Some symptoms are nothing to worry about – they usually don’t last long and aren’t caused by anything serious.
For example, muscle pain could be the result of a sports injury, a headache could be caused by having a cold or flu, and diarrhoea could be a sign of food poisoning.
Many symptoms clear up on their own and don’t require any medical intervention. But others shouldn’t be ignored.
Julie McFadden said there are two things she would never ignore because of her experience as a hospice nurse – someone that offers end-of-life care.
With 1.4 million followers on TikTok, Julie posted a video warning people of the signs to be wary of.
The first is unintended weight loss
She said: “If I suddenly started losing weight for no reason I would not be happy. I would be concerned and I would 100 percent go see a doctor.
“There are several devastating diseases I see all the time and the first symptom was unintended weight loss.
“A lot of times if we go to the doctor right away when we see this we actually catch this devastating disease early and it’s less devastating.”
Unintentional weight loss has many different causes. It could be caused by a stressful event like a divorce or problems with digestion such as irritable bowel syndrome.
But in some cases, weight loss can be caused by cancer.
The second sign is stool changes
Julie said: “A lot of the time it means absolutely nothing but sometimes it can mean something.
“Changes in stool is a huge indicator for some diseases.
“The earlier we catch these things the better prognosis you’ll have.”
Lack of exercise, a sudden increase in exercise intensity, not getting enough water and stress are common causes of stool changes.
But if the problem is persistent, it can be a sign of cancer.
Julie’s final message was: “Be proactive with your health.”
