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.

500 conditions, showing 181–190 (page 19 of 50).

F

Frailty

Not the same as being old. A reduced reserve, where a small problem causes a large loss of function.

Frontotemporal dementia

Also called FTD, Pick's disease, Behavioural variant FTD

Dementia that takes personality and language before memory. The commonest dementia in people under 60.

Frozen shoulder

Also called Adhesive capsulitis

A shoulder that stiffens, hurts and then slowly frees. It takes one to three years, and knowing that changes how people cope.

Fungal skin infections

Also called Ringworm, Athlete's foot, Fungal nail infection, Thrush, Tinea

Common, treatable, and routinely mistaken for eczema. Steroid cream on a fungal rash makes it spread.

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.