Anosmia is a condition that describes failure of our sense of smell. Although there are many other conditions that can cause anosmia, it has become well-known since the pandemic started, as it was classified as one of three typical symptoms of COVID-19 before people were vaccinated. Loss of sense of smell occurs during the acute COVID illness but can last long after you have since recovered. Your ability to smell is closely linked to your taste buds so it can make your food taste bland or alter your smell so that things either don’t smell of anything or smell very different. You may detect a charred or burning smell which can have an effect on your appetite. You may only be able to smell or taste a little – partial anosmia – or you may find certain smells or tastes unpleasant. You may experience a bad smell all the time, like smelling smoke or gasoline, even if it’s not present.

Essential tremor occurs when parts of your body begin to shake against your control, usually the hands, though the head or voice may be affected. This is the "tremor" part – the "essential" part basically means this is not linked to a serious disease or any medical condition such as Parkinson's disease. It's a neurological condition that occurs out of the blue and begins with signals in the brain leading to the nervous system. Essential tremors usually affect both hands from the beginning and become more pronounced with movement. With the hand, it's more obvious when you carry out simple tasks like carrying a drink or writing something down. They typically get worse over time, and for some people, it can really affect their day-to-day activities. Essential tremors can be caused by a genetic mutation and can be inherited from one of your parents. It's more common in those over the age of 40. Stress and tiredness can make the symptoms worse, and alcohol can improve things (use this more as a diagnostic tool than a treatment). Many people worry about Parkinson's disease, but they are very different diseases with different outcomes. Essential tremor is much more common than Parkinson's disease, there's usually a family history, and it typically starts around the age of 40, rather than in the 60s like Parkinson's.

Failure to thrive describes when a child is not growing or developing as they should. It is commonly diagnosed in babies and toddlers when they haven’t met the height or weight we would expect for their age compared to the national average. It’s more of a symptom than a condition and requires a bit of investigation to determine the underlying reason.

A faint means a momentary loss of consciousness and is often referred to as a blackout. Doctors sometimes call it syncope or a vasovagal attack and it’s very common, affecting up to 40% of people at least once in their lives. It usually first happens before the age of 40 (usually in the teens) and typically doesn’t have a serious cause although if it occurs for the first time after middle-age it can be a sign of an underlying health problem.

A febrile seizure (sometimes called a febrile convulsion or febrile fit) happens when some babies and toddlers have a high temperature (a fever). It can be alarming and scary to see, but it's usually harmless and most children make a complete recovery. It’s best to get your child checked out the first time this happens, so take them to the nearest hospital or call an ambulance if your child is having a seizure. Children aged between 6 months and 3 years are most commonly affected and around 1 in 20 of children have a febrile seizure before the age of 6 months. It doesn’t affect every child, but once they’ve had one febrile convulsion, they have a higher chance of having a seizure with the next feverish illness – the chance is about 1 in 3. They are rare under the age of 3 months and after the age of 6 years.

Generalized seizures are a common type of seizure in which abnormal electrical impulses affect the whole brain, temporarily preventing it from carrying out its usual function. These are different from another type of seizure known as focal (or partial) seizures where only a part of the brain is affected. Symptoms of generalized seizures can vary, and may cause someone to lose consciousness, their bodies and limbs may become rigid and they may have jerking movements. Afterwards, they may feel very sleepy and take some time to regain their full level of consciousness. Epilepsy is the most common condition causing seizures – around 1% of the US population has it - and is diagnosed if you suffer persistent seizures and are likely to continue getting seizures. Anti-epileptic medication is available to reduce the chance of future seizures. There are 6 main types of generalized seizures: Absence: These mainly affect children (but can occur in adults) and cause the person to become unaware of their surroundings, sometimes looking as if they are staring into space or daydreaming. This typically lasts for 10-15 seconds and afterwards they have no memory of the event, which can happen several times a day. This means that things like school performance and tasks such as crossing the road can be affected. Myoclonic: This type of seizure often happens in the hours after waking, and causes the body and limbs to twitch for a few seconds. You remain awake the whole time if this occurs. Clonic: The symptoms here are the same as with myoclonic seizures but they last longer – for a minute or two – and you can lose consciousness with this type of seizure. Atonic: These are sudden and cause all the body muscles to instantly relax, meaning you can fall to the ground without warning. Tonic: In this type, unlike with atonic seizures, all the muscles of the body suddenly become very stiff. This means you can also fall to the ground suddenly as a result of losing your balance. Tonic-clonic:. This is the type of seizure that most people would call ‘an epileptic fit’ and has two stages. First, the body becomes very stiff, and this is followed by generalized twitching of the arms and legs, sometimes with incontinence of urine (wetting yourself). It causes you to become unconscious, and usually lasts a minute but sometimes longer. People may have warning signs that a seizure is about to happen and this is called an aura. This is because abnormal electrical activities can start in one part of the brain before spreading to the whole brain. If seizures last longer than 5 minutes this is a medical emergency and you need to call 911 for urgent medical attention. If this is a first seizure for someone, they should also get an ambulance to the hospital urgently.

A blackout or faint is a transient loss of consciousness, and you may feel sick, hot or cold and tingly just beforehand. You may get these symptoms and feel like the room is going black, but not fully lose consciousness. Most times, there are simple explanations for a blackout or faint, and there are no serious underlying causes. Occasionally, there can be a serious cause, and there are certain circumstances that doctors consider could be a sign that your heart is under stress.

Do you experience back pain when you sneeze? If so, it could be a sign of an underlying problem. In this guide, we’ll cover the causes, symptoms and treatments of back pain linked to sneezing - it happens more often than you may think! First of all though, let’s look at why we sometimes sneeze in the first place. What happens when we sneeze? Sneezing is normal. It’s one of our reflex (involuntary) actions that happens when our body wants to clear an irritant out of the nose or throat. These are things like pollen, smoke, viruses and dust that can irritate the sensitive lining of this part of your body which then causes a sneeze. Some people sneeze only once, while others can sneeze many times in succession. A sneeze is extremely powerful - sometimes reaching a force of over 100 miles per hour - and so it can sometimes put a lot of stress on our body. When we feel a sneeze about to happen, we breathe in deeply and this increases our abdominal pressure. When we sneeze, we suddenly release all that pressure quickly and violently, and this is when a health problem may occur.

You will likely know if you have a kidney stone. The stones are solid lumps, often with a high calcium content (think limescale clumps). They cause no problems when small or sitting in the kidney. But they cause excruciating pain if they get stuck moving from one of your kidneys, down a tube called the ureter, to your bladder. Most people describe the pain as sharp or cramping waves, causing them to double over until the spasm passes after a few seconds or minutes. This is when your ureter is blocked, but this muscular tube is trying to force the stone down by squeezing. You'll feel this from one side of your lower back, round to the front lower part of the abdomen. It sometimes radiates to the vagina, testicle, or tip of the penis. This is called loin-to-groin pain. Stones then have to move from the bladder via another tube, the urethra, and out in your urine. This may correspond to more painful spasms as the urethra contracts.

Nosebleeds are also known by their medical name, epistaxis, and are extremely common. In most cases, nosebleeds are not concerning and tend to stop on their own within a couple of minutes or with the help of self-administered first aid. The majority of nosebleeds are caused by damage to the lining of the inside of the nose due to picking it or minor damage when you blow your nose. Other causes of a nosebleed include suffering trauma to the nose or head, high blood pressure, poor blood clotting (this can be due to medication or medical conditions), or pregnancy, where changes in hormones lead to increased blood flow in the nose. Nosebleeds are also more common in young children and the elderly due to the lining of the nose being more fragile.

Seizures occur when the brain’s normal communication of electrical activity is interrupted. Seizures in children can occur for several reasons, and the first time they need to go to the emergency department for urgent assessment as to why they’ve had one. If no clear cause is found and they have two or more seizures, this is diagnosed as epilepsy.

Doctors talk about seizures, but the general public may use the terms seizures and fits interchangeably. Most people think of a seizure as when someone falls to the ground, and their body starts shaking and jerking uncontrollably. But seizures can be more subtle, affecting just one side of the body or one limb, or even repetitive finger or eye movements. There may be no visible signs, such as in an absence seizure when a person zones out for a few seconds or minutes without movements. Seizures all have in common a disruption to regular brain activity, and the person affected is unable to control a seizure, put it off, bring it on, or pull themselves out of one. Some occur in sleep, others while awake, and some may become unconscious during a seizure, which can cause a dangerous drop in oxygen levels. Some last momentarily, while others last longer. If you have two or more seizures more than 24 hours apart, this is considered to be epilepsy until proven otherwise. Any seizure which lasts longer than five minutes is a medical emergency and needs immediate medical attention. Medications are used to help control the symptoms as best as possible.