A stress fracture is a small crack in one of your bones. It’s a type of bone fracture (the medical term for broken bones). Stress fractures are exactly what their name sounds like — fractures that happen when something puts too much stress on your bone. Healthcare providers sometimes call stress fractures overuse injuries because repetitively using the same part of your …

Burns are a type of injury that happens when something — usually something hot — damages tissues of your body. They’re more severe when they’re deeper and cover a larger part of your body’s surface area. Burns are extremely common and usually unintentional. Worldwide, about 10 million people experience burns, and about 180,000 die from them each year. In the …

Bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic-depressive illness or manic depression) is a lifelong mood disorder and mental health condition that causes intense shifts in mood, energy levels, thinking patterns and behavior. These shifts can last for hours, days, weeks or months and interrupt your ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. There are a few types of bipolar disorder, which involve experiencing significant …

Pervasive developmental disorder was once a term used to describe a group of developmental delays that affect social and communication skills. But now healthcare providers call it autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This name change occurred in 2013, when the American Psychiatric Association reclassified the four following conditions into one umbrella diagnosis in the DSM-5: Autistic disorder. Asperger’s syndrome. Childhood disintegrative disorder. Pervasive developmental …

Autoimmune hepatitis is a chronic liver disease that begins with a mistake of your immune system. Your immune system sends antibodies to your liver tissues, causing inflammation (hepatitis). These antibodies are normally supposed to attack infections in your liver tissues. But in autoimmune disease, your immune system mistakenly attacks your own healthy cells instead. Autoimmune hepatitis causes chronic inflammation in your liver, which may …

Autoimmune pancreatitis occurs when your immune system triggers swelling and inflammation in your pancreas. It happens when your body confuses healthy cells for germs and attacks them. How common is autoimmune pancreatitis? Autoimmune pancreatitis is rare, occurring in less than 1 in 100,000 people. It accounts for only 2% of all cases of long-lasting (chronic) pancreatitis. Are there different types of autoimmune pancreatitis? There …

Autonomic neuropathy occurs when there is damage to the nerves that control automatic body functions. It can affect blood pressure, temperature control, digestion, bladder function and even sexual function. The nerve damage affects the messages sent between the brain and other organs and areas of the autonomic nervous system. These areas include the heart, blood vessels and sweat glands. Diabetes …

Auditory processing disorder (APD), also known as central auditory processing disorder, is a hearing issue that makes it hard for you to understand what people are saying. The condition often starts in childhood, but adults may develop it from having certain diseases, getting a head injury or growing older. People with APD have difficulty understanding speech even though they don’t have hearing …

Avascular necrosis happens when something blocks the flow of blood to your bone tissue. Your bones are constantly changing as your skeletal system makes new bone tissue to replace aging bone tissue that eventually breaks down and dies. Think of this as a cycle — your body makes new tissue to replace the tissue that’s breaking down and dying. This …

Bird flu (avian influenza) is an infection from a type of influenza (flu) virus that usually spreads in birds and other animals. Sometimes, humans can get bird flu from infected animals. Like the versions of flu that people usually get, bird flu can make you severely ill. It’s extremely rare for it to spread from person to person. You might hear about bird flu when there’s …