Also called: Malignancy, Neoplasms
Cancer begins in your cells, which are the building blocks of your body. Normally, your body forms new cells as you need them, replacing old cells that die. Sometimes this process goes wrong. New cells grow ...
Also called: Contraception
Birth control, also known as contraception, is designed to prevent pregnancy. Birth control methods may work in a number of different ways. These include Blocking sperm from getting to the eggs - condoms and diaphra...
Also called: HBP, HTN, Hypertension
Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, ...
When you're dizzy, you may feel lightheaded or lose your balance. If you feel that the room is spinning, you have vertigo. A sudden drop in blood pressure or being dehydrated can make you dizzy. Many people feel lightheaded if they get up too quickl...
Prenatal care is more than just health care while you are pregnant. Your health care provider may discuss many issues, such as nutrition and physical activity, what to expect during the birth process and basic skills for caring for your newborn . Yo...
Also called: Change of life
Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her period stops. It usually occurs naturally, most often after age 45. Menopause happens because the woman's ovary stops producing the hormones estrogen and progesteron...
Also called: Alopecia
Did you know that the average person has 5 million hairs? Hair grows all over your body except on your lips, palms and the soles of your feet. It takes about four months for healthy hair to grow an inch. Most hairs grow ...
If you are trying to have a baby or are just thinking about it, it is not too early to prepare for a safe pregnancy and health baby. You should speak with your healthcare provider about preconception care. Preconception care is care you receive befo...
Every pregnancy has some risks, but there are more dangers to your health and the health of your fetus with a high risk pregnancy. The causes can be conditions you already have or conditions you develop. They also include being pregnant with more th...
Your adrenal, or suprarenal, glands are located near the top of each kidney. These glands produce hormones that you can't live without, including sex hormones and cortisol, which helps you respond to stress and has many other functions. Adrenal diso...
Hormones are your body's chemical messengers. They travel in your bloodstream to tissues or organs. They work slowly, over time, and affect many different processes, including Growth and development Metabolism - how your body gets energy from the fo...
Acid lipase disease occurs when the enzyme needed to break down certain fats that are normally digested by the body is lacking or missing, resulting in the toxic buildup of these fats in the body’s cells and tissues. These fatty substances,...
Pompe disease is a rare (estimated at 1 in every 40,000 births), inherited and often fatal disorder that disables the heart and muscles. It is caused by mutations in a gene that makes an enzyme called alpha-glucosidase (GAA). Normally, the body us...
Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) is a rare, childhood neurological disorder characterized by the sudden or gradual development of aphasia (the inability to understand or express language) and an abnormal electro-encephalogram (EEG). LKS affects the pa...
Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is characterized by a brief but intense attack of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord that damages myelin – the protective covering of nerve fibers. It often follows viral infection, or less o...
Holmes-Adie syndrome (HAS) is a neurological disorder affecting the pupil of the eye and the autonomic nervous system. It is characterized by one eye with a pupil that is larger than normal and constricts slowly in bright light (tonic pupil), alon...
Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is one of a group of genetic disorders called the leukodystrophies that cause damage to the myelin sheath, an insulating membrane that surrounds nerve cells in the brain. People with ALD accumulate high levels of saturat...
Agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) is a birth defect in which the structure that connects the two hemispheres of the brain (the corpus callosum) is partially or completely absent. ACC can occur as an isolated condition or in combination with othe...
Agnosia is a rare disorder characterized by an inability to recognize and identify objects or persons. People with agnosia may have difficulty recognizing the geometric features of an object or face or may be able to perceive the geometric features ...
Aicardi Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder characterized by the partial or complete absence of the structure that links the two hemispheres of the brain, the corpus callosum . The disorder affects only girls. Onset of Aicardi Syndrome generally be...
AIDS is primarily an immune system disorder caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but it can also affect the nervous system. HIV does not appear to directly invade nerve cells but it jeopardizes their health and function, causing sympto...
Alexander disease is one of a group of neurological conditions known as the leukodystrophies, disorders that are the result of abnormalities in myelin, the “white matter” that protects nerve fibers in the brain. Alexander disease is a pr...
Alpers' disease is a rare, genetically determined disease of the brain that causes progressive degeneration of grey matter in the cerebrum. The first sign of the disease usually begins early in life with convulsions. Other symptoms are developmental...
Alternating hemiplegia is a rare neurological disorder that develops in childhood, usually before the first 4 years. The disorder is characterized by recurrent but temporary episodes of paralysis on one side of the body. The paralysis can affect eye...
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease characterized in the brain by abnormal clumps (amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles of fibers (neurofibrillary tangles) composed of misplaced proteins. Age is the most important ri...
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells (neurons) responsible for controlling voluntary muscles. In ALS, both the upp...
Anencephaly is a defect in the closure of the neural tube during fetal development. The neural tube is a narrow channel that folds and closes between the 3rd and 4th weeks of pregnancy to form the brain and spinal cord of the embryo. Anencephaly occ...
A cerebral aneurysm is the dilation, bulging, or ballooning out of part of the wall of a vein or artery in the brain. Cerebral aneurysms can occur at any age, although they are more common in adults than in children and are slightly more common in ...
Angelman syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes developmental delay and neurological problems. The physician Harry Angelman first delineated the syndrome in 1965, when he described several children in his practice as having "flat heads, jerky mo...
von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL) is a rare, genetic multi-system disorder characterized by the abnormal growth of tumors in certain parts of the body (angiomatosis). The tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) are benign and are comprised of a nes...