Health A to Z

Heart failure

The heart cannot pump well enough to keep up. A badly named condition, and more treatable than the name suggests.

Heart valve disease

Also called Aortic stenosis, Mitral regurgitation, Heart murmur

Often silent for years, then symptoms arrive and the clock starts. Breathlessness, chest tightness or blackouts in an older person deserve a stethoscope.

Heat exhaustion and heatstroke

Also called Sunstroke, Heat illness

Heat exhaustion is treatable at home in 30 minutes. Heatstroke is a 999 call, and confusion is the line between them.

Hepatitis

Also called Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Liver inflammation

Inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis C is now curable in most people, and thousands in the UK do not know they have it.

Hereditary spastic paraplegia

Also called HSP, Familial spastic paraparesis

Inherited progressive stiffness and weakness of the legs. Slow, usually not life-shortening, and frequently mistaken for MS or cerebral palsy.

Hernia

Also called Inguinal hernia, Rupture, Umbilical hernia

A lump that comes and goes with straining is usually not urgent. A lump that will not go back, and is painful, is an emergency.

Hiatus hernia

Part of the stomach sliding up into the chest. Very common, usually causes reflux, and occasionally becomes an emergency.

Hidradenitis suppurativa

Also called HS, Acne inversa

Painful recurring lumps in the armpits, groin and under the breasts. Average time to diagnosis is around seven years, usually spent being treated for boils.

High blood pressure

Also called Hypertension

No symptoms, enormous consequences. Around one in four UK adults, and about half of them are not treated to target.

Hip fracture

Also called Broken hip, Fractured neck of femur

Around 70,000 a year in the UK. Roughly a third of people die within a year, and the first 36 hours shape the rest.