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General Illness Information Common Name: Heart Failure, Dropsy Medical Term: Congestive Heart Failure Description: Inability of heart to pump sufficient blood to meet normal body requirements. Results in accumulation of fluid in lungs (left heart failure) or fluid in liver and extremities (right heart failure). This is the main complication of heart disease, and accounts for the majority of heart disease admissions to hospital. Causes: Coronary artery disease; High blood…

General Illness Information Common Name: Cirrhosis of the liver Medical Term: None Specified. Description: Pathological process characterized by liver fibrosis (scarring), and nodular liver cell regeneration.  Leads to loss of normal liver function. Third leading cause of death in individuals aged 45-60 years old. Regardless of cause, the basic process is the same: inflammation of liver, followed by destruction of liver cells, cell regeneration and scarring. Causes: Possible causes of…

General Illness Information Medical Term: HERPES SIMPLEX Common Name: Cold Sores, Fever Blister. Description: A common, contagious virus (herpes simplex or HSV-1) infection. Usually involves the lips; gums and mouth area; cornea (rare); occasionally genitals. Causes: It is a herpes virus , a DNA virus of two major types: HSV1 and HSV2; most often HSV1 is associated with oral lesions and HSV2 with genital lesions but reverse occurs also ,…

General Illness Information Common Name: Leukemia, Chronic Lymphocytic Medical Term: None Specified Description: A slow growing cancer of blood forming cells, which produce a specific kind of white blood cell (lymphocyte). This causes proliferation of mature lymphocytes, with resulting infiltration of bone marrow. More common in men over 60. Uncommon before 10 years of age. Rare in China and Japan. Causes: Unknown. There may be a familial component. Prevention: None…

General Illness Information Common Name: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Medical Term: None Specified. Description: Profound fatigue of at least 6 months duration, in the absence of other causes of fatigue. Does not resolve with bed rest. Impairs daily activity below 30% usual level for at least 6 months. Occurs mainly in adults between ages of 20 to 40 years.  Twice as common in women than men. Causes: Unknown. Immunological and viral…

General Illness Information Common Name: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Medical Term: None Specified. Description: Chronic airway obstruction resulting from chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or a combination of the two.  Estimated to affect 12-15 million people in North America. Males are more affected than females.  Incidence in females is rising. It is the fourth common cause of death Causes: Damage to airways occurs from: Cigarette smoking – most important cause; Air…

General Illness Information Common Name: Cholecystitis and Cholangitis Medical Term: None Specified. Description: Infection or inflammation of the gallbladder, which collects and concentrates bile from the liver (Cholecystitis). Infection or inflammation of the ducts that drain bile from the liver to the gallbladder (cholangitis). More common in women and some ethnic groups (North American Indians). Incidence increases with age. Causes: Unknown. Postulated to be caused by inflammation or bacterial infection,…

General Illness Information Common Name: Cerebral Palsy (CP) Medical Term: None Specified Description: Cerebral palsy is a term used to describe a group of patients with a non-progressive impairment of movement and posture that is a result of a central nervous system abnormality that occurred prenatally, perinatally or during the first three years of life Cerebral palsy is not a disease and it is non progressive and non hereditary. Incidence…

General Illness Information Common Name: Cervical Cancer Medical Term:None Specified Description: A common, but treatable, cancer of the cervix (the lower third of the uterus, which opens into the vagina). It can affect women of all ages, but most common between ages 40 and 55. About 85% of cervical cancers are squamous cell carcinomas i.e. they arise from the scaly, skin-like cells covering the outside of the cervix. Most other cervical…

Description Cervical spondylosis is a degenerative process that develops in the bones of the neck (vertebrae) and intervertebral discs, resulting in compression of the spinal cord in the neck. Affects men and women equally. Very common after age 50, and considered by many to be a natural aging phenomenon. Causes Osteoarthritis (wear and tear on joints that accompanies aging); Arthritis (inflammation of a joint); Injuries such as automobile accidents with…