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Chest pain; Under the breastbone or on one side; Especially sharp or stabbing; also may be a burning, aching, or dull, heavy sensation; May get worse with deep breathing, coughing, eating, bending, or stooping (person may bend over or hold his or ...
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Pulmonary embolism is caused by emboli that travel through the blood stream to the lungs and block a pulmonary artery. When this occurs, circulation and oxygenation of blood is compromised. The emboli are usually formed from blood clots but are oc...
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Arterial emboli are usually a complication of heart disease where blood clots form in the heart's chambers. Gas emboli are caused by rapid changes in environmental pressure that could happen when flying or scuba diving. A pulmonary embolism is cau...
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Pain is a universal human experience. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage...
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Pain, medically termed "nociception," is a response to noxious stimuli that is conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons . The discomfort signals actual or impending injury to the body. However, pain is more than a sensation, or the physical awaren...
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Pain is an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons. The discomfort signals actual or potential injury to the body. However, pain is more than a sensation, or the physical awareness of pain; it also includes perception, ...
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Pain is an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons. The discomfort signals actual or potential injury to the body. However, pain is more than a sensation, or the physical awareness of pain; it also includes perception, ...
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Pain is an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by nerves in the body.
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Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or anxious. What is stressful to one person is not necessarily stressful to another. Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension or fear. The source of this uneasiness i...
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Systematic desensitization is a technique used to treat phobias and other extreme or erroneous fears based on principles of behavior modification .
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Anxiety is a bodily response to a perceived threat or danger. It is triggered by a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the patient's personal history and memory, and the social situation. It is important to distinguish between anxiety ...
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Anxiety is a multisystem response to a perceived threat or danger. It reflects a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the patient's personal history and memory, and the social situation. As far as we know, anxiety is a uniquely human ex...
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Anxiety is a multisystem response to a perceived threat or danger. It reflects a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the patient's personal history and memory , and the social situation at hand. Human anxiety involves an ability to use...
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Anxiety is a condition of persistent and uncontrollable nervousness, stress, and worry that is triggered by anticipation of future events, memories of past events, or ruminations over day-to-day events, both trivial and major, with disproportionat...
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A condition of persistent nervousness, stress, and worry that is triggered by anticipation of future events, memories of past events, or ruminations about the self Stimulated by real or imagined dangers, anxiety affects people of all ages and soci...
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Breathing difficulty involves a sensation of difficult or uncomfortable breathing or a feeling of not getting enough air. See also: Difficulty breathing - first aid
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Shortness of breath, or dyspnea, is a feeling of difficult or labored breathing that is out of proportion to the patient's level of physical activity. It is a symptom of a variety of different diseases or disorders and may be either acute or chronic.
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Dizziness is light-headedness, feeling like you might faint, being unsteady, loss of balance, or vertigo (a feeling that you or the room is spinning or moving. Most causes of dizziness are not serious and either quickly get better on their own or ...
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As a disorder, dizziness is classified into three categories: vertigo, syncope, and nonsyncope nonvertigo. Each category has its own set of symptoms, all related to the sense of balance. In general, syncope is defined by a brief loss of consciousn...
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Dizziness is classified into three categories—vertigo, syncope, and nonsyncope nonvertigo. Each category has a characteristic set of symptoms, all related to the sense of balance. In general, syncope is defined by a brief loss of consciousness (fa...
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As a disorder, dizziness is classified into three categories—vertigo, syncope, and nonsyncope nonvertigo. Each category has a characteristic set of symptoms, all related to the sense of balance. In general, syncope is defined by a brief loss of co...
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Dizziness is a general term that describes sensations of imbalance and unsteadiness, such as vertigo, mild turning, imbalance, and near fainting or fainting. Feelings of dizziness stem from the vestibular system, which includes the brain and the p...
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Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness due to a drop in blood flow to the brain. The episode is brief (lasting less than a couple of minutes) and is followed by rapid and complete recovery. You may feel light-headed or dizzy before fainting...
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Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness, weakness of muscles, and inability to stand up, all caused by sudden loss of blood flow to the brain. Fainting is a relatively common symptom caused by a variety of problems relating to changes in blo...
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Fainting is loss of consciousness caused by a temporary lack of oxygen to the brain. Known by the medical term "syncope," fainting may be preceded by dizziness , nausea, or a feeling of extreme weakness.
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Syncope, or fainting, is a temporary loss of consciousness, usually caused by decreased blood flow to the brain . Syncope is a symptom, rather than a disease itself, and has many causes. The vasovagal faint, which usually occurs in young, otherwis...
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Hyperventilation is rapid or deep breathing that can occur with anxiety or panic. It is also called overbreathing, and may leave you feeling breathless. See also: Rapid shallow breathing
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Coughing up blood is the spitting up of blood or bloody mucus from the lungs and throat (respiratory tract. Hemoptysis is the medical term for coughing up blood from the respiratory tract.
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Hemoptysis is the coughing up of blood or bloody sputum from the respiratory tract. The blood can come from the nose, mouth, throat, airway passages leading from the lungs, or the lungs. Hemoptysis can range from small quantities of blood-stained ...
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Hemoptysis is the coughing up of blood or bloody sputum from the lungs or airway. It may be either self-limiting or recurrent. Massive hemoptysis is defined as 200–600 mL of blood coughed up within a period of 24 hours or less.
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A normal breathing rate for an adult at rest is 8 to 16 breaths per minute. For an infant, a normal rate is up to 44 breaths per minute. Tachypnea is the medical term that your doctor uses to describe your breathing if it is too fast, particularly...
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The heart rate, usually measured by checking the arterial pulse or sounds counting the times of the heart beat, is considered one of the vital signs. Vital signs – body temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure provide information about the state of health of a person and, if abnormal, offer clues to problems.
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Clammy skin is cool, moist, and usually pale.
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An arrhythmia is a disorder of the heart rate (pulse) or heart rhythm, such as beating too fast (tachycardia), too slow (bradycardia), or irregularly.
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An arrhythmia is an abnormality in the heart's rhythm, or heartbeat pattern. The heartbeat can be too slow, too fast, have extra beats, skip a beat, or otherwise beat irregularly.
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Blood-tinged sputum is distinguished from frank hemoptysis—or coughing up blood without or with very little sputum—which can be a potentially life-threatening condition requiring immediate medical attention. Sputum that is streaked with blood may be due to something as benign as irritation of upper-airway passages due to dry ambient air, or it may a sign of a more serious medical condition, such as pneumonia or a blood clot in the lung, especially if accompanied by other symptoms..
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Blue lips may represent a type of cyanosis caused by a lower level of circulating oxygen in the red blood cells. It may also represent a high level of an abnormal form of hemoglobin in the circulation.
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Many people experience feel short of breath during strenuous activity if they are not accustomed to exercise. If you have a sudden onset of difficulty breathing doing a normal routine, it may be a medical emergency.
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Painful respirations may be an indicator of a serious underlying medical problem requiring prompt medical intervention. For any unexplained chest pain or if there is difficulty breathing immediate medial attention is generally required.
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Breathing that slows down or stops from any cause is called apnea.
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Fidgeting is usually used to describe someone who is seen as not being able to sit still. Fidgety people move in their seats constantly, move their hands and feet and appear to be in perpetual motion.
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Chest pain is discomfort or pain that you feel anywhere along the front of your body between your neck and upper abdomen.
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Blue fingernails may represent a type of cyanosis caused by a lower level of lack of circulating oxygen in the red blood cells. It may also represent a high level of an abnormal form of hemoglobin in the circulation.
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When the airways are blocked or narrowed by inflammation, secretions, a foreign object, mass, swelling or spasm, the breath sounds become noisy. If the high pitched breath sounds are a sign of difficulty breathing then immediate medial attention is required..
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Breath sounds are the noises produced by the structures of the lungs during breathing. See also: Wheezing
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Electrical impulses causes the heart to pump. Normally the impulse originates in the right upper chamber of the heart, called the right atrium. The electrical
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The heart rate, usually measured by checking the arterial pulse or sounds counting the times of the heart beat, is considered one of the vital signs. Vital signs – body temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure provide information about the state of health of a person and, if abnormal,offer clues to problems.
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Cyanosis is a physical sign causing bluish discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes. Cyanosis is caused by a lack of oxygen in the blood. Cyanosis is associated with cold temperatures, heart failure , lung diseases, and smothering. It is see...
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Cyanosis is a physical state characterized by bluish discoloration of the skin and mucus membranes. This elderly woman's lips turned purple due to central cyanosis, a condition most commonly due to slow blood circulation, leading to a bluish skin ...
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Wheezing is a high-pitched whistling sound during breathing. It occurs when air flows through narrowed breathing tubes.
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Wheezing is a high-pitched whistling sound associated with labored breathing.
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Wheezing is a high-pitched whistling sound associated with labored breathing.
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Cyanosis refers to a bluish cast to the skin and mucous membranes caused by a lower level of circulating oxygen carried by the red blood cells. It may also represent a high level of an abnormal form of hemoglobin in the circulation.
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Moist skin is an indication that the body is sweating (perspiring). Perspiration is the release of liquid from the sweat glands of the body, a normal body function to help the body stay cool.
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Rib cage pain includes any pain or discomfort in the area of the ribs. See chest pain.
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Leg pain is a common symptom and complaint. For more specific information, see: Foot pain; Knee pain; Joint pain; Hip pain; Muscle pain; Shin splints.
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Low blood pressure, or hypotension, occurs when blood pressure during and after each heartbeat is much lower than usual. This means the heart, brain, and other parts of the body do not get enough blood. See also: Blood pressure
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Hypotension is the medical term for low blood pressure.
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Painless swelling of the feet and ankles is a common problem, particularly among older people. Abnormal buildup of fluid in the ankles, feet, and legs is called peripheral edema.
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Edema is a condition of abnormally large fluid volume in the circulatory system or in tissues between the body's cells (interstitial spaces).
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Edema is a condition of abnormally large fluid volume in the circulatory system or in tissues between the body's cells (interstitial spaces).
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