Health A to Z

Most health pages tell you what a condition is. Very few tell you what it is like to sit beside somebody who has one. This library does both. Search by name, or by the name you know it under.

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice, and it is not a diagnosis. If you are worried about your health or someone else's, speak to a GP, pharmacist, or call 111. In an emergency, call 999.

20 conditions filed under G, showing 1–10 (page 1 of 2).

G

Gallstones

Stones forming in the gallbladder. Usually silent, and when they are not, the pain is memorable.

Gambling harm

Also called Gambling addiction, Problem gambling

An addiction with no substance and no smell, which is why it is usually discovered through money rather than behaviour. Treatment is free on the NHS.

Ganglion cyst

A harmless jelly-filled lump near a joint or tendon, usually on the wrist. Most need nothing, and hitting it with a book is a genuinely bad idea.

Gangrene

Tissue dying from loss of blood supply or infection. Always an emergency, and in gas gangrene it is measured in hours.

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease

Also called GORD, Acid reflux, Heartburn

Stomach acid rising into the gullet. Common, usually manageable, and a genuine hidden cause of distress in people who cannot describe pain.

Gastroparesis

Also called Delayed gastric emptying, Paralysed stomach

A stomach that empties too slowly. Commonest in long-standing diabetes, and the food advice is the opposite of usual healthy eating.

Gender dysphoria

Also called Gender incongruence

Distress from a mismatch between gender identity and sex assigned at birth. Waiting lists in the UK now run to years.

Genital herpes

Also called Herpes simplex, HSV

Extremely common, usually mild after the first episode, and carrying stigma far out of proportion to the illness. Dangerous only around childbirth.

Gestational diabetes

Diabetes appearing in pregnancy. Usually resolves after birth, and it is a warning about the next twenty years.

Giant cell arteritis

Also called GCA, Temporal arteritis

New headache over 50 with scalp tenderness or jaw pain. Untreated it blinds people, permanently, sometimes within a day.