6 Invisible Illnesses That Are Very Real
Invisible illnesses are difficult to diagnose, not least because they are not externally visible. Six illnesses that are more than real for those affected.
Those affected appear healthy to outsiders and are often labelled as hypochondriacs. But chronic complaints or diseases that are difficult to diagnose are quite real. This refers to illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome or lupus, which cause pain to the affected person but are rarely diagnosed by a doctor.
1. Chronic fatigue syndrome
Total exhaustion, fatigue and concentration problems: symptoms that can have many causes. However, if the fatigue becomes chronic and is accompanied by other signs such as headaches, sleep disorders, joint pain and diffuse dizziness, it could also indicate a chronic fatigue syndrome. First, however, the doctor must rule out other causes of permanent fatigue. Only if he does not find the cause, he may make the diagnosis “CFS”. This is because the disease cannot be indicated by clear findings (such as blood values).
2. Fibromyalgia
Another invisible illness is the so-called fibromyalgia, which affects about 0.5 percent of people in this country according to health insurance data. However, the number of undetected cases is likely to be much higher, as many symptoms imitate other diseases and affect many medical specialties. Unfortunately, fibromyalgia is not detectable in the blood or in X-rays. Furthermore, inflammatory and metabolic diseases must also be excluded by the doctor. Typical complaints are: Pain in arms, legs and back, swelling in hands and feet as well as irritable stomach and irritable bowel.
3. Lupus
The autoimmune disease lupus erythematosus begins with quite arbitrary symptoms such as fatigue, exhaustion, fever, joint pain and weight loss – only gradually are sudden skin changes added, especially if the skin areas have been exposed to the sun. In general, it takes a long time to detect lupus, due to the different symptoms and the rarity of this disease. The disease became famous in 2015 when Selena Gomez announced that she had lupus.
4. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Irritable bowel syndrome is a functional disorder of the bowel for which no physical cause can be found despite thorough medical examinations. Symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome include recurrent abdominal pain, diarrhoea, constipation and flatulence. For this syndrome, too, the following applies: The diagnosis “irritable bowel” can only be made when other causes, such as (gastro-)intestinal diseases, stomach ulcers, tumours and food intolerances, have been excluded for the complaints. The cause of irritable bowel syndrome has still not been clarified, but psychological stress plays an important role.
5. Psychosomatic illnesses
Psychosomatic illnesses are understood to be physical complaints caused by psychological stress or factors. The affected person thus experiences different symptoms that cannot be explained medically. For example, stress can trigger high blood pressure, fear or anger can weaken the immune system and dissatisfaction can increase the risk of back and headaches. The following phrases express the interplay between mind and body:
- Something’s getting to us.
- Something gets under our skin.
- Love goes through the stomach.
- Broken heart through lovesickness.
- Something lies like a stone in our stomach
6. Wind turbine syndrome
Infrasound, i.e. pressure fluctuations below 20 Hertz, is caused by wind power plants, road traffic noise, household electronics or machines with high noise levels. Exposure to this sound at high intensities can have serious consequences for health. The first signs of excessive exposure to infrasound on one’s own body are sleep disturbances, drowsiness, inner restlessness and balance problems. In addition, the wind turbine syndrome can develop – an “invisible” neurological disorder that is accompanied by symptoms such as headaches, ear pressure, nausea, panic attacks and sweating.