When a patient has clinical depression, she has symptoms like sadness and anger that interfere in her life. Not all forms of depression are the same: each type of depression has different diagnostic criteria, such as the duration and number of...
Adult men have the diagnosis of anemia if their hemoglobin level is below 13.5g/dL, and women are anemic if their level is below 12g/dL, according to Charles Linker, M.D., clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, in "Current...
A diagnosis of epilepsy involves a combination of observation and diagnostic tests. The doctor will listen to a description of the seizures a person has, and perhaps monitor the patient using video for a few hours or days to try and observe a...
A sexually transmitted disease, trichomoniasis commonly occurs in women ages 16 to 35, according to MedlinePlus. Caused by the bacterium Trichomonas vaginalis, trichomoniasis can survive in the penis or vagina, but not in the rectum or mouth. In...
Diabetes, or high blood sugar, was the seventh highest cause of death in the United States in 2006 and affects 23 percent of people over age 60, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) reports. Early diagnosis of diabetes is essential for treating...
Medical tests are a critical part of diagnosing and treating illness and disease. Many of these diagnostic procedures require patients to undergo blood tests. These tests help to efficiently and quickly diagnose disorders and diseases such as high...
Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a highly infectious bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Though it is most commonly associated with the lungs, TB can also affect the brain, kidney, liver and other areas of the body. It is a rather stealthy...
MedlinePlus notes that in 2008, about 3.4 million people in the world had human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. The virus, which spreads through sexual contact or needle exchange or from mother to...
Cardiac diagnostic procedures assist physicians in diagnosing problems within the heart. Invasive testing may involve a catheter threaded through a blood vessel or a scope snaked down the esophagus. Non-invasive procedures can involve movement and...
Fibromyalgia patients experience widespread muscle tenderness and nagging muscle pain that is apparently unrelated to injury or other diseases. In the 20th century, many doctors told their patients that chronic pain was "all in their heads." While...
Arriving at a diagnosis is a complicated process that involves many factors. It generally starts with a medical practitioner taking a detailed history of current symptoms, past illnesses and surgeries, exercise habits, smoking, drug and alcohol...
Diagnosing disease is mostly a process of knowing what is "normal" and recognizing what is not. A doctor recognizes a disease by seeing a pattern formed by symptoms and findings during a physical examination. Laboratory tests can confirm these...
Depression is a mood disorder characterized by feeling sad or down, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, changes in sleep, low energy, changes in weight or appetite, feelings of guilt, concentration difficulties, indecisiveness, and...
According to the DSM-IV-TR (2000) Bipolar disorders affect up to 1.6 percent of the population. There are two categories of bipolar disorders, bipolar I and bipolar II. Previously called manic depression, bipolar I and II are mood disorders and...
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a deficit in attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity that is generally first diagnosed in children during elementary school. According some ADHD researchers, however, parents often retrospectively...
The diagnosis of celiac disease can sometimes be difficult. Celiac is also known as "the great imitator" because many of its symptoms can resemble those of numerous other health conditions. Some people will experience skin rashes, others may have...
Despite the fact that Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects up to seven percent of school-age children, the symptoms of this disorder can be easy to misinterpret or overlook. ADHD diagnoses are divided into an inattentive type, a...
Arteriosclerosis, also called atherosclerosis and hardening of the arteries, is characterized by the loss of flexibility, strength and stretchiness of blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood throughout the body. Age and heredity, along with...
Mammograms are screening evaluations of breast tissue. With recent advances in technology, these screening tools have reduced the number of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer at later stages. Combined with the advancements in treatment,...
Menopause is a natural life stage, not an illness or a condition. Natural menopause is defined as the time during which a woman's menstrual periods have stopped for 12 consecutive months. Surgical menopause involves removal of the ovaries,...
Cystitis is the inflammation of the urinary bladder that is characterized by frequent and painful urination, low grade fever, discomfort in the pelvic area, nausea, and vomiting. A sample of urine from the patient is the most common specimen. The...
Oats are a type of cereal grain grown for human consumption and often used as livestock feed due to their high nutritional value. Generally a breakfast dish, oats can be rolled or crushed to make oatmeal or used as an ingredient in cold cereal....
The chronic skin condition psoriasis affects approximately 7.5 million people in the United States, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Although psoriasis generally causes only mild discomfort, severe cases can be disfiguring, and...
Diagnostic procedures, ranging from non-invasive to invasive testing, are valuable diagnostic tools for the cardiovascular system. These procedures can catch cardiac problems before symptoms develop in most cases. Based on your needs, the...
Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) diagnosis typically requires careful observation of symptoms by a physician to discern RA from other types of arthritis and autoimmune conditions, several diagnostic tests are available to supplement the clinical...
Merck Manuals, an online medical library, reports that multiple myeloma is a form of cancer in which plasma cells become cancerous. Plasma cells are a relatively rare type of blood cell, making up less than 1 percent of total blood cells. However,...
There is no single test that can diagnose cancer. A cancer diagnosis is made after conducting several diagnostic tests, performing a physical exam, and careful consideration of patient history. According to the Caring4Cancer website, extensive...
The National Cancer Institute estimates prostate cancer will kill 32,050 men in the United States in 2010. Prostate cancer can develop from the cells that surround the prostate gland, or from the glandular tissue itself. As the cancer progresses,...
If your doctor suspects that you have a medical problem involving the urinary tract, bladder or kidneys, she may recommend that you undergo a urinary diagnostic test. The Harvard Medical School and the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases...
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