Last Updated on April 9, 2020
© The Healthy
There is a reason why the medical profession is so highly respected by the whole of society: everyone acknowledges that being a doctor is extremely complex and delicate. And everybody will eventually need to entrust their health to one.
There’s isn’t much room for error in disease diagnosis since one mistake may lead to a worsening of the patient’s medical condition, and eventually even death. Fortunately, these kinds of mistakes happen very rarely. This is actually very surprising considering that several health problems share the exact same symptoms.
Also, some patients are not completely honest with their doctors, hiding symptoms or omitting facts about their lifestyle. This can make it very challenging for doctors to give a proper medical diagnosis.
Here are some of the most commonly under-diagnosed diseases!
1. Heart disease
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in most developed countries. It’s a serious disease to which we must be alert because it starts off very quietly. The good news is that it can be avoided with a healthy and balanced diet and regular physical exercise.
Diagnosing heart disease in women seems to be a huge problem. Mainly because their symptoms can be totally different from what is considered normal, and thus the heart condition may be confused with another health problem.
Extreme fatigue, sleep disorders, generalized weakness, and lower chest pain can be easily mistaken for chronic fatigue or anxiety, for example.
2. Sleep apnea
This condition causes the patient to repeatedly stop and start breathing during sleep – in some cases, it can happen hundreds of times during a night’s sleep. The body may not get enough oxygen during that interruption. Complications include fatigue, high blood pressure (that may lead to heart disease), diabetes, and liver problems.
The reason why sleep apnea is such an easy-to-miss disease is that doctors tend to treat the obvious symptoms and overlook their cause.
For example, patients who complain about being constantly tired and in a bad mood are misdiagnosed with depression. Besides, the diagnosis process for sleep apnea is expensive as it requires a sleep study. The patient must be analyzed during their sleep to record brain activity, oxygen levels, heart rate, breathing and muscle activity, and eye movement.
