Listen to Your Body: Save Your Life

DALLAS (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- We all know about the typical warning signs of disease. Lumps in the breast could mean breast cancer. A dark spot on your skin may mean melanoma. That spare tire around your mid-section could put you at risk for heart disease. Other, not-so-obvious changes in the body could also be signaling something more serious.

After traveling the world with his wife, Les Duncan thought he had a clean bill of health. Then, the unthinkable happened.

"I had an excruciating headache," Duncan told Ivanhoe. "I was more nauseous than I've ever been in my entire life."

His doctor at the time said nothing was wrong. Duncan knew better.

"I think the biggest mistake people make is not listening to their body," Duncan said.

Some body signs could be signaling a bigger issue.

What does it mean if all of a sudden you go gray? It could mean thyroid disease or a vitamin B12 deficiency.

What about varicose veins? They put you at a higher risk for a potentially-fatal blood clot or deep vein thrombosis. 

Warning signs of diabetes: bleeding gums, tingling feet, or a rash.

After pushing his doctors, Duncan found out he had a genetic condition that puts him at risk for brain hemorrhaging.

"He was very proactive about things, and he became very knowledgeable about what he had," Jonathan White, M.D., a neurosurgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, told Ivanhoe.

Listening to his body may be what saved his life. After his first episode, Duncan noticed putting pressure on one side of his head made him feel better.

"When I began treatment, the doctors told me that lying on the right side of my head probably applied the pressure needed to stop the bleeding and probably saved my life," Duncan said.

Now, he can get back to more important things like planning his next trip.

Duncan says he also craved foods like spinach, broccoli and asparagus. He found out later those are foods rich in vitamin K, which promote clotting.

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If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Melissa Medalie at mmedalie@ivanhoe.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT:

The Mayo Clinic Symptom Checker

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/symptom-checker/DS00671