Hyperkalemia is the medical term for a high blood potassium level. Mildly elevated potassium levels won’t have any symptoms. Even high levels might not provide any warning signs until the person goes into cardiac arrest or a blood test is drawn to measure the level. People with acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease are more prone to hyperkalemia.
Pain during or after sexual intercourse is known as dyspareunia. Although this problem can affect men, it is much more common in women. Women with dyspareunia may have pain in the vagina, clitoris or labia. Common causes include vaginal dryness, atrophic vaginitis (a condition causing thinning of the vaginal lining in postmenopausal women), infection, and psychological trauma. Treatment depends on the underlying cause. A woman can ease penetration and sexual intercourse with increased clitoral stimulation before intercourse or lubrication with an over-the-counter lubricant.
Polyuria is the medical term for excessive urination, which can mean needing to urinate frequently with either small or large amounts of urine produced at each bathroom visit. The most common cause of urinary frequency with small urine amounts is an irritated bladder from an infection or interstitial cystitis (inflammation without infection). High urine output can happen just from drinking a lot of fluids or due to a medical problem such as diabetes mellitus (high blood sugar), diabetes insipidus (the kidney can’t concentrate urine, hypercalcemia (a high blood calcium level), or kidney damage.
Pupil size naturally gets larger in low light. Other reasons for both pupils to dilate in a conscious person include medication side effects; use of illegal drugs that act as a stimulant; or extreme excitement, fear or agitation. Dilation of both pupils or only one pupil in someone who has had a head injury or has any other neurological symptoms should prompt immediate medical attention, because it could be a sign of brain damage.
Causes of dry eye syndrome include:
• aging
• autoimmune diseases, such as Sjogren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Grave's disease, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis
• medications, including birth control pills, certain psychiatric medicines, antihistamines
• Bell’s palsy
Some of the most common ways to treat dry eye syndrome are:
• humidifiers, wet compresses, glasses that protect the eyes from dry air (such as wrap-around sunglasses, goggles or glasses fitted with "shields" on the sides) and avoiding excessively dry environments
• artificial lubricants – lubricating tears or ointments can help
• punctal plugs – these block the drainage of tears, making naturally produced tears last longer
• cyclosporine or lifitegrast eye drops – these are medicines to reduce tear gland inflammation that can lead to dryness
Other available treatments are used less commonly because of side effects, lack of convincing evidence of benefit, cost or a combination of these.
Signs of eye floaters include visual disruptions, such as seeing light streaks, floaters, or a cobweb-like haze. These occur when there is a posterior vitreous detachment. The jelly-like substance called vitreous in the eye starts to liquefy and shrink, causing it tug on the retina. Call your medical team right away if you notice these signs. While most people experiencing PVD won’t need treatment, in some cases the vitreous can completely detach from or tear the retina.
A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a temporary interruption of blood supply to part of the brain. The most common symptoms are sudden weakness or numbness in the face or one side of the body, problems speaking, and/or vision changes. The symptoms typically last a few minutes to a few hours and then resolve spontaneously. Temporary confusion and not being able to respond to questions without other symptoms would be unusual for a TIA and would be more suggestive of a partial seizure.