Sometimes patients receive diagnoses that are not included in the International Classification of Diseases. It may seem that if the disease does not exist, then there is no need to be treated for it. But everything is different.
Someone who has been diagnosed with a dud may still be in danger. Firstly, the real disease hiding behind the symptoms of the fictitious one will continue to bother you and require treatment. Secondly, a person will waste money on unnecessary drugs that give side effects.
If you have received any of the diagnoses described below, this is a red flag and you should seek a second opinion from another doctor.
And if you live in a small town where it is difficult to find a specialized specialist, you can use an online consultation.
1. Vegetovascular dystonia
This is the name for disturbances in the functioning of the autonomic nervous system – the one that controls the functioning of all organs, blood vessels and glands. The term VSD for the first time appeared in the late 1950s and has undergone many changes since then. The disease may be called “vegetative dystonia”, “vegetative-vascular disorder”, “vegetative dysfunction”.
What symptoms are usually used to make a diagnosis?
The main symptom of VSD is headache. Also dystonia put with the following symptoms:
- slightly elevated temperature;
- fast fatiguability;
- mood swings;
- attacks of causeless severe anxiety;
- restlessness and irritability;
- sensation of numbness, itching, burning in different parts of the body;
- spontaneously arising feeling of tingling, crawling;
- muscle dysfunction, painful tension and cramps;
- increased or decreased sweating.
Does the disease really exist?
IN International Classification of Diseases There is no diagnosis of VSD. And disturbances in the functioning of the autonomic system appear due to real diseases and mental disorders.
Moreover, due to the variety of symptoms, VSD can be diagnosed at any opportunity. For example, this can happen if the doctor cannot figure out the real cause of the symptoms.
What diseases are hidden behind the diagnosis?
Symptoms of VSD are nonspecific, meaning that they can occur with a variety of diseases or conditions. Most often this is:
- migraine – especially if you have a headache accompanied by mood swings, tingling in an arm or leg, bright spots or flashes of light;
- Iron-deficiency anemiawith which present pallor, chest pain, increased heart rate, brittle nails, hair loss;
- chronic fatigue syndromedue to which fatigue increases, and night sleep ceases to replenish strength;
- hypothyroidismin which, in addition to the symptoms attributed to VSD, growing weight, swelling appears, the voice becomes hoarse, and menstruation in women becomes heavy and irregular.
VSD is also sometimes diagnosed for people with mental health problems – panic attacks, anxiety and depressive disorders.
2. Leaky Gut Syndrome
Adherents to diagnosis considerthat the intestinal lining forms a tight barrier that controls what enters the bloodstream. And if this lining develops large cracks or holes, it can allow partially digested food, toxins and other substances to enter the body’s tissues and cause inflammation.
What symptoms are usually used to make a diagnosis?
Signs that the patient may put leaky gut syndrome, such as:
- painful indigestion: belching, heartburn, bloating, nausea or vomiting, feeling of heaviness in the stomach;
- burning sensation as if you have ulcers in your stomach;
- diarrhea;
- gas and bloating;
- increased fatigue.
People undergoing radiation therapy may also experience mucositis – a condition in which the intestines become inflamed. Because of this, ulcers appear around the anus and on the buttocks, intestinal bleeding and blood in the stool, pain when swallowing, constipation and stomach cramps.
Does the disease really exist?
The international medical community does not consider leaky gut syndrome to be a valid diagnosis. After all, the intestinal mucosa of every person is semi-permeable. This is necessary so that it can pass water and nutrients from food into the bloodstream.
For some diseases or conditions, the membrane actually misses larger molecules than normal enter the blood. And they can potentially be toxic. Therefore, in fact, increased permeability is not a disease, but rather a symptom.
What diseases are hidden behind the diagnosis?
If the intestinal barrier function is compromised, it may be more permeable than normal and cause problems.
This is what happens most often hiding for a diagnosis of leaky gut:
- infectionsfor example adenovirus and astrovirus, salmonella, clostridia;
- chronic inflammatory conditions – Crohn’s disease or other intestinal diseases;
- irritable syndrome intestines;
- food allergy;
- diseases that cause intestinal damage, such as HIV or AIDS.
Also, intestinal permeability can increase after chemotherapy and radiation therapy during cancer treatment.
For some people, chronic use of alcohol or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may cause the symptoms that lead to a diagnosis of leaky gut syndrome.
3. Osteochondrosis
In Russia, osteochondrosis is a condition when the intervertebral disc is destroyed and problems with the spine arise.
What symptoms are usually used to make a diagnosis?
In Russia, osteochondrosis can be diagnosed with the following signs:
- lower back pain;
- numbness or tingling in the shoulders, back, arms, legs, or feet;
- pain in the neck;
- problems bending or straightening your back;
- muscle weakness;
- pain in the buttocks, thighs or legs.
Does the disease really exist?
In world medicine under osteochondrosis understand a whole group of diseases that affect growing bones. Violations may arise due to abnormal growth, trauma, or heavy load on the developing cartilaginous plate and surrounding ossification points.
Osteochondrosis, which is diagnosed in Russia, is usually associated with damage to the intervertebral discs. This can occur as a result of another disease, or simply due to aging and natural wear and tear of the bones.
What diseases are hidden behind the diagnosis?
Russian osteochondrosis by symptoms more similar for intervertebral hernia.
Other possible reasons are:
- arthritis – inflammation joints between vertebrae;
- violation buildings skeleton, such as abnormal curves of the spine or abnormal bone size;
- tumors spinal cord.
4. Discirculatory encephalopathy
This is the name for chronic circulatory disorders in the brain. It causes a lack of oxygen and nutrients.
What symptoms are used to make a diagnosis?
This diagnosis putwhen there are motor and cognitive impairments. The main complaints that the doctor will rely on:
- memory impairment,
- decreased attention and performance,
- dizziness,
- unsteadiness when walking.
Does the disease really exist?
The term “DEP” remained as a legacy of Soviet medicine, and evidence-based doctors do not use it. In modern International Classification of Diseases he’s not there. And in previous the version used in Russia, too.
There may indeed be a problem with blood circulation in the brain. But it can be caused by a whole host of conditions.
What diseases are hidden behind the diagnosis?
The disease with the most similar symptoms is vascular dementia. Its distinctive feature is a decrease in the speed of thinking, and not memory loss. The condition occurs in older people, and the risk increases in those who faces with atherosclerosis, heart disease, stroke.
5. Fatigued Adrenal Syndrome
This condition is called hypoadenia – supporters of the diagnosis also use the term “mild form of renal failure.” Diagnosis putwhen, due to constant stress and fatigue, a person’s adrenal glands stop producing cortisol in the required quantities.
What symptoms are used to make a diagnosis?
Usually adrenal fatigue diagnoseif a person complains of body pain, fatigue, nervousness, sleep disturbances and digestive problems.
Does the disease really exist?
Adrenal fatigue doesn’t count medical diagnosis. This is a term that brings together nonspecific symptoms – those that occur in many other conditions.
A non-existent diagnosis can harm your health. If a person is diagnosed with adrenal fatigue and is treated for it, they are not receiving the necessary therapy to combat the actual disease and may trigger it.
What diseases are hidden behind the diagnosis?
Anemia, sleep apnea, autoimmune diseases, infections, other hormonal disorders, mental illness, heart and lung problems, and kidney and liver diseases are just a few stateswhich may cause similar symptoms.
What is even better to be critical of? 🧐