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 201–210 (page 21 of 50).

G

Group B strep

Also called GBS, Streptococcus agalactiae

A common, harmless bacterium in adults that occasionally causes serious infection in newborns. Antibiotics in labour prevent most of it.

Growing pains

Common leg pains at night in young children. Not caused by growing, and the point of this entry is what they are not.

Guillain-Barré syndrome

Also called GBS, Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

The immune system attacking the peripheral nerves, usually after an infection. Weakness that climbs, and it climbs fast.

Gynaecomastia

Also called Enlarged breast tissue in men, Man boobs

Real breast tissue in men, not fat. Very common in teenagers and usually resolves; in an adult it needs a cause looked for.

H

Haemochromatosis

Also called Iron overload, Genetic haemochromatosis

The body absorbing too much iron, for decades, silently. One of the most common genetic conditions in the UK and one of the most missed.

Haemophilia and von Willebrand disease

Also called Haemophilia A, Haemophilia B, von Willebrand disease, Bleeding disorders

Inherited bleeding disorders. Von Willebrand is the common one, affects women and men equally, and is usually diagnosed decades late.

Haemorrhoids

Also called Piles

Swollen blood vessels in the back passage. Extremely common, and assuming rectal bleeding is piles is how bowel cancer gets missed.

Hamstring injury

Also called Pulled hamstring, Torn hamstring

A common sprinting injury with a high re-injury rate. Returning too early is what causes the second one.

Hand, foot and mouth disease

A mild childhood virus with an alarming name. Nothing to do with foot and mouth in animals, and no treatment beyond comfort.

Hay fever

Also called Allergic rhinitis, Seasonal allergy

Around one in four adults. Trivial as an illness, and it demonstrably costs children exam grades.