Strange Symptoms
Things that go lump in the night
When exposed to a constant diet of disease-related information, it is not uncommon for medical students to develop a form of hypochondria called medical student syndrome. And though no one has coined a term for the tendency to self-diagnose rare diseases on the basis of a symptom and an Internet search, the proliferation of health-related information available in the news and on the Web has led many a health consumer to mentally leap from a dull ache to certain death. Common symptoms usually point to common problems, but that doesn’t diminish our fascination with the subtle, unusual clues our bodies may be sending us. Following are some unlikely symptoms that may send an early warning of trouble ahead. But reader beware: Sometimes a lump is only a lump.
Nailing diabetes?
Does it smell like nail polish remover even though there’s none around? Does your partner think he or she is kissing a bottle of it when you get intimate? It could be a sign that you have diabetes. Acetone, the major ingredient in polish remover, is found naturally in the body. However, when your body does not have enough insulin, or can’t make use of it, fat is used for energy instead of glucose, and acetone levels rise. In fact, the medical profession and researchers have known about acetone breath for ages. In August, two researchers from Mississippi State University published a study on their new medical device that uses the acetone in breath to detect early-stage diabetes.