Related Conditions

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  • Respiratory failure, acute and chronic

    Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of severe, acute lung dysfunction affecting all or most of both lungs that occurs as a result of ...
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  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

    Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a disease in which certain nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord slowly die. These nerve cells are called...
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  • Anxiety disorders

    Generalized anxiety disorder occurs when you feel worried and stressed about many everyday events and activities. In this disorder, often the things y...
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  • Asthma

    Asthma is a long-term (chronic) disease of the respiratory system that causes inflammation and spasm or tightening in the bronchial tubes, which carry...
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  • Atrial fibrillation

    Atrial fibrillation (say “A-tree-uhl fih-bruh-LAY-shun”) is an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) that starts in the upper parts (atria) of the hea...
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  • Bowel incontinence

    Fecal incontinence is the leakage of stool (feces) from the anus. Fecal incontinence can be caused by constipation, diarrhea, anxiety or other emoti...
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  • Breast cancer

    Breast cancer occurs when abnormal cells grow out of control in one or both breasts. They can invade nearby tissues and form a mass, called a malignan...
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  • Cancer

    Facing cancer can be scary, and most people have lots of questions. Our cancer topics cover many types of cancer, including breast cancer, colon can...
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  • Cerebral palsy

    Cerebral palsy is a group of problems that affects body movement and posture. It is related to a brain injury or to problems with brain growth. It i...
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  • Chronic kidney disease

    Chronic kidney disease occurs when damage to the kidneys causes reduced kidney function. Kidney disease has usually been present for many years and ma...
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  • Colorectal cancer

    Colorectal cancer is the abnormal growth of cancer cells in the large intestine. Colon cancer forms in the longest part of the large intestine, whil...
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  • Congestive heart failure

    Heart failure is a condition in which the lower chambers of the heart (ventricles) are not able to pump blood effectively. When the heart muscle has b...
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  • Cystic fibrosis

    Cystic fibrosis is a disease that causes mucus in the body to become thick and sticky. This glue-like mucus builds up and causes problems in many of t...
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  • Decubitus ulcer

    A pressure sore (bed sore) is an injury to the skin and/or the tissues under the skin. Constant pressure on an area of skin reduces blood supply to th...
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  • Dementia

    Dementia is a loss of mental skills that affects your daily life. It can cause problems with your memory and how well you can think and plan. Usually ...
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  • Depression

    Depression is an illness that causes you to feel sad, to lose interest in activities that you've always enjoyed, to withdraw from others, and to hav...
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  • Diabetes

    Diabetes is a lifelong condition in which sugar (glucose) remains in the blood rather than entering the body’s cells to be used for energy. This resul...
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  • Diabetic wounds

    Diabetes can affect the body's immune system, impairing the ability of white blood cells to come to the site of an infection, stay in the infected are...
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  • Dysphagia

    Difficulty swallowing is also called dysphagia. It is usually a sign of a problem with your throat or esophagus—the muscular tube that moves food an...
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  • Failure to thrive

    Failure to thrive is a term used to describe a child who seems to be gaining weight or height more slowly than other children of his or her age and se...
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  • Fall prevention

    Injuries from falls may be more likely among older adults and in people who have had a stroke or have multiple sclerosis or osteoporosis. ...
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  • Gestational diabetes

    If your blood sugar level first becomes too high when you are pregnant, you have gestational diabetes. It usually goes away after the baby is born. ...
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  • Heart disease

    Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. It is an umbrella term, made up of a variety of different diseases affecting the hea...
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  • Jaundice

    Jaundice is a condition that makes a newborn’s skin and the white part of the eyes look yellow. It happens because there is too much bilirubin in the ...
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  • Kidney failure

    Acute renal failure (also called acute kidney injury) means that your kidneys have suddenly stopped working. Your kidneys remove waste products and he...
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  • Lung cancer

    Lung cancer starts when abnormal cells grow out of control in the lung. They can invade nearby tissues and form tumors. Lung cancer can start anywhere...
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  • Multiple sclerosis

    Multiple sclerosis, often called MS, is a disease that affects the central nervous system—the brain and spinal cord. It can cause problems with muscle...
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  • Osteoarthritis

    Osteoarthritis is a condition in which the cartilage that protects and cushions the joints breaks down over time. Eventually, the bones—formerly sep...
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  • Osteoporosis

    Osteoporosis is a progressive disease that causes bones to become thin and brittle, making them more likely to break. Both women and men are more apt ...
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  • Pneumonia

    Pneumonia is a lung infection that can make you very sick. You may cough, run a fever, and have a hard time breathing. For most people, pneumonia can ...
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  • Stroke

    A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or bursts. Without blood and the oxygen it carries, part of the brain starts to die. The...
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  • Urinary incontinence in men

    Urinary incontinence is the inability to control the release of urine. It may be related to infection, problems with the nerves and muscles of the b...
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  • Urinary incontinence in women

    Urinary incontinence is the inability to control the release of urine. It may be related to infection, problems with the nerves and muscles of the b...
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  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

    COPD is a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe. It is caused by damage to the lungs over many years, usually from smoking....
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  • Alzheimer's disease

    Alzheimer's disease is a progressive condition that damages areas of the brain involved in memory, intelligence, judgment, language, and behavior. I...
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  • Parkinson's disease

    Parkinson's disease affects the way you move. It happens when there is a problem with certain nerve cells in the brain. Normally, these nerve ce...
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  • AIDS

    AIDS is an infectious disorder that suppresses the normal function of the immune system. It is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), whi...
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  • Catheter infections

    A urinary catheter is a flexible plastic tube used to drain urine from your bladder when you cannot urinate by yourself. A doctor will place the cathe...
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  • Cellulitis

    Cellulitis is a skin infection caused by bacteria. Normally, your skin helps protect you from infection. But if you have a cut, sore, or insect bite, ...
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  • Dehydration

    Dehydration occurs when your body loses too much fluid. This can happen when you stop drinking water or lose large amounts of fluid through diarrhea, ...
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  • Diarrhea

    Diarrhea occurs when there is an increase in the number of bowel movements or bowel movements are more watery and loose than normal. When the intestin...
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  • Grief

    Grief is your emotional reaction to a significant loss. The words sorrow and heartache are often used to describe feelings of grief. Whether you lose ...
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  • Immunodeficiency

    HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the immune system, the body’s natural defense system. Without a strong immune system, the b...
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  • Infectious arthritis

    Infectious arthritis is an inflammation of one or more joints that occurs as a result of infection by bacteria, viruses or, less frequently, fungi or ...
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  • Inflammatory-bowel disease

    Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a condition that causes ongoing inflammation of the intestines. The condition can affect only the large intestin...
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  • Influenza (Seasonal flu)

    Influenza (flu) is a viral infection. People often use the term "flu" to describe any kind of mild illness, such as a cold or a stomach viru...
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  • Malabsorption syndrome

    Whipple disease (malabsorption syndrome) is a rare disease resulting from bacterial infection that leads to inadequate absorption of nutrients (malabs...
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  • Morning sickness

    Morning sickness can range from mild, occasional nausea to severe, continuous, disabling nausea with bouts of vomiting. Symptoms may be worse in the m...
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  • Persistent intestinal fistulae

    A fistula is an abnormal connection or opening between two organs or parts of the body that are not normally connected, such as between two parts of t...
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  • Prostatitis

    Prostatitis is swelling or infection of the prostate gland. It often hurts. The prostate gland sits just below a man's bladder and makes part of t...
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  • Pulmonary fibrosis

    Pulmonary fibrosis is an inflammatory lung disorder characterized by abnormal formation of fibrous tissue (fibrosis) between the tiny air sacs (alveol...
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  • Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)

    Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)—also referred to as sexually transmitted infections (STIs)—are those spread by sexual contact. They may also be s...
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  • Short-bowel syndrome

    Short bowel syndrome is a condition that prevents a person from digesting food and absorbing nutrients properly. It occurs when a large amount of the ...
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  • Sinusitis

    Sinusitis is infection or inflammation of the lining of the sinus cavities. These are hollow spaces in your cheeks and around your eyes. Sinus infecti...
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  • Tracheostomy

    A tracheostomy is a hole is made in the front of the neck to allow a patient to breathe following a total laryngectomy or to treat sleep apnea. ...
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  • Urinary tract infection

    Your urinary tract is the system that makes urine and carries it out of your body. It includes your bladder and kidneys and the tubes that connect the...
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  • Anemia

    Anemia is a general term for a category of blood conditions that affect the red blood cells or the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin they contain....
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  • Burns

    Heat burns (thermal burns) are caused by fire, steam, hot objects, or hot liquids. Scald burns with hot liquid are the most common burns to children a...
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