This is a test (done in hospital) where they inject a dye into the blood vessels to see if any (like the heart or leg arteries) are obstructed.  For instance, a coronary angiogram checks the coronaries (blood vessels which supply the heart).  If they are, all sorts of things can be done to widen them like stenting (inserting a bit of tubing to keep them open).

In asthma, the lungs become tight – but this tightness is reversible (especially with inhalers).  Please remember, asthma kills – a lot of people forget that.  This is the reason why they should carry inhalers with them all the time.  You can never predict when a life threatening attack is every going to happen – even in the most mildest of asthmatics!

We get particularly worried about brittle asthma – where the asthma goes off so frequently in an individual.  We get worried because one of those attacks could end up being life-threatening!

Atrial fibrillation is a specific condition where the heart pumps erratically and not regularly and steadily like it should do. We get worried because the long in the long run clots can form giving rise to a stroke to a heart attack. So we put these people on blood thinning drugs to stop these clots from forming. Atrial fibrillation gets more common as you get older. Doctors often use the letters AF to refer to it because it is a bit of a mouthful. And it can only be properly diagnosed by doing an ECG heart test (the ones the nurses do with all those wise)

The aorta is the biggest blood vessel in your body.   It runs all the way from your heart, back down the back wall of your chest (the thorax) and down the back of your belly (the abdomen).   It measures about 2.5 cm in diameter.  If it is 5cm or more, we worry about an aneurysm – which is basically weak walls in the aorta – the danger is that they can “burst” at any time and be fatal.   So, they usually need an urgent ultrasound scan to assess whether they have an aneurysm or not.  

• These are three types of skin cancers.   
• The first – BCC – is very slow growing, so although it needs treatment, it is not usually a super urgent thing. 
• The second – SCC – is a worrying cancer and needs urgent treatment because it can spread.
• The final one – melanoma – is the most deadliest and needs super urgent referral because it spreads quickly and can end a life within 6 months!

• If the letter is about a cancer, look in the medical record and see if it has been coded.
• If it has NOT – then Code it.
• If it is a new cancer diagnosis, ring the patient and make an appointment for them to see a GP within 2 weeks.
• Add them to our cancer register.

Smokers often get a condition where the lungs get stiff and are not very elastic anymore. That means that air doesn’t go in and out very easily. This is called COPD, short for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Over the years it has had lots of different names. Others include COAD – Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease and some of you will even remember the term emphysema.

Coronary Heart disease (CHD) is anything to do with the heart. For example, a heart attack, which is medically referred to as a Myocardial Infarct or MI for short.  Other examples include angina, or acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Interestingly myocardial infarcts are sometimes referred to as an STEMI and NSTEMI (the ST/NST stands for ST/NonST segment elevation, but you don’t have to worry too much about that).

• DEXA scans are basically scans which measure how strong your bones are.
• In older life, people often become OSTEOPOROTIC  (in other words, they have weak bones).
• But younger people can get this too, especially if they are on things like steroids or suffer from conditions like anorexia.
• The T and Z scores tell you how bad it is.
• Do not confuse this with OSTEOARTHRITIS (which is wearing of the joints).
• So, if you get a DEXA scan – if normal = FILE.   If “YOUR PATIENT IS OSTEOPOROTIC” >>> send to the pharmacist, who will decide what needs doing or not.

Diabetes is a condition where the body cannot control the sugar levels in the blood very well. But it is important for the body to control the level of sugar running around in your body at any one time – too much or too little can be dangerous. In normal people it is the hormone insulin which controls the amount of sugar running around. In diabetics this insulin system doesn’t work very well. 

In some diabetics just simply controlling the amount of sugar they get from food is enough – so they go on a diabetic low sugar diet. Others need tablets like metformin but others will need something stronger like Insulin in the form of injections. In general, those that are controlled by insulin injections are called Type 1 diabetics. All the other types are called Type 2.   Although sometimes, it is not as clear as that.

This is basically surgery on the sinuses.

Heart failure sounds worse than what it is. Basically it means that the heart is not pumping as well as it should and that means blood doesn’t flow around the body very well and ends up making people short of breath the ankle swelling and so on. It has lots of different names because there are different types of heart failure. Most doctors use the word Congestive Heart Failure (CHF for short) or Congestive Cardiac Failure (CCF). Another type is LVF – which is short for Left Ventricular Failure. Different people have different degrees of heart failure and we doctors use something called the NYHA classification to work out how bad it is. NYHA stands for New York Heart Association.  A lot of elderly people have Heart Failure.  It is not uncommon, although it is troublesome because it causes significant shortness of breath and swollen painful ankles.

This is a term used by doctors to describe something picked up by chance.  It does not say how serious that thing that has been picked up is.

This terminology is often used by doctors when talking about back problems.  L1, 2, 3 and S4 and S5 are different levels of the spine.  Each building block of the spine has a corresponding number.

A term used by urologists to describe symptoms in men and women when peeing.

When a clot goes to the brain, it stops blood getting through and a part of the brain dies. This is called a stroke. Depending what area of the brain is shut off, the patient will often have varying degrees of speech difficulty and be paralysed down one side of the body. If the clot is dissolved quickly, then once the blood is restored to the brain, sometimes there is no damage and the brain fully recovers.  That’s why it is important to get all suspected strokes to hospital within 4 hours.

So, if a patient has stroke-like symptoms that fully recover within 24 hours, it is not a stroke but something called a TIA or Transient Ischemic Attack. If they have symptoms that are more permanent then it is likely the person has had a proper stroke. In summary, a TIA is like a mini-stroke where it recovers. And a stroke is the proper full blown thing. 

TIAs are also worrying because although the person fully recovers, they can indicate a full-blown stroke might be on its way if nothing is done. By the way, a stroke is often referred to by medics as a cerebral vascular accident or CVA for short.

A fancy name for a simple faint; not serious.