Health A to Z

Complex regional pain syndrome

Also called CRPS, Reflex sympathetic dystrophy

Pain wildly out of proportion to the injury that started it, with visible changes in the limb. Early movement is the treatment, and the delay is what does the damage.

Concussion

Also called Mild traumatic brain injury, Head injury

A brain injury, even when the scan is normal and nobody was knocked out. Most people recover in weeks; going back too fast is what makes it months.

Conduct disorder

Also called Oppositional defiant disorder, ODD

Persistent, serious behavioural difficulty in children. Frequently the visible end of something else entirely.

Congenital heart disease

Also called Heart defect, Hole in the heart, CHD

The commonest birth defect. Most children now reach adulthood, and the biggest current problem is what happens when they leave children's services.

Constipation

Trivial in most people, and a genuine cause of death in some. In care, it deserves far more attention than it gets.

Constipation in children

Very common, frequently mismanaged, and soiling is almost always overflow rather than deliberate.

Contact dermatitis

Also called Contact eczema, Occupational dermatitis

Eczema caused by something the skin is touching. Finding what, rather than treating the rash, is the treatment.

Contractures and spasticity

Also called Muscle tightness, Spasms, Tone

Stiffness that becomes a fixed shortening if nothing is done. Almost entirely preventable, and largely permanent once it has happened.

COPD

Also called Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Emphysema, Chronic bronchitis

Airways permanently narrowed and lung tissue damaged. Progressive, and the decline can be slowed considerably.

Coronary heart disease

Also called CHD, Ischaemic heart disease, Coronary artery disease

The disease behind angina and most heart attacks. Largely preventable, and the treatment that works best is the least glamorous.