Medical Information

what is medicine?

Medicine is a branch of health science concerned with maintaining health and restoring it by treating disease. Medicine is both an area of knowledge (a science), and the application of that knowledge (by the medical profession and other health professionals such as nurses). The various specialized branches of the science of medicine correspond to equally specialized medical professions dealing with particular organs or diseases. ...

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Depression Symptoms & Signs Index

Terms Related to Depression: Blue; Bummed Out; Dejection; Gloom; Sadness

Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts, that affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be wished away. People with a depressive disease cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people with depression.

Anemia Symptoms & Signs Index
Terms Related to Anemia:Low Red Blood Cell Count; Red Blood Cell Count Low

Anemia is the condition of having less than the normal number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. The oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood is, therefore, decreased. Persons with anemia may feel tired and fatigue easily, appear pale, develop palpitations and become unusually short of breath. Children with chronic anemia are prone to infections and learning problems.

Pleurisy Symptoms & Signs Index
Terms Related to Pleurisy:Chest Pain with Breathing; Pain, Chest with Breathing

Pleurisy is inflammation of the linings around the lungs (the pleura). There are two layers of pleura; one covering the lung and the other covering the inner wall of the chest. These two layers are lubricated by pleural fluid. Pleurisy is characterized by pain in the chest with breathing. Pleurisy can also cause pain, cough, chest tenderness, and shortness of breath.
Pleurisy is frequently associated with the accumulation of extra fluid in the space between the two layers of pleura. This fluid is referred to as a pleural effusion. Pleurisy is also referred to as pleuritis.

Heartburn Symptoms & Signs Index
Terms Related to Heartburn: Acid Indigestion; Acid Reflux; Indigestion, Acid; Non-Cardiac Chest Pain; Pyrosis; Reflux, Acid

Heartburn is an uncomfortable feeling of burning and warmth behind the breastbone (sternum) but sometimes rising as high as the neck. It usually occurs after meals, when lying down, or at night while sleeping. Heartburn usually is due to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), the rise of stomach acid back up into the esophagus. Heartburn has nothing whatsoever to do with the heart though the discomfort of heartburn may be confused with heart pain and vice versa. Heartburn is a popular nonmedical term that often is referred to medically as pyrosis.

Neck Pain Symptoms & Signs Index

Terms Related to Neck Pain:Cervical Pain; Pain, Cervical; Pain, Neck

Pain in the neck can be more than just a hassle. Neck pain can come from disorders and diseases of any structure in the neck. There are seven vertebrae that are the bony building blocks of the spine in the neck (the cervical vertebrae) that surround the spinal cord and canal. Between these vertebrae are discs and nearby pass the nerves of the neck. Within the neck, structures include the neck muscles, arteries, veins, lymph glands, thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, esophagus, larynx, and trachea.