With all the new medical technologies and diagnostic tools introduced to the medical field in the last ten years, sometimes the best diagnostic tool is your own body. Usually the first indication that something is not right within your body is a pain or excess fatigue. You just don't feel yourself or you know something if off. Our bodies are like a machine and there are signs when it's not functioning at optimal levels. It is important to pay attention to these signals and seek medical attention.
Being attuned to your body can give you a heads up that something isn't right. When visiting the doctor you want to be a specific as possible. For example, if you feel a pain, state often you get the pain, exactly where the pain is and how painful it is on a scale of 1 to 10. Any sign that is different than your normal routine like excess thirst, lack of hunger or extreme fatigue would be an indication that a doctor's visit would be advisable. Don't wait, it may be nothing or it may be the start of an illness.
Unfortunately, not all diseases have such overt symptoms. Cancers are notorious for being "silent killers" only giving symptoms when it is past the point of being able to stop the spreading of the disease. It is for this reason, it is important to get annual checkups and screenings to help identify any illness in the beginning stages where one has the best chance of survival. New technology has afforded us the opportunity to identify illnesses early on when that wasn't a possibility twenty years ago.
Acknowledgment of the gut feeling may be the one thing that saves your life. When people eat something or take a medication they may feel off but not really having any major symptoms. Listen to these feeling, stop taking the medication and consult with your pharmacist or doctor before continuing with the prescription.
All in all your gut is your first line of defense and your doctor is your second. So if your gut tells you that something just doesn't seem quite right within your body then chances are good that something is wrong and it is a good idea to check in with your medical doctor about the issue. At the same point it is important to not wait for symptoms to surface before checking in with your medical doctor. An annual routine visit can also help you to unearth underlying health issues that you may not be consciously aware of. A balance of medical attention and gut instinct is usually best to help keep you moving forward through a healthier life.