Conditions & Diseases
Whether we like it or not, living things are susceptible to any number of illnesses and conditions that can threaten or harm the health of those afflicted. Bacteria, viruses, and other microbiological agents are obvious challenges to health. Human disease may be acute, chronic, malignant, or benign, and it is usually indicated by signs and symptoms such as fever or vomiting. Additionally, diseases may be communicable (contagious) or noncommunicable; of the latter, the four major types identified by the World Health Organization are cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes mellitus.
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Conditions & Diseases Encyclopedia Articles
Featured Articles
Alzheimer disease
Alzheimer disease, degenerative brain disorder that develops in mid-to-late adulthood. It results in a progressive and irreversible decline in memory and a deterioration of various other cognitive abilities....
eating disorders
Eating disorders, atypical eating patterns, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia, compulsive overeating, and pica (appetite for nonfood substances). These disorders, which usually have a psychological component,...
mental disorder
Mental disorder, any illness with significant psychological or behavioral manifestations that is associated with either a painful or distressing symptom or an impairment in one or more important areas...
renal system disease
Renal system disease, any of the diseases or disorders that affect the human urinary system. They include benign and malignant tumours, infections and inflammations, and obstruction by calculi. Diseases...
cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease, any of the diseases, whether congenital or acquired, of the heart and blood vessels. Among the most important are atherosclerosis, rheumatic heart disease, and vascular inflammation....
infectious disease
Infectious disease, in medicine, a process caused by an agent, often a type of microorganism, that impairs a person’s health. In many cases, infectious disease can be spread from person to person, either...
speech disorder
Speech disorder, any of the disorders that impair human speech. Human communication relies largely on the faculty of speech, supplemented by the production of certain sounds, each of which is unique in...
poison
Poison, in biochemistry, a substance, natural or synthetic, that causes damage to living tissues and has an injurious or fatal effect on the body, whether it is ingested, inhaled, or absorbed or injected...
nutritional disease
Nutritional disease, any of the nutrient-related diseases and conditions that cause illness in humans. They may include deficiencies or excesses in the diet, obesity and eating disorders, and chronic diseases...
inflammation
Inflammation, a response triggered by damage to living tissues. The inflammatory response is a defense mechanism that evolved in higher organisms to protect them from infection and injury. Its purpose...
food allergy
Food allergy, immunological response to a food. Although the true prevalence of food allergy is unclear, studies have indicated that about 1 to 5 percent of people have a clinically proven allergy to a...
cancer
Cancer, group of more than 100 distinct diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Though cancer has been known since antiquity, some of the most significant advances...
childhood disease and disorder
Childhood disease and disorder, any illness, impairment, or abnormal condition that affects primarily infants and children—i.e., those in the age span that begins with the fetus and extends through adolescence....
immune system disorder
Immune system disorder, any of various failures in the body’s defense mechanisms against infectious organisms. Disorders of immunity include immune deficiency diseases, such as AIDS, that arise because...
human disease
Human disease, an impairment of the normal state of a human being that interrupts or modifies its vital functions. Before human disease can be discussed, the meanings of the terms health, physical fitness,...
respiratory disease
Respiratory disease, any of the diseases and disorders of the airways and the lungs that affect human respiration. Diseases of the respiratory system may affect any of the structures and organs that have...
Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome, rare inherited neurological disorder characterized by recurrent motor and phonic tics (involuntary muscle spasms and vocalizations). It is three times more prevalent in males than in...
eye disease
Eye disease, any of the diseases or disorders that affect the human eye. This article briefly describes the more common diseases of the eye and its associated structures, the methods used in examination...
digestive system disease
Digestive system disease, any of the diseases that affect the human digestive tract. Such disorders may affect the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine (colon), pancreas, liver, or biliary...
nervous system disease
Nervous system disease, any of the diseases or disorders that affect the functioning of the human nervous system. Everything that humans sense, consider, and effect and all the unlearned reflexes of the...
blood disease
Blood disease, any disease of the blood, involving the red blood cells (erythrocytes), white blood cells (leukocytes), or platelets (thrombocytes) or the tissues in which these elements are formed—the...
human genetic disease
Human genetic disease, any of the diseases and disorders that are caused by mutations in one or more genes of the human genome. With the increasing ability to control infectious and nutritional diseases...
skin disease
Skin disease, any of the diseases or disorders that affect the human skin. They have a wide range of causes. Although most diseases affecting the skin originate in the layers of the skin, such abnormalities...
allergy
Allergy, hypersensitivity reaction by the body to foreign substances (antigens) that in similar amounts and circumstances are harmless within the bodies of other people. Antigens that provoke an allergic...
Conditions & Diseases Subcategories
Bone Diseases
Bone diseases or injuries are major causes of abnormalities of the human skeletal system.
Articles
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gout
disease
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craniosynostosis
congenital disorder
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carpal tunnel syndrome
physiology
Cardiovascular & Circulatory System Diseases
Cardiovascular diseases affect the heart and blood vessels and can be congenital or acquired. Atherosclerosis, rheumatic heart disease, and vascular inflammation are major examples of this type of disease.
Articles
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hypertension
pathology
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sickle cell anemia
pathology
- cardiovascular disease
Childhood Diseases & Disorders
Although the diseases of childhood are largely similar to those of the adult, there are several important differences. Certain specific disorders are unique to children; others, such as acute nephritis—inflammation of the kidney—are common in children and infrequent in adults. Additionally, a major segment of pediatric care concerns the treatment and prevention of congenital anomalies, both functional and structural.
Articles
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Kawasaki syndrome
disease
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rubella
disease
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measles
disease
Digestive & Renal System Diseases
Digestive system diseases affect the human digestive tract. Such disorders may affect the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine (colon), pancreas, liver, or biliary tract. Renal system diseases or disorders affect the human urinary system.
Articles
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hepatitis B
infectious disease
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renal cell carcinoma
pathology
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esophageal cancer
pathology
Diseases of the Senses
These diseases affect the eyes, ears, nose, or mouth and may accordingly damage the ability to see, hear, or smell normally.
Articles
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macular degeneration
eye disorder
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glaucoma
pathology
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ear squeeze
physiology
Endocrine System Diseases
Diseases of the endocrine system can result from the oversecretion or undersecretion of hormones or from the inability of target organs or tissues to respond to hormones effectively.
Articles
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goitre
pathology
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hypogonadism
pathology
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pancreatic cancer
pathology
Genetic Diseases
Genetic diseases and disorders are caused by mutations in one or more genes. Genetic diseases are a major cause of disability and death.
Articles
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cystic fibrosis
pathology
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dwarfism
medical condition
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Prader-Willi syndrome
genetic disorder
Immune System Disorders
Immune system disorders include any of various failures in the body’s defense mechanisms against infectious organisms. Disorders of immunity include immune deficiency diseases, such as AIDS, that arise because of a diminution of some aspect of the immune response. Other types of immune disorders are caused when the body develops an inappropriate response to a substance—either to a normally harmless foreign substance found in the environment, in the case of allergies, or to a component of the body, in the case of autoimmune diseases.
Articles
- allergy
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leukocytosis
medical disorder
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leukopenia
medical disorder
Infectious Diseases
Infectious diseases are typically able to be spread from person to person, either directly (e.g., via skin contact) or indirectly (e.g., via contaminated food or water). The human body’s primary defense against such threats is its immune system, supplemented by today’s medical drugs.
Articles
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plague
disease
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tuberculosis
pathology
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cholera
intestinal disease
Mental Disorders
Mental disorders can be defined as any illness with significant psychological or behavioral manifestations that is associated with either a painful or distressing symptom or an impairment in one or more important areas of functioning. A mental illness can have an effect on every aspect of a person’s life, including thinking, feeling, mood, and outlook.
Articles
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anxiety disorder
mental disorder
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post-traumatic stress disorder
psychology
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psychosis
psychology
Muscle & Connective Tissue Diseases
Connective tissue disease, any of the diseases that affect human connective tissue. Diseases of the connective tissue can be divided into (1) a group of relatively uncommon genetic disorders that affect the primary structure of connective tissue and (2) a number of acquired maladies in which the connective tissues are the site of several more or less distinctive immunological and inflammatory reactions. The hereditary (genetic) connective tissue diseases include Marfan syndrome, homocystinuria, and osteogenesis imperfecta. The acquired diseases include, among many others, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatic fever, and osteoarthritis.
Articles
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rheumatism
pathology
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tic
muscle movement
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muscular dystrophy
pathology
Nervous System Diseases
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
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polio
pathology
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epilepsy
neurological disorder
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Huntington disease
pathology
Nutritional Diseases
Nutritional disease, any of the nutrient-related diseases and conditions that cause illness in humans. They may include deficiencies or excesses in the diet, obesity and eating disorders, and chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer, and diabetes mellitus. Nutritional diseases also include developmental abnormalities that can be prevented by diet, hereditary metabolic disorders that respond to dietary treatment, the interaction of foods and nutrients with drugs, food allergies and intolerances, and potential hazards in the food supply.
Articles
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malnutrition
pathology
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iodine deficiency
pathology
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dehydration
physiology
Reproductive & Urinary System Diseases
Reproductive system disease, any of the diseases and disorders that affect the human reproductive system. They include abnormal hormone production by the ovaries or the testes or by other endocrine glands, such as the pituitary, thyroid, or adrenals. Such diseases can also be caused by genetic or congenital abnormalities, infections, tumours, or disorders of unknown cause.
Articles
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precocious puberty
medical disorder
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endometriosis
disorder
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ectopic pregnancy
pathology
Respiratory System Diseases
Respiratory disease, any of the diseases and disorders of the airways and the lungs that affect human respiration. Diseases of the respiratory system may affect any of the structures and organs that have to do with breathing, including the nasal cavities, the pharynx (or throat), the larynx, the trachea (or windpipe), the bronchi and bronchioles, the tissues of the lungs, and the respiratory muscles of the chest cage.
Articles
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paragonimiasis
pathology
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lung cancer
pathology
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SARS
respiratory illness
Skin Diseases
Skin disease, any of the diseases or disorders that affect the human skin. They have a wide range of causes. Although most diseases affecting the skin originate in the layers of the skin, such abnormalities are also important factors in the diagnosis of a variety of internal diseases. There is some truth in the belief that the skin mirrors a person’s internal health. Often, the visibility and accessibility of skin make it the first organ of the body to show detectable signs of underlying disease.
Articles
Trauma
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
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wound
medicine
- electrical shock
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traumatic brain injury
medical condition
