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 211–220 (page 22 of 50).

H

Head and neck cancer

Also called Mouth cancer, Throat cancer, Laryngeal cancer

A mouth ulcer that has not healed in three weeks, or a hoarse voice for three weeks, is a referral. Dentists find more of these than doctors do.

Health anxiety

Also called Hypochondria, Illness anxiety

Not imagining symptoms, and not attention-seeking. Reassurance is the thing that feels most helpful and makes it worse.

Heart attack

Also called Myocardial infarction, MI, Coronary thrombosis

A blocked coronary artery killing heart muscle. Every minute of delay costs muscle, and women delay longer.

Heart block

Also called Atrioventricular block, Bradycardia, Pacemaker

The heart's electrical signal failing to get through. Often harmless, sometimes the reason an older person keeps collapsing.

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.