*Burning feet or legs

Nearly one-third of the 20 million Americans who have diabetes are undiagnosed, according to the American Diabetes Association. "In some people who don't know they have diabetes, peripheral neuropathy could be one of the first signs," Brangman said. "It's a burning or pins-and-needles sensation in the feet or legs that can create nerve damage".

*Vague, combined, or medically unexplained pains

"Various painful, physical symptoms are common in depression," psychiatrist Thomas Wise said, "Patients will have vague complaints of heahes, abdominal pain or limb pain, sometimes combined."

Because the pain might be chronic and not terribly debilitating, depressed people, their families, and health care professionals might dismiss the symptoms. "Furtermore, the more depressed you are, the more difficulty you have describing your feelings," Wise said, who is the psychiatry department chairman at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Va.

"All of this can lead the clinian astray."Other symptoms must be present before a diagnosis of depression can be made. "Get help when you've lost interest in activities, you're unable to work or think effectively, and you can't get along with people," he said. "And don't suffer silently when you're hurting", The doctor adds there's more to depression than deterioration in the quality of life. "It has to be treated aggressively before it causes structural changesn the brain."

(Beijing Today May 28, 2008)