Checklists

Gallstones: What To Do

Stones forming in the gallbladder, most of which never cause symptoms.

Gestational Diabetes: What To Do

High blood sugar that develops during pregnancy in someone who did not have diabetes before.

Getting a Referral and Prior Authorization: What To Do

The steps that may be needed before you see a specialist or have a test or treatment covered: a referral from your primary care doctor, approval from your insurer, and the Explanation of Benefits that follows.

Getting Help From a Pharmacy: What To Do

Community pharmacists, who can advise on medicines and minor illnesses and provide a range of services without an appointment.

Glaucoma: What To Do

Damage to the optic nerve, often associated with raised pressure inside the eye.

Gout: What To Do

Sudden severe joint inflammation caused by uric acid crystals, classically in the big toe.

Growth and Development: What To Do

Tracking a child's growth and developmental milestones over time.

Gum Disease: What To Do

Inflammation of the gums, from reversible gingivitis to bone-destroying periodontitis.

Gut Health and Immunity: What To Do

The relationship between the gut microbiome, the intestinal lining and immune regulation.

Hand Hygiene: What To Do

Removing germs from hands mechanically with soap and water, or chemically with alcohol-based sanitizer.

Having a Blood Test: What To Do

A sample taken from a vein, usually in the arm, for one of hundreds of different lab tests.

Having an MRI Scan: What To Do

A scan that uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to image soft tissue, with no X-rays involved.

Hay Fever and Pollen: What To Do

Seasonal allergic rhinitis caused by tree, grass or weed pollen.

Hay Fever: What To Do

Seasonal allergic rhinitis caused by pollen, with nose, eye and sometimes chest symptoms.

HbA1c: What To Do

A blood test, often called the A1C, reflecting average blood glucose over the preceding two to three months.

Head Injury: What To Do

Injury to the head, from a minor bump to significant trauma.

Health Literacy: What To Do

The ability to find, understand and act on health information.

Healthy Teen Relationships: What To Do

Dating and friendships built on respect, trust, honesty and the freedom to say no, and how to recognize when a relationship is unhealthy.

Hearing Aids: What To Do

Devices that amplify and shape sound to compensate for hearing loss.

Hearing and the Brain: What To Do

The relationship between untreated hearing loss and thinking, mood and social life.

Hearing Loss: What To Do

Reduced hearing, most commonly age-related or noise-induced.

Heart Attack Symptoms: What To Do

The warning signs of a myocardial infarction, including the ones that are not textbook.

Heart Failure: What To Do

A condition in which the heart cannot pump efficiently enough to meet the body's demands.

Heat and Medications: What To Do

How some medicines raise your risk of heat illness, and how heat can damage medicines themselves.

Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke: What To Do

Two heat-related illnesses: heat exhaustion, which is a warning sign, and heat stroke, which is a medical emergency.

Heavy Periods: What To Do

Menstrual bleeding heavy enough to interfere with physical, social or emotional quality of life.

Hemorrhoids: What To Do

Swollen blood vessels in and around the anus, sometimes called piles.

Hepatitis A: What To Do

A liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus, spread when tiny amounts of stool from an infected person get into food, water or onto hands.

Hepatitis B and C: What To Do

Viral infections of the liver that can persist for decades without symptoms.

High Platelet and White Cell Counts: What To Do

High counts on a complete blood count, most often a reaction to something else.

HIV: What To Do

A virus that damages the immune system, now a manageable long-term condition when treated.

Home Workouts: What To Do

Training with body weight and household objects, without a gym or equipment.

Hormonal Contraception and Health: What To Do

The wider health effects of hormonal birth control beyond preventing pregnancy.

Hormone Replacement Therapy: What To Do

Menopausal hormone therapy: replacing estrogen, with a progestin if you have a uterus, to treat menopausal symptoms.

Hormones and Mood: What To Do

The effect of hormonal change on mood across the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause.

Hospital Financial Assistance: What To Do

Charity care and discount programs that hospitals offer to reduce or cancel bills for patients with limited income.

House Dust Mite: What To Do

A microscopic creature living in bedding and soft furnishings, and a common allergen.

Household Chemicals: What To Do

Cleaning products, laundry products, drain openers and other chemicals commonly stored at home.

How Vaccines Work: What To Do

Training the immune system to recognize a germ without having to survive the disease first.

HPV Vaccine: What To Do

A vaccine that protects against the types of human papillomavirus most likely to cause cancer and genital warts.