Conditions

Sjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system turns on the body's own fluid-making glands, chiefly the tear glands and the salivary…

A skin abscess is a closed pocket of pus that forms in the tissues in response to infection.

A skin cyst is a closed cavity beneath the skin filled with keratin, a soft substance with an unpleasant smell.

Skin tags are small soft growths of skin hanging from a narrow stalk. They are entirely benign, very common from middle age onwards and not contagious.

Slapped cheek syndrome is caused by parvovirus B19, and it is known mostly by the way it looks: a child with vividly red cheeks, as though someone had struck…

Sleep apnoea means the breathing repeatedly stops while you are asleep. The soft tissues of the throat collapse as you breathe in, the airflow stops, the…

Sleep paralysis is the sensation of being awake but unable to move or speak, lasting from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.

Sleepwalking means getting out of bed and doing things while still asleep, with no memory of it the next morning.

Between the vertebrae sit the discs, springy pads that absorb the load with every step. When the tough outer ring of a disc tears, the soft core bulges…

There is a great deal of folk wisdom about snake bites, and almost all of it is wrong. Suck out the venom, cut the wound open, strap a tourniquet round the…