Guides
Symptoms
Not sure what you're feeling? Read our plain-language guides on the most common symptoms: what they usually mean, what helps, and when to see a doctor.
Symptom guides
Cardiology
High Blood Pressure: The Silent Killer
Hypertension often causes no symptoms but significantly increases the risk of stroke and heart attack. How to detect and control it.
Cardiology
Heart Attack: Recognize Symptoms and Act Quickly
Typical chest pain is not the only sign. In women, symptoms are often atypical. Knowing how to recognize them saves lives.
Cardiology
Heart Failure: Signs Not to Ignore
Shortness of breath on exertion, swollen ankles, disproportionate fatigue: heart failure affects over a million French people.
Pregnancy & Maternity
Postpartum Depression: Beyond the Baby Blues
One in five mothers suffers from postpartum depression. Identifying symptoms and seeking help quickly is crucial for mother and child.
Digestive Health
Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Learning to Live with It
IBS affects 10 to 15% of the population. No organic lesion, but very real symptoms. The FODMAP diet and mind-body approaches are game-changers.
Digestive Health
Lactose intolerance: should you cut out all dairy products?
Lactose intolerance is dose-dependent. Most intolerant people can consume moderate amounts of dairy without symptoms.
Conditions
Migraine: Much More Than Just a Headache
Migraine affects 12% of the adult population and remains the leading cause of disability among 15-49 year olds.
Conditions
Thyroid: Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism Explained
Thyroid dysfunctions affect 10% of the population, with a female predominance. Symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments.
Diabetes & Endocrinology
Hypothyroidism: Common, Treatable, Often Missed
An underactive thyroid affects 1-5% of adults. Symptoms are subtle, but treatment is simple and effective.
Cancer & Oncology
Lung Cancer: Symptoms Often Appear Late
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death globally. Earlier diagnosis dramatically changes survival.
Digestive Health
Gallstones: When Surgery Is Necessary
Gallstones affect 10-15% of adults in industrialized countries. Symptoms determine management.
Bones, Joints & Muscles
Osteoporosis: Detecting Silent Bone Loss
Osteoporosis quietly thins bones over decades. The first fracture is often the first symptom.
Bones, Joints & Muscles
Fibromyalgia: A Real Disease of Pain Processing
Fibromyalgia is recognised as a central pain syndrome, not 'in the head'. Comprehensive care brings real relief.
Pregnancy & Maternity
Endometriosis: A Long-Overlooked Disease
Endometriosis affects 10% of women of reproductive age but is often dismissed as 'normal' painful periods.
Infectious Diseases
Long COVID: A Recognised Multisystem Syndrome
Long COVID affects an estimated 10-20% of infected adults. Symptoms vary widely and management is supportive.
Infectious Diseases
Fever in Adults: When to Worry
Fever is a defence mechanism, not a disease. Knowing when it warrants urgent care is essential.
Pulmonology
Persistent Cough: A Symptom Worth Investigating
Persistent cough has many causes. A systematic approach narrows them down quickly.
Cardiology
Chest Pain: Recognising the Warning Signs
Chest pain is among the most anxiety-provoking symptoms. Quick triage saves lives without overwhelming hospitals.
Conditions
Chronic Fatigue: A Symptom That Deserves a Workup
Fatigue is one of the most common reasons for medical consultation. A structured approach finds the cause in most cases.
Digestive Health
Bloating: A Common but Manageable Symptom
Bloating affects up to 30% of adults. Simple, evidence-based steps often bring relief.
Infectious Diseases
Mononucleosis: The Kissing Disease
Extreme fatigue, sore throat, and swollen glands in teens or young adults suggest mononucleosis.
Infectious Diseases
Long COVID: Persistent Post-Viral Symptoms
Fatigue, brain fog, and exercise intolerance can last months after acute COVID-19.
Conditions
Systemic Lupus: A Chameleon Disease
Lupus mimics many diseases; fatigue, arthralgia, malar rash, and cytopenias suggest it.
Conditions
Gout: More Than a Rich Man's Disease
Sudden overnight pain in the big toe with intense redness is the classic gout attack.
Pregnancy & Maternity
Endometriosis: Chronic Pelvic Pain Ignored Too Long
Average diagnostic delay reaches 7 years; severe period pain deserves gynecological evaluation.
Conditions
Fibromyalgia: A Real Chronic Pain Disorder
Fibromyalgia is a central pain sensitization disorder, not a psychological complaint.
Conditions
Glaucoma: The Silent Thief of Sight
Glaucoma damages the optic nerve without symptoms until visual loss is irreversible.
Pulmonology
Sinusitis: Viral, Bacterial, or Chronic?
Most acute sinusitis is viral; antibiotics are needed only when symptoms persist beyond 10 days or worsen.
Infectious Diseases
Seasonal Flu: Symptoms, Complications, and Prevention
Sudden fever, body aches, intense fatigue: seasonal flu is not a simple cold. Discover how to protect yourself effectively.
Infectious Diseases
Hepatitis B: A Silent Infection Affecting 296 Million People
Chronic hepatitis B often progresses without symptoms for years before revealing serious liver damage. Screening is crucial.
Infectious Diseases
Urinary Tract Infections: Why They Recur and How to Prevent Them
Burning during urination, frequent urges, pelvic pain: urinary tract infections primarily affect women. Here's how to understand and prevent them.
Infectious Diseases
Long COVID: When Symptoms Persist Months After Infection
Debilitating fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath: long COVID affects the quality of life of millions of people. What do we know today?
Neurology
Migraine: Much More Than Just a Headache
Pulsating pain, nausea, light sensitivity: migraine is a debilitating neurological disease. Therapeutic advances offer new hope.
Neurology
Parkinson's Disease: Beyond the Tremor
Tremors, slow movements, stiffness: Parkinson's disease goes far beyond these motor symptoms. Understand to live better with it.
Diabetes & Endocrinology
Thyroid Disorders: When the Butterfly Gland Goes Awry
Fatigue, weight gain, nervousness, palpitations: thyroid disorders are common but often unrecognized. A simple blood test can reveal everything.
Pulmonology
Pneumonia: The Lung Infection That Still Kills Too Many
Fever, productive cough, chest pain, breathing difficulties: pneumonia requires rapid diagnosis and treatment.
Cancer & Oncology
Leukemia: Understanding Blood Cancers
Unexplained fatigue, frequent infections, easy bruising: leukemias are blood cell cancers whose prognosis has significantly improved.
Conditions
High Blood Pressure: The Silent Killer You Must Control
Hypertension usually causes no symptoms but silently damages the heart, brain, and kidneys. Regular measurement is vital.
Bones, Joints & Muscles
Osteoarthritis: Understanding and Relieving Joint Wear
Knee, hip, hand pain: osteoarthritis affects hundreds of millions of people. Adapted physical exercise is the best non-pharmacological treatment.
Kidney & Urinary
Chronic Kidney Disease: When Kidneys Fail Silently
Chronic kidney disease often progresses without symptoms for years. Diabetes and hypertension are the leading causes.
Neurology
Multiple Sclerosis: Living with an Autoimmune Brain Disease
Vision problems, numbness, fatigue: multiple sclerosis often strikes between 20 and 40 years old. Current treatments can slow its progression.
Mental Health
Depression: A Brain Disease, Not a Lack of Courage
Persistent sadness, loss of interest, fatigue, sleep disturbances: depression is a neurobiological disease that can be effectively treated.
Blood & Hematology
Iron Deficiency Anemia: When Lack of Iron Exhausts the Body
Fatigue, shortness of breath, pallor, brittle hair: iron deficiency anemia affects 30% of the world's population, especially women and children.
Bones, Joints & Muscles
Fibromyalgia: Living with Chronic Widespread Pain
Muscle pain, intense fatigue, sleep disturbances: a multidisciplinary approach to regain control.
Bones, Joints & Muscles
Knee Osteoarthritis: Slowing Wear and Relieving Pain
From paracetamol to injections to prosthesis: an overview of solutions depending on the stage.
Diabetes & Endocrinology
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis: The Most Common Autoimmune Disease
Fatigue, weight gain, cold intolerance: recognizing the signs and finding the right levothyroxine dosage.
Pregnancy & Maternity
Endometriosis: Breaking the Silence on Female Pain
Very painful periods, pelvic pain, infertility: understanding endometriosis and therapeutic options.
Conditions
Systemic lupus erythematosus: understanding this autoimmune disease
Fatigue, joint pain, butterfly rash: recognizing lupus and adapting its management.
Digestive Health
Crohn's disease and UC: living with IBD
Diarrhea, pain, flares: understanding IBD and new biological treatments.
Pregnancy & Maternity
Endometriosis: finally recognized, better managed
Pelvic pain, infertility: understanding endometriosis and current treatments.
Infectious Diseases
Long COVID: recognizing and supporting
Fatigue, brain fog, dyspnea: understanding and supporting long COVID.
Bones, Joints & Muscles
Ankylosing spondylitis: night-time back pain
NSAIDs, anti-TNF, IL-17 inhibitors: progress in ankylosing spondylitis.
Diabetes & Endocrinology
Addison's disease: adrenal insufficiency
Fatigue, skin pigmentation, hypotension: clues to suspect Addison's.
Diabetes & Endocrinology
An underactive thyroid: symptoms that are easy to miss
Why hypothyroidism is often mistaken for stress or ageing, and how it is confirmed.
Bones, Joints & Muscles
Low back pain: what to do in the first weeks
Most episodes improve within six weeks, and imaging early usually does more harm than good.
Bones, Joints & Muscles
Knee osteoarthritis: staying active without making it worse
Cartilage does not wear out from use; weak muscles and inactivity make pain worse.
Blood & Hematology
Iron deficiency: the most common cause of unexplained fatigue
Why treating low iron means finding out why it is low.
Nutrition
Caffeine: the right dose and the wrong hour
How much is safe, why afternoon coffee costs you deep sleep, and how to cut back painlessly.
Blood & Hematology
Sickle cell crises: understanding the pain and how to prevent it
How a vaso-occlusive crisis happens, the triggers to avoid, and treatments that reduce their frequency.
Conditions
Varicose veins and heavy legs: chronic venous insufficiency
Why leg veins bulge, which symptoms matter, and what really helps from stockings to modern procedures.
Pulmonology
Pulmonary embolism: when a clot reaches the lungs
Recognising the symptoms, understanding the tests, and knowing what treatment and follow-up involve.
Conditions
Peripheral artery disease: leg pain when you walk
Why calf pain appears after a fixed distance, how it is measured, and why walking is the best medicine.
Conditions
Heart valve disease: what a murmur really means
Aortic stenosis, mitral regurgitation and the rest, explained with symptoms, tests and repair options.
Conditions
Acute pericarditis: chest pain that eases when you lean forward
How to tell it from a heart attack, why the pain moves with position, and why treatment must be completed.
Digestive Health
Acute pancreatitis: sudden severe abdominal pain
The two main causes, why the pain goes through to the back, and what hospital treatment involves.
Digestive Health
Stomach and duodenal ulcers: the bacterium behind the pain
How Helicobacter pylori and anti-inflammatory painkillers create ulcers, and how eradication works.
Digestive Health
Appendicitis: the pain that moves to the right
How the pain typically migrates, why children and older adults are harder to diagnose, and what surgery involves.
Digestive Health
Hiatal hernia: when part of the stomach slides up
How the diaphragm opening enlarges, why symptoms overlap with reflux, and when surgery is justified.
Kidney & Urinary
Enlarged prostate: urinary symptoms after 50
Why the flow weakens, which symptoms need investigating, and the ladder of treatments.
Eye Health
Cataract: the lens that slowly clouds
Why it happens with age, the symptoms people mistake for needing new glasses, and what surgery involves.
Eye Health
Acute angle-closure glaucoma: a red painful eye emergency
How drainage suddenly blocks, the classic symptoms, and why laser treatment protects the other eye too.
Bones, Joints & Muscles
Sciatica and disc herniation: pain down the leg
How a disc presses on a nerve root, why most cases settle without surgery, and the red flags to know.
Fitness
Rotator cuff tendinopathy: shoulder pain when you lift your arm
Why the tendon degenerates rather than simply becoming inflamed, and why exercise beats rest.
Blood & Hematology
Vitamin B12 deficiency: fatigue with a neurological warning
Why deficiency develops silently, who is at risk, and why treatment must not be delayed.
Infectious Diseases
Malaria: fever after travel is an emergency
How the parasite cycles in the blood, why any fever after travel needs testing, and how to prevent it.
Infectious Diseases
Dengue: the fever with a dangerous second phase
How dengue differs from other travel fevers, why anti-inflammatory painkillers are forbidden, and how to prevent it.
Infectious Diseases
Typhoid fever: a slow fever from contaminated food and water
The stepwise fever, why diagnosis needs blood cultures, and treatment in an era of resistance.
Conditions
Behcet disease: recurrent mouth and genital ulcers
The cluster of symptoms that makes the diagnosis, and treatments that prevent serious complications.
Diabetes & Endocrinology
Hypoglycaemia: low blood sugar and how to correct it fast
Recognising the two phases of symptoms, the rule of 15, and what to do when someone cannot swallow.
Kids & Family Health
Fever in Children: What to Do, Step by Step
How to measure a fever correctly, comfort your child, and recognise the signs that need a doctor tonight.