It’s all in your head…

It is stuff like this that makes me think that I am slowly turning into a hypochondriac. As you learn all the theory of the human body, you find yourself mentally ticking symptoms that you might have and possibly diagnosing others around you. Some people do become quite paranoid about this kind stuff and usually in ends up being nothing, which is great news.

I saw seven different GP’s and only one spotted my brain tumour - 24 November 2009

And yet when you hear stories like the one shown above, you can’t help but go into panic mode all over again. Can you even imagine being in that woman’s place, I means she saw seven different GP’s and yet not getting any closer to finding out what was wrong! And then to find out you have brain a tumour… I mean that is as big as it gets in terms of major illnesses! Those kind of stories strike fear into your heart and I hope no one ever has to go through that kind of ordeal. Or be turned away and told that you’re imagining it and then to only go and find out something is really wrong.

With regards to doctor’s who say that their patients imagine their symptoms, it reminds me of this rather weird story*. Most of us know about phantom limb pain – common phenomenon where people with missing limbs often state that they are still able to feel the limb even though it is no longer there. Previously it was assumed that this condition only existed in the patients and that it was all psychological changes with no physiological basis. However doctors have discovered in one particular women how it actually cause physical changes in her as the doctor’s can actually observe distinct biochemical and neurological changes in her via MRI scans etc. How weird is that?

*The date of the article was 1st April... I wonder if it was an April Fool's joke :P