Is Epilepsy Hereditary? Genetics, Family Risk and What It Means for Planning a Family
Epilepsy can be hereditary, but rarely in a simple, predictable way. Genes contribute to many forms of the condition, and a few rare types…
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Blog Category
Symptoms Explained
Articles that explain common symptoms: the possible causes, what you can reasonably do yourself, which tests help and when to see a doctor urgently. A symptom checker cannot examine you; if something feels seriously wrong, seek care.
What an Asthma Attack Feels Like, and How Dangerous It Is
An asthma attack usually feels like a tightening band around the chest, breathlessness that makes finishing a sentence hard, a whistling wheeze on the…
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Can Sinusitis Cause Dizziness? Why It Happens, What Helps and When to See a Doctor
Yes, sinusitis can cause dizziness, though usually the light-headed, foggy, slightly-off-balance kind rather than a true spinning sensation. Swollen sinus and nasal linings can…
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How Long Pneumonia Lasts, and How Long Recovery Takes
Most people with pneumonia start to feel better within a few days of beginning treatment, and fever usually settles within about a week. Full…
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How Lupus Is Diagnosed, and Is It Contagious?
Lupus is diagnosed by combining a person's symptoms and physical findings with blood and urine tests, because no single test can confirm it. Doctors…
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What Double Pneumonia Is: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and Recovery Time
Double pneumonia is the everyday name for bilateral pneumonia, an infection that inflames the air sacs in both lungs rather than one. It is…
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TIA (Mini-Stroke): What It Is and Why It Matters
A TIA, or transient ischemic attack, is a brief interruption of blood flow to part of the brain that causes stroke-like symptoms, such as…
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How Asthma Is Diagnosed: Breathing Tests, History and What to Expect at the Clinic
Asthma is diagnosed by combining a detailed symptom history with objective breathing tests. Clinicians look for a pattern of cough, wheeze, chest tightness or…
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What Pancreatitis Feels Like, Where the Pain Is and Whether It Comes and Goes
Pancreatitis usually feels like a deep, steady, boring pain high in the abdomen, just below the ribs, that often spreads through to the back…
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Living with One Kidney: What Changes and What Does Not
Yes. Most people with one healthy kidney live a normal, full life. The remaining kidney enlarges and increases its filtering capacity, typically providing around…
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Can Lupus Be Fatal? What Decides the Risk and How Modern Treatment Changes It
Lupus can be fatal, but for most people today it is not. Serious risk comes from a small number of complications: kidney inflammation, cardiovascular…
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Can Crohn’s Disease Be Fatal? What Actually Decides the Risk
Crohn's disease is rarely fatal on its own. Most people with Crohn's live long lives, and average life expectancy is only modestly shorter than…
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How IBS Is Diagnosed (and the ‘Do I Have IBS?’ Question)
IBS is diagnosed clinically, not with a single test. A clinician confirms that recurrent abdominal pain has been linked to bowel movements or changes…
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Can You Get HIV from Kissing or Oral Sex? What the Evidence Says
Closed-mouth kissing does not transmit HIV, and saliva on its own has never been shown to spread it. The CDC describes deep, open-mouth kissing…
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What Causes Hernias in Men and Women: Risk Factors, Warning Signs and Treatment
A hernia happens when an internal organ or fatty tissue pushes through a weak spot in the surrounding muscle or connective tissue. Most result…
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Can Kidneys Repair Themselves? What Recovers, What Does Not and How to Protect Them
Kidneys can repair themselves after short-term (acute) injury, because the cells lining their tiny filtering tubes regrow, often over days to weeks. They cannot,…
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Haemorrhoids: How Long They Last, Whether They Go Away and Whether They Can Burst
Yes, a hemorrhoid can burst, but only a specific kind: an external hemorrhoid in which a blood clot has formed (a thrombosed hemorrhoid). The…
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Sudden Ringing in the Ear: What It Can Mean
Sudden ringing in the ear, called tinnitus, is most often triggered by loud noise, a blocked ear canal, a cold or sinus congestion, stress,…
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