Doctor: Picking Up Attributes in the Hospital-Chapter 473 - 387: Snow Mountain Red Flower Slimming Tea?

"Brother-in-law, I won’t get some kind of terminal illness, right?"

Xu Hongdou asked apprehensively, seeing Zhao Heng deep in thought.

Previously, after she searched on Baidu, she discovered many people were saying that chest tightness, shortness of breath, and fatigue could be symptoms indicating cancer, and some even shared their experiences. So, Xu Hongdou was scared and sought her sister Xu Man Ni to visit the hospital for a checkup.

After all, cancer is something that anyone might get.

Just the thought that she might have cancer left Xu Hongdou unable to sleep well recently.

"A terminal illness? This is just ordinary chest tightness, it’s not that serious."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Heng looked at Xu Hongdou with a peculiar expression.

"But I checked Baidu, which says chest tightness is a symptom indicating cancer..."

Xu Hongdou couldn’t help but say.

What’s said on Baidu seems very credible to her, especially with people sharing their personal experiences.

"If Baidu could diagnose diseases, what would we need doctors for..."

Zhao Heng said, a bit speechless.

The abundance of information nowadays is beneficial, bringing many conveniences and making acquiring knowledge exceedingly simple, but it also has downsides—there’s so much information that it becomes hard to distinguish truth from falsehood.

"Then brother-in-law, what illness do I actually have?"

Xu Hongdou asked.

"Have you taken any medication or dietary supplements recently?"

Based on the previous auscultation, Zhao Heng didn’t believe there was any substantive issue with Xu Hongdou’s heart or lungs, so what’s causing the chest tightness is most likely a medication side effect.

This is also the most probable cause.

As for symptoms indicating lung cancer or other conditions, abnormalities would show up during lung auscultation.

Nowadays, many doctors are lazy about doing physical examinations during consultations, yet the sensitivity of physical examinations is quite high. Typically, if a physical examination reveals an issue, it’s very likely that the body has a problem.

On the other hand, imaging examinations sometimes have a high misdiagnosis rate.

"No, I haven’t taken any medication..."

Xu Hongdou denied.

"What about dietary supplements?"

Zhao Heng asked again.

Xu Hongdou does seem like someone who wouldn’t need regular medication, but dietary supplements are prevalent now, with all kinds available, dazzling in variety.

Dietary supplements include health medications such as iron, zinc, calcium supplements; health foods, including tea, alcohol, beverages, bee products, dairy products, medicinal meals; healthcare cosmetics such as fragrance, creams, mouthwash; health-related equipment like fitness gear, massagers, magnetic water devices, etc.

These diverse dietary supplements have very complex compositions, and most, whether overused or used normally, can cause varying degrees of side effects. These side effects are actually what the supplement sellers claim as the effects of their products.

For instance, those that treat high blood pressure, boost immunity, fortify the kidneys, prevent hangovers, improve beauty, supplement estrogen, calcium, treat male diseases, etc. Immune boosters include propolis, spirulina, sheep placenta, for blood pressure and lipid control there’s fish oil, kidney strengthening includes sea dog pills, prostate treatment has lycopene, beauty has vitamins C and E, estrogen supplements include soy isoflavones, and for men, there are lycopene, sea dog pills, and carotene.

"Does slimming tea count?"

Xu Hongdou thought for a long time, then said hesitantly.

In her view, although slimming tea carries the word slimming, it’s just a kind of tea, merely a beverage, so there shouldn’t be any side effects.

"What slimming tea are you drinking? Let me have a look."

Zhao Heng asked.

Initially, he wasn’t sure, but once Xu Hongdou mentioned drinking slimming tea, Zhao Heng became fairly certain that the chest tightness and shortness of breath issues were likely caused by the side effects of slimming tea.

Currently in the market, most slimming teas have main components that are laxatives and diuretics, working by clearing the abdominal residue. This can indeed cause weight reduction in a short time.

In reality, what gets expelled is mostly water; fat couldn’t be expelled through such simple means.

Once you drink water or eat food, the weight quickly returns. Moreover, relying on external forces to accelerate intestinal peristalsis regularly makes the intestines lazy, and stopping the medication easily leads to constipation or weight rebound.

Drinking slimming tea excessively and in the long term easily damages the digestive system, causing gastrointestinal diseases. Therefore, people looking to lose weight shouldn’t blindly drink slimming tea.

Appropriate consumption of slimming tea has a bowel-lubricating effect, potentially lowering weight. Short-term appropriate drinking of slimming tea might be effective, usually without significant side effects, but prolonged drinking can cause varying degrees of damage to the digestive system.

Because slimming tea often contains laxatives like senna leaves and rhubarb, excessive long-term use stimulates the stomach and intestines, especially drinking on an empty stomach can damage the gastric mucosa, leading to gastrointestinal dysfunction, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and other symptoms. Over time, it may lead to gastrointestinal diseases.

Moreover, many slimming teas contain cool or cold medicines, which with prolonged use can damage the spleen and stomach. Some people drinking slimming tea long-term may suffer from sleep disorders, like difficulty falling asleep, frequent dreams, waking easily, etc. Besides, some slimming teas have added laxatives, hormones, etc., which are more harmful to health.