Malaise history and symptoms

Please help WikiDoc by adding more content here. It’s easy! Click here to learn about editing.

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

It is not possible to easily determine the cause of the malaise, and thus whether it is slight or not, and whether it is an emergency or not (for example, a cancer is very serious, possibly deadly, but it is usually not an absolute emergency as the life is not likely to be threatened in the next hours).

The first response is:

• To keep the person safe, protected from the external dangers and weather (cover with a jacket or a blanket in cold conditions);
• To place the person to rest, possibly in a calm place: to propose the recumbent position, but to let the person adopt the most comfortable position; the aim is to prevent from falling down, and to make the blood circulation easier;
• To ask questions:
  • How does the person feel,
  • When did it start,
  • If it is the first time it has happened,
  • If the person has a known disease, known health problems,
  • If the person had a recent accident,
  • If the person is under medical treatment,
  • If the person was already hospitalized;
• Talk to the person to calm him or her down.

Some signs and symptoms have a particular importance for the assessment of the situation and indicate a possible medical emergency:

• Unusual and violent headache (see, e.g. hemorrhagic stroke);
• A chest pain, like a vise pressing;
• Intense stomach pain, that lasts or comes again and again;
• The person has abundant sweat whereas it is not a hot ambiance and he or she did not make any physical effort (this can be related to a problem of carbon dioxide elimination);
• The person is very pallid (this can be related to problem of blood circulation) or blue (possibly respiratory problem); on a person with darker skin, this can be seen on the internal face of the lips or the nails;
• The person has problems breathing (makes efforts to breathe, or sounds can be heard at inhalation and/or exhalation);
• The person has difficulties speaking (e.g. too weak to be heard, words without sense, mouth distorted);
• The person has partial paralysis in an arm or a leg, even if it does not last;
• Agitation (violent behaviour, or uncontrolled movements).

Template:WikiDoc Sources