UNDERSTANDING

COMMON MEDICAL
CONDITION
 ARTHRITIS
A condition with swelling and tenderness of one or
more joints. The common symptom includes pain and
stiffness in joints.

Causes: Causes depend on the type of arthritis -

while osteoarthritis is caused due to wear-and-tear of
joint cartilages as age progresses, rheumatoid
arthritis is an autoimmune disease.

Symptoms: Symptoms of arthritis include pain and

stiffness in joints, difficulty in movement, etc.

Diagnosis: Doctors will examine joint movements.

Blood test and imaging tests help in diagnosing the
severity of inflammation and check the progression of
disease.
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
A type of brain disorder that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. This is a
gradually progressive condition.

Symptoms

Alzheimer's causes a gradual decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills

Symptoms depend on the stage of the disease:
Early symptoms include:
• Memory loss
• Misplacing items
• Forgetting the names of places and objects
• Repeating themselves regularly, such as asking the same question several times
• Becoming less flexible and more hesitant to try new things
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Middle-stage symptoms include:
• Increasing confusion and disorientation
• Obsessive, repetitive or impulsive behavior
• Delusions (believing things that are untrue)
• Problems with speech or language (aphasia)
• Disturbed sleep
• Changes in mood, such as frequent mood swings, depression and feeling increasingly anxious,
frustrated or agitated
• Difficulty in performing spatial tasks, such as judging distances
• Agnosia

Later symptoms include:

• Difficulty in changing position or moving around without assistance
• Considerable weight loss – although some people eat too much and put on weight
• Gradual loss of speech
• Significant problems with short and long-term memory
 ASTHMA
A lung disorder characterized by narrowing of the airways, the tubes which carry air into the
lungs, that are inflamed and constricted, causing shortness of breath, wheezing and cough.

• Urgent medical attention is usually recommended in severe cases by healthcare providers

• Treatable by a medical professional
• Requires lab test or imaging
• Can last several years or be lifelong
• Family history may increase likelihood

Symptoms of asthma vary from person to person. There could be

sudden outbursts of symptoms. Most common symptoms of
asthma are:
• Dyspnea or difficult breathing
• Wheezing
• Chest tightness
• Persistent coughing, more commonly at night. Most commonly
cough with mucus or phlegm
 VISUAL IMPAIRMENT
Visual impairment is often defined as a best corrected visual acuity of worse than either 20/40 or
20/60. The term blindness is used for complete or nearly complete vision loss. Visual impairment
may cause difficulties with normal daily activities such as reading and walking without adaptive
training and equipment.

Sign and Symptoms

• Blurry or hazy vision
• Eye pain
• Floaters and flashers
• Sensitivity to light (photophobia)
• Sudden loss of vision, or the sudden appearance of black spots in your vision
 CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE
A progressive heart disease that affects pumping action of the heart muscles. This causes fatigue,
shortness of breath.

• Urgent medical attention is usually recommended

in severe cases by healthcare providers
• Treatments can help manage condition, no known
cure
• Often requires lab test or imaging
• Common for ages 60 and older
• More common in females
• Family history may increase likelihood
 COPD
COPD is a condition that makes it difficult to breathe and can lead to respiratory failure. This occurs
when the airways of the lungs become narrowed due to chronic inflammation or scarring in lung
tissue.

. Few common symptoms include:

• Shortness of breath, which gradually gets worse
• Shortness of breath during physical activity
• Frequent coughing, with or without sputum
• Wheezing
• Noisy breathing
• Tightness in the chest
• Tiredness
• Frequent infections of the lungs
• Change in appetite
• Weight loss
CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE
Chronic kidney disease, also called chronic kidney failure, involves a gradual loss of kidney
function.
Early stages show no symptoms. When the disease progresses symptoms
presented are:
• Nausea
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue
• Edema- swelling of feet and ankle
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Need to urinate more often, especially at night
• Decreased mental sharpness
• Problems with sleep
• Blood in urine
• Protein in urine
• Erectile dysfunction in men
• Twitching in the muscles and cramps
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the
heart and blood vessels. They include:

• coronary heart disease – a disease of the blood vessels

supplying the heart muscle;
• cerebrovascular disease – a disease of the blood vessels
supplying the brain;
• peripheral arterial disease – a disease of blood vessels
supplying the arms and legs;
• rheumatic heart disease – damage to the heart muscle and
heart valves from rheumatic fever, caused by streptococcal
bacteria;
• congenital heart disease – birth defects that affect the normal
development and functioning of the heart caused by
malformations of the heart structure from birth; and
• deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism – blood clots
in the leg veins, which can dislodge and move to the heart and
lungs.
 DEMENTIA
A group of symptoms that affects memory, thinking and
interfers with daily life.
The symptoms include:

Cognitive and sensory changes:

• Memory loss, generally noticed by the near and
dear ones
• Difficulty in communication, especially finding the
right words to communicate
• Reduced ability to organize, plan, reason, or solve Psychological changes:
problems • Changes in personality and behavior
• Difficulty handling complex tasks • Depression
• Confusion and disorientation • Anxiety
• Difficulty with coordination and motor functions • Hallucinations
• Loss of or Reduced visual perception • Mood swings
• Metallic taste in mouth, decreased sense of smell • Agitation
• Agnosia - unable to identify objects or persons • Apathy - lack of interest or emotions
 HYPERTENSION
High blood pressure is a common condition that affects the body's arteries. It's also called
hypertension. If you have high blood pressure, the force of the blood pushing against the artery
walls is consistently too high. The heart has to work harder to pump blood

Symptoms
Most people with high blood pressure have no symptoms, even if blood pressure
readings reach dangerously high levels. You can have high blood pressure for years
without any symptoms.
A few people with high blood pressure may have:
• Headaches
• Shortness of breath
• Nosebleeds
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling
disease of the brain and spinal cord (central
nervous system).

In MS, the immune system attacks the protective

sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes
communication problems between your brain and
the rest of your body. Eventually, the disease can
cause permanent damage or deterioration of the
nerve fibers.
PARKINSON’S DISEASE
Parkinson's disease is a progressive disorder that affects the nervous system and the parts
of the body controlled by the nerves.

Parkinson's symptoms may include:

• Tremor
• Slowed movement
• Rigid Muscles
• Impaired posture and balance
• Loss of automatic movement
• Speech changes
• Writing changes
 STROKE
An ischemic stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or reduced,
preventing brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients. Brain cells begin to die in minutes.

Symptoms Think "FAST" and do the following:

Signs and symptoms of stroke include: Face. Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face
droop?
• Trouble speaking and understanding Arms. Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm
what others are saying drift downward? Or is one arm unable to rise?
• Paralysis or numbness of the face, Speech. Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is his
arm or leg. or her speech slurred or strange?
• Problems seeing in one or both eyes. Time. If you observe any of these signs, call 911 or
• Headache. emergency medical help immediately.
• Trouble walking.