Harvard Health Content API

Bipolar disorder can be caused by many different factors including your genetics, your environment, and imbalances in chemicals in your brain that regulate mood. Before you are diagnosed with bipolar disorder, your doctor will ask you questions to try to determine what factors may have contributed to developing bipolar disorder. Ultimately, it is impossible to pinpoint exactly what caused it or why, however a thorough history taken by your doctor can help you and them understand better.

There is no specific diagnostic procedure or laboratory test to establish a Parkinson's disease (PD) diagnosis. Doctors diagnose the disease based on the symptoms and physical and neurological exams. Your doctor will look for classic signs of PD, especially the typical pill-rolling tremor, slowness of movement, rigidity, and abnormal gait. Symptom improvement after taking PD medication helps confirm the diagnosis.

An acute stroke would very rarely cause only pain in a body part without any other symptoms. Stroke due to bleeding in the brain can cause a severe headache. Numbness, tingling and an odd sensation one side of the face or body might feel uncomfortable. Why some people develop post-stroke pain in the part of the body affected is not known.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is defined by low levels of stored B12 in the body that can result in anemia, a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells. Symptoms tend to develop slowly and may not be recognized immediately. As the condition worsens, common symptoms of anemia include weakness and fatigue, light-headedness, palpitations and shortness of breath. If low levels of B12 remain for a long time, the condition also can lead to irreversible damage to nerve cells, which can cause the numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, imbalance, and memory loss.

The appendix is a tube-like structure that is connected to the cecum, the first part of the colon. The opening at the connection site is narrow. Most cases of appendicitis are thought to happen when a small ball of stool or hardened mucus blocks the narrow opening. Bacteria cannot get out of the now closed space. This allows bacteria to proliferate inside the appendix, causing inflammation and infection.

Most aortic aneurysms do not cause any symptoms. Usually they are discovered when an imaging procedure like an ultrasound test or CT scan is performed during screening or unexpectedly when the test is performed for some unrelated reason. Sometimes people with an abdominal aortic aneurysm will notice a bounding pulse in their belly or they may have abdominal, chest or back pain. A leaking or ruptured aneurysm is a life threatening emergency requiring immediate medical attention.

A thoracic aortic aneurysm is an abnormal widening to 4.5 centimeters or more of a portion of the aorta that resides within the chest cavity. Even 5.0 centimeters in the section of the aorta just after it leaves the heart would be considered large. The greater the diameter of the aneurysm, the higher the risk of rupture.

Thrush is the common name for a mouth infection caused by the Candida albicans fungus. It affects moist surfaces inside the lips and cheeks, and on the tongue and palate. It can be treated with topical antifungal medications such as nystatin and clotrimazole. For mild cases, a liquid version of nystatin can be swished in the mouth and swallowed, or a clotrimazole lozenge can be dissolved in the mouth. For more severe cases, an antifungal drug such as fluconazole can be taken once a day by mouth.

The diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is made when there is accumulation of fat in the liver not caused by alcohol, medication or other competing condition. People with obesity and/or diabetes have a 75% chance of developing the condition. The major contributing factors are over consumption of calories, an unhealthy diet, a sedentary lifestyle and insulin resistance.

The minority of breast cancers are suspected because a woman or man notices a lump in the breast or unusual skin changes over the breast. The diagnosis of breast cancer most often starts when a woman without symptoms has a mammogram that shows a worrisome finding. Ultrasound and MRI are two other imaging procedures that can detect potential cancer. The definitive diagnosis is made by doing a biopsy.