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General Illness Information Common Name: Cataract Medical Term: None Specified Description: Opacity (or clouding) of the lens of the eye. As the opacity gets denser, it interferes with vision. Cataracts can occur in one or both eyes. Cataracts are not cancerous. Most common cause of visual loss (blindness) in adults. Causes: Common causes include: Aging. Metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus, galactosemia (inherited disease of infants in which milk cannot…

General Illness Information Common Name: BURSITIS Medical Term: None Specified Description: Inflammation of a bursa is known as bursitis and causes pain in the affected area. A bursa is a soft fluid-filled sac that serves as a cushion between tendons and bones. They are located at sites of friction, especially where tendons or muscles pass over a bone, mostly near joints. A bursa normally contains very little fluid. However, when injured,…

General Illness Information Common Name: BULIMIA Medical Term: Binge-Eating Syndrome Description: Habit of consumption of large amounts of food in a discrete period of time. Binge eating is characterized by abnormal perception of body image, constant craving for food, followed by purging (self-induced vomiting, or laxative use or diuretics), rigorous dieting or excessive exercising to counteract the effects of binging. More common in adolescents or young adults, and in females….

General Illness Information Common Name: BUNION Medical Term: Hallux Valgus Description: A bony protrusion from the outside edge of the joint at the base of the big (first) toe. Three times as many women as men have the disorder. Causes: If the big toe has grown or been forced into a position where it overlaps one or more of the other toes, that is called hallux valgus. Prevention: Wear wide-toed…

General Illness Information Common Name: BURNS Medical Term: None Specified Description: Injury to the skin, and sometimes other organs, from contact with heat, radiation, electricity or chemicals. Causes: Rise in skin temperature form a heat source, such as fire, steam or electricity. Open flame and hot liquid are most common causes. Tissue injury caused by chemicals or radiation, including sunlight. Lighting strikes can cause internal burns with minimal external signs….

General Illness Information Common Name: BRONCHIOLITIS Medical Term: None Specified Description: Bronchiolitis is a contagious viral infection of the airways of infants and young children that causes difficulty in bresthing especially breathing out. Bronchiolitis mainly affects children under 18 months of age and most commonly in infants younger than 6 months. Often occurs in epidemics Causes: Inflammation of the small airways called bronchioles; usually caused by a viral infection, most…

General Illness Information Common Name: BRONCHITIS, CHRONIC Medical Term: None Specified Description: Chronic inflammation of bronchial tubes causing cough and purulent sputum production for at least three months of the year for more than two years. More commonly associated with and exacerbated by cigarette smoking. Causes: Chronic Bronchitis can be caused by: Smoking; Air pollution. Occupational – more common in women exposed to dusts or noxious gases. Infection – repeated…

General Illness Information Common Name: BOILS Medical Term: Furuncles and Carbuncles Description: Hair follicles occasionally get infected. When infected hair follicles separate (form pus) furuncles are formed. Furuncles are cutaneous (skin) abscesses. Carbuncles start as furuncles. Furuncles that extend or bore through the subcutaneous tissues are called carbuncles. These can occur anywhere on the skin, but are most common on neck, face, buttocks, and breasts. Causes: Infection, usually from Staphylococcus…

General Illness Information Common Name: ATRIAL FIBRILLATION (AF) Medical Term: None Specified Description: A completely irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), arising from the hearts upper chamber (atrium), and conducted downwards to the hearts main chambers (ventricles) causing the ventricles to contract faster and less efficiently than normal. Atrial fibrillation is the most frequent form of serious cardiac arrythmia. It’s incidence varies from 1% before age 60 to 20% at age 80. It…

General Illness Information Common Name: ASTHMA Medical Term: None Specified Description: Asthma is a chronic disorder with recurrent attacks of wheezing, shortness of breath and cough. Asthma is defined as an inflammatory disorder of the airways characterized by intermittent or persistent symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing, sputum production and cough, associated with variable airflow limitation and a variable degree of airway hyperresponsiveness to endogenous or exogenous…