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The signs and symptoms of pneumonia can be mild or severe and may include a cough with phlegm (a slimy substance), fever, chills, and trouble breathing. Possible complications may include bacteremia, septic shock, lung abscesses, pleural effusions, empyema, pleurisy, renal failure, or respiratory failure.

Your doctor will diagnose pneumonia based on your medical history, a physical exam, and results from certain diagnostic tests such as a chest x ray, blood tests, or blood culture. Your doctor may recommend other tests—sputum test, chest computed tomography (CT) scan, pleural fluid culture, pulse oximetry, or bronchoscopy—if you're in the hospital, have serious symptoms, are older, or have other health problems.

Your doctor may diagnose COPD based on your signs and symptoms, your medical and family histories, and the results from diagnostic tests such as pulmonary function tests including spirometry and arterial blood gas tests, or chest x rays or chest computed tomography scans.

It is important to have regular blood pressure readings taken and to know your numbers, because high blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms until serious complications occur. Undiagnosed or uncontrolled high blood pressure can cause complications such as chronic kidney disease, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and possibly vascular dementia.

A blood and bone marrow transplant is currently the only cure for some patients who have sickle cell disease. The goal of treatment is health maintenance to prevent complications and medicines and treatments to manage complications, including chronic pain.

After you are diagnosed with vasculitis, it is important to follow your treatment plan. Your doctor may recommend additional follow-up care and medicines to avoid complications. If vasculitis responds to treatment, it may go into remission.

Mitral valve prolapse is a condition in which the flaps of the mitral valve are floppy, or prolapsed, which can prevent the seal from forming, which results in a backflow of blood in the left atrium as blood is pumped through the heart.

The most common cause of peripheral artery disease is atherosclerosis, which may develop when certain factors damage the inner layers of the arteries. The buildup of plaque can severely narrow or block arteries, which limits the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your organs and other parts of your body.

The chemicals in tobacco smoke harm your blood cells. Smoking can also damage the function of the heart and the structure and function of blood vessels, leading to atherosclerosis and its complications (coronary heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, arrhythmia, peripheral artery disease, and stroke).

A heart attack happens when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked and the heart can’t get oxygen. If you think you or someone else may be having heart attack symptoms or a heart attack, call 9–1–1 for emergency medical care.