A doctor has issued a warning about a “big problem” concerning how fellow health professionals interpret certain common symptoms. NHS surgeon and author, Dr Karan Rajan, who has a large following on social media platforms, regularly shares valuable medical information with his millions of followers.
Known as Dr Raj, he also frequently debunks or confirms health claims made by other users on Instagram and TikTok. In a recent post shared on Sunday evening, Dr Raj highlighted a “big problem in medicine”, where practitioners are trained to “put symptoms into nice neat boxes”.
He explained that bowel, gynaecological and urinary symptoms can often overlap, making diagnosis “not always so clear cut”, which can lead to misdiagnosis or worse – the underdiagnosing of conditions. The doctor added: “If someone has bowel symptoms we assume it must be a bowel problem, and we ignore other possibilities”.
Conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis and fibroids – along with numerous women’s health conditions – “could have all these symptoms from different organ systems, all at the same time, and often overlapping symptoms with conditions like IBS”. Speaking about IBS, Dr Raj stated it is “often used as a catch-all diagnosis for unexplained abdominal symptoms with ‘normal’ tests, particularly in women”.
He pointed out that the focus of health professionals “on symptoms in isolation means we can often miss systemic conditions that span multiple organs”.
People who find themselves in such a situation are advised to “advocate by keeping a detailed record of symptoms including their timing, severity, and triggers. The doctor added: ” The doctor further stated: “Don’t settle for a diagnosis if you feel that it doesn’t fully explain all of your symptoms, or they’re getting worse”. He is encouraging individuals to insist on imaging or a second opinion if they believe it’s necessary, or “if necessary, a referral to a specialist”.
In the comments section of his Instagram post, Dr Raj also pointed out: “Women are more likely to suffer gut health issues than men due to a variety of reasons but patients can have multiple gut & gynaecological conditions too!”