Diseases & Conditions
As specialists in adult care, internists have the skills and knowledge necessary to help you deal with a wide range of illnesses and health care issues. While there is no substitute for one-on-one consultation with your internist, the information in this section will provide you with some background information about common health care topics.
- Antibiotic Resistance: Antibiotic resistance is a worldwide public health problem that continues to grow. It occurs when strains of bacteria in the human body become resistant to antibiotics due to improper use and abuse of antibiotics.
- COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease of the airways and lungs that usually occurs in cigarette smokers. People with COPD get short of breath. Damage to the lungs and symptoms slowly worsen over time.
- Depression: Depression strikes one in four women and one in eight men sometime during their lifetimes. Yet two out of three of them don't get treatment.
- Diabetes: Each year nearly 800,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with diabetes. But millions more still have no idea they have it. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.
- Fatigue: Chronic fatigue syndrome is a condition that can be debilitating and last for months or years. It is an illness that produces extreme tiredness over a prolonged period of time.
- Headaches: Forty-five million Americans suffer from chronic headaches and seven in 10 people have at least one headache a year. While the majority of headaches last for only a few hours, some can persist for weeks.
- Hypothyroidism: Hypothyroidism, also known as "underactive thyroid disease," is a common adult condition of the thyroid, a gland that regulates the body's energy.
- Obesity: Nearly 100 million adults in America have a problem that puts them at increased risk of chronic disease: They are overweight or obese.
- Osteoporosis: Osteoporosis, also called the "silent disease," is a common bone disease in which bones become thinner and more porous. Osteoporosis affects both men and women and occurs when the body fails to form new bone.
- Sleep Apnea: Sleep apnea occurs when breathing stops during sleep for at least 10 seconds at least five times an hour. Mild sleep apnea causes few symptoms, but the condition may lead to low oxygen levels, which can be life threatening.
DVDs and Guidebooks
Order free DVDs and guidebooks designed to help educate you on a variety of conditions, including asthma, HIV, and obesity.
ACP Video News Stories
Video news stories about important medical and health issues, featuring new research from Annals of Internal Medicine, clinical guidelines, healthcare advocacy issues and other topics.
HEALTH TiPS
Downloadable patient tip sheets with important information developed to help you manage your health.