VIDEO SCRIPT : Medical Signs and Symptoms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZO9B1wPuU0&feature=youtu.be
Signs and symptoms are abnormalities that can indicate a potential medical
condition. Whereas a symptom is subjective, that is, apparent only to the
patient (for example back pain or fatigue), a sign is any objective evidence of a disease that can be
observed by others (for example a skin rash or lump).

The signs of an illness are the things that a doctor or nurse can see and measure. Signs are things
like rash, bleeding, cyanosis or coughing. Temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and respiration
rate are all signs because you can measure them. Subjective symptoms are the things which a patient
experiences, but others can’t always see. Dizziness, nausea, itching or a heartburn are examples of
subjective symptoms.

The symptoms, which make a patient seek medical help, in the first place are called the presenting
symptoms. Medics describe them in terms of being either strong, mild or weak. Sometimes the
symptoms of serious illnesses like cancer and diabetes are weak. They stay weak for a long time and
the illness remains undiagnosed.

The doctor or health care professionals come to any conclusion by observing and diagnosing the
body. These measures can be a blood test, checking pulse rate, x-ray, body temperature, hence
indicating the definite sign of the disease. For example, heart disease, allergies, cancer, HIV,
diabetes are diagnosed under medical experts; these cannot be determined by our own. As signs are
the physical demonstration of one’s body’s problems.

But when the person feels body pain, muscles fatigue, or a headache, these can be termed as
symptoms, as here the person who suffers is answerable to his or her problems. Signs and symptoms
are helpful in understanding the disease better so that proper medication can be provided, but one is
felt by the patient, while the other is diagnosed by health care professionals.

Many illnesses have the same symptoms. These symptoms are called non-specific. Fatigue and fever
are examples of these. These are symptoms for many kinds of illnesses, both chronic and acute, -----
and of both physical and mental disorders.

Another example would be coughing and runny nose, which might indicate a common cold ,an
influenza, or even an allergy!
The presence of rashes, itching or scratching might reveal a dermatological problem, which requires
further investigations, like laboratory tests such as CBC( complete blood count), sputum , samples
of your urine or feces.

Other medical investigations include instrumental findings via MRI, ultrasound imaging and other
medical equipment.

Besides the specific and non-specific signs and symptoms, there are so-called pathognomonic signs
that are so characteristic of a disease that these can be used to make a diagnosis. For example,
Koplik spots in the mouth opposite the first and second upper molars are pathognomonic of measles,
or Negri bodies, found within the nerve cells and considered a hallmark of rabies virus infection.

A combination of signs and symptoms together with laboratory and instrumental investigations
would bring a clearer clinical picture upon the medical condition of the patient.

Doctors would ask patients about the onset of the symptoms, what they feel like, what relieves them
and what makes them worse. The more detail they have, the faster they can make a diagnosis.

While there is a technical difference between the two words in a medical sense, what's more
important is the information surrounding them. As you're reading up on any medical condition or
talking with your healthcare team, pay attention to both signs and symptoms, in the context of your
health, particularly in an emergency.