, it’s a big, glaring red flag. If you’re always facing difficulty swallowing, get a checkup done. It could be Gastro-Intestinal cancer. Abnormal growth of cells in your stomach or GI tract can lead to this.Aside from difficulty swallowing, other early signs of this disease include nausea, heartburn, indigestion, and severe bloating. You might even get abdominal pain, even after taking painkillers.
8，Indigestion Are you pregnant? If so, sudden weight gain and indigestion are understandable. But if that’s not the case, indigestion should never be taken lightly. You can blame the deli sandwich once in a while. But if you have indigestion all the time, it’s a sign something is wrong inside. Indigestion is one of the earliest symptoms of stomach and throat cancer. Get a checkup done.
9，Abdominal Pain This can be due to various things including gas, food poisoning, or a stomach virus. Localized abdominal pain can be due to gallstones, kidney stones, or appendicitis. Abdominal pain followed by diarrhea is often a sign of food intolerance, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). If you’re suffering from abdominal pain, accompanied by depression, it could be pancreatic cancer. There has been some research linking pancreatic cancer with depression. It’s important you get yourself a checkup if you show these symptoms.
10，Mouth Changes Are you a smoker? Well it’s not just your lungs at risk. While your chances of lung cancer are extremely high, you also risk oral cancer. White patches and spots in your mouth or on your tongue can be signs of leukoplakia. This is a condition that comes before oral cancer. It lets you know you should take caution.
11，Changes in Lymph Nodes Lymph nodes help get rid of toxic compounds in your body. They help fight infections and destroy germs. But if you happen to feel a lump under your armpit, or swelling on your neck, it’s a sign of a possible lymph node infection. If it stays for more than a month, or gets bigger with time, it’s necessary that you have a doctor run some tests. This could be cancer as well.
12，Pain One of the first signs of aging is an aching body. You feel a dull pain for no apparent reason. This is usually due to aging muscles and bones. But if you have persistent pain for an extended period of time, you need to get it checked. Especially if you’re unable to figure out why there’s pain in the first place.
13，Fever When your body is under stress, it reacts. This stress is physical, as well as mental. When you’re fighting an infection, the first thing your body does is raise its temperature to make it unpleasant for foreign bodies. This is how you get a fever. Getting a fever for unexplained reasons is usually a sign that something’s wrong. It can be a sign your body’s fighting cancer. If you have a fever every now and then, it could be an early warning sign of blood cancer. If your fever comes with a change in your stool color, you may have leukemia or lymphoma.
14，Persistent Cough You cough when there’s something in your air tract that your body wants to get rid of. It’s common when you have phlegm build-up. You could be coughing for any number of reasons, including flu infections. In fact, your cough could even be a reaction to some of the medication you’re taking. But if this cough goes on for three to four weeks, you need to take it seriously. Your lung and throat need to be checked for signs of cancer.
Hearing the word cancer is scary enough for every one of us. It’s a deadly disease that can push your body’s limit to the maximum. But there are things you can do to reduce your likelihood of getting this dreadful disease. Like avoid eating cancer-causing foods. Then there are early symptoms to help with early detection.
