Four cardinal symptoms have sometimes been used as diagnostic criteria:

1. painful, fatty lipomas (benign fatty tumors) across anatomy

2. obesity, frequently in menopausal age

3. weakness and fatigue

4. emotional instability, depression, epilepsy, confusion, and dementia.

There are also potential signs of the disease which are identified as the following:

However, as it is unclear which symptoms are cardinal and which symptoms are minor signs in Dercum's disease, it is unclear which should be used as diagnostic criteria. Researchers have proposed a 'minimal definition' based on symptoms most often part of Dercum's disease: 1) Generalized overweight or obesity. 2) Chronic pain in the adipose tissue. The associated symptoms in Dercum's disease include obesity, fatty deposits, easy bruisability, sleep disturbances, impaired memory, depression, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, diabetes, bloating, constipation, fatigue, weakness and joint and muscle aches. Regarding the associated symptoms in Dercum's disease, only case reports have been published. No study involving medical examinations has been performed in a large group of patients.

Chronic conditions have often been used to describe the various health related states of the human body such as syndromes, physical impairments, disabilities as well as diseases. Epidemiologists have found interest in chronic conditions due to the fact they contribute to disease, disability, and diminished physical and/or mental capacity.

For example, high blood pressure or hypertension is considered to be not only a chronic condition itself but also correlated to diseases such as heart attack or stroke. Additionally, some socioeconomic factors may be considered as a chronic condition as they lead to disability in daily life. An important one that public health officials in the social science setting have begun highlighting is chronic poverty and racism.

The list below includes these chronic conditions and diseases:

In 2015 the World Health Organisation produced a report on non-communicable diseases, citing the four major types as:

- Cancers

- Cardiovascular diseases, including cerebrovascular disease, heart failure, and ischemic cardiopathy

- Chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

- Diabetes mellitus

Other examples of chronic diseases and health conditions include:

- Addiction

- Alzheimer's disease

- Atrial fibrillation

- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

- Autoimmune diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, lupus erythematosus, Crohn's disease, coeliac disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and relapsing polychondritis

- Bipolar disorder

- Blindness

- Cerebral palsy (all types)

- Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)

- Chronic hepatitis

- Chronic kidney disease

- Chronic osteoarticular diseases, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

- Chronic pain syndromes, such as post-vasectomy pain syndrome and complex regional pain syndrome

- Depression

- Deafness and hearing impairment

- Eating disorders

- Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (various types)

- Endometriosis

- Epilepsy

- Fibromyalgia

- HIV/AIDS

- Huntington's disease

- Hypertension

- Lyme disease

- Multiple sclerosis

- Myalgic encephalomyelitis ( chronic fatigue syndrome)

- Narcolepsy

- Obesity

- Osteoporosis

- Parkinson's disease

- Periodontal disease

- Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

- Sickle cell anemia and other hemoglobin disorders

- Sleep apnea

- Thyroid disease

- Tobacco Use and Related Conditions

Adiposis dolorosa, also known as Dercum's disease or Anders disease, is a rare condition characterized by generalized obesity and fatty tumors in the adipose tissue. The tumors are normally painful and found in multiples on the extremities. The cause and mechanism of Dercum's disease remains unknown. Possible causes include nervous system dysfunction, mechanical pressure on nerves, adipose tissue dysfunction, and trauma.

Dercum's disease was first described at Jefferson Medical College by neurologist Francis Xavier Dercum in 1892.

There are multiple symptoms that can help this disease to be diagnosed, this disease is marked by the presence of acanthocytes in blood (these acanthocytes can sometimes be absent or even make a late appearance in the course of the disease.) and neurodegeneration causing a choreiform movement disorder.

Another one of them would be that this disease should be considered in patients who have elevated levels of acanthocytes in a peripheral blood film.

The serum creatine kinase is often elevated in the body of the people who are affected by this disease.

People afflicted by this disease also experience a loss of neurons. Loss of neurons is a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases. Due to the generally non-regenerative nature of neuronal cells in the adult central nervous system, this results in an irreversible and fatal process of neurodegeneration. There is also the presence of several movement related disorders including chorea, dystonia and bradykinesia, one of the more incapacitating ones includes Truncal spasms.

Chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc, also called Choreoacanthocytosis), is a rare hereditary disease caused by a mutation of the gene that directs structural proteins in red blood cells. It belongs to a group of four diseases characterized under the name Neuroacanthocytosis. When a patient's blood is viewed under a microscope, some of the red blood cells appear thorny. These thorny cells are called acanthocytes.

Other effects of the disease may include epilepsy, behaviour changes, muscle degeneration, and neuronal degradation similar to Huntington's Disease. The average age of onset of symptoms is 35 years. The disease is incurable and inevitably leads to premature death.

Some more information about Chorea-acanthocytosis is that it is a very complex autosomal recessive adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder. It often shows itself as a mixed movement disorder, in which chorea, tics, dystonia and even parkinsonism may appear as a symptom.

This disease is also characterized by the presence of a few different movement disorders including chorea, dystonia etc.

Chorea-acanthocytosis is considered an autosomal recessive disorder, although a few cases with autosomal dominant inheritance have been noted.

A chronic condition is a human health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term "chronic" is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include arthritis, asthma, cancer, COPD, diabetes and some viral diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS.

In medicine, the opposite of chronic is acute. A chronic course is further distinguished from a recurrent course; recurrent diseases relapse repeatedly, with periods of remission in between.

The non-communicable diseases are also usually lasting medical conditions but are separated by their non-infectious causes. In contrast, some chronic diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, are caused by transmissible infections.

In the United States 25% of adults have at least two chronic conditions. Chronic diseases constitute a major cause of mortality, with the World Health Organization (WHO) attributing 38 million deaths a year to non-communicable diseases.

Symptoms include mental deterioration, language disorder, transient ischemic attack, muscle ataxia, and impaired movements including change of walk, slowness of movements, and change in posture. These symptoms usually coincide with multiple falls, epilepsy, fainting, and uncontrollable bladder.

Because Binswanger’s disease affects flow processing speed and causes impaired concentration, the ability to do everyday tasks such as managing finances, preparing a meal and driving may become very difficult.

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Disease mongering is a term for the practice of widening the diagnostic boundaries of illnesses and aggressively promoting their public awareness in order to expand the markets for treatment.

Among the entities benefiting from selling and delivering treatments are pharmaceutical companies, physicians, alternative practitioners and other professional or consumer organizations. It is distinct from the promulgation of bogus or unrecognised diagnoses.

The disease appears to be progressive in nature. The Fields twins started having problems when they were four years old. By the time they had reached the age of nine, they were having difficulty walking and needed frames to assist them with walking. Their muscles have been gradually deteriorating over time. The disease affects the twins' nerves, causing them to make involuntary muscle movements such as trembling in the hands.

The extent of the disease is still unknown as the two women are only 21. However, the disease has had no apparent effect on their brains or personalities. Doctors do not know if the disease is fatal and, if so, what the life expectancy of one with this disease is. If the cause of the disease is genetic, there is a chance that the twins could pass it on to their future children.

Although the dermatological changes are the most obvious symptoms of Urbach–Wiethe disease, many patients also have neurological symptoms. About 50–75% of the diagnosed cases of Urbach–Wiethe disease also show bilateral symmetrical calcifications on the medial temporal lobes. These calcifications often affect the amygdala and the periamygdaloid gyri. The amygdala is thought to be involved in processing biologically relevant stimuli and in emotional long term memory, particularly those associated with fear, and both PET and MRI scans have shown a correlation between amygdala activation and episodic memory for strongly emotional stimuli. Therefore, Urbach–Wiethe disease patients with calcifications and lesions in these regions may suffer impairments in these systems. These calcifications are the result of a buildup of calcium deposits in the blood vessels within this brain region. Over time, these vessels harden and the tissue they are a part of dies, causing lesions. The amount of calcification is often related to disease duration. The true prevalence of these calcifications is difficult to accurately state as not all patients undergo brain imaging. Some patients also exhibit epilepsy and neuropsychiatric abnormalities. Epilepsy symptoms could begin with light anxiety attacks and it can be controlled with "Epilum" (Epilepsy Medicine) Other patients present with symptoms similar to schizophrenia while some suffer from mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders.

VHL disease can be subdivided according to the clinical manifestations, although these groups often correlate with certain types of mutations present in the VHL gene.

Although symptoms can vary greatly between affected individuals, even those within the same family, symptoms normally begin in infancy and are typically a result of thickening skin and mucous membranes. The first symptom is often a weak cry or a hoarse voice due to a thickening of the vocal cords. The hoarse voice can be one of the most striking clinical manifestations of the disease. Lesions and scars also appear on the skin, usually the face and the distal parts of the limbs. This is often the result of poor wound healing and the scarring continues to increase as the patient ages, leaving the skin with a waxy appearance. Skin may be easily damaged as a result of only a minor trauma or injury, leaving many blisters and additional scars. The skin is also usually very dry and wrinkly. White or yellow infiltrates form on the lips, buccal mucosa, tonsils, uvula, epiglottis and frenulum of the tongue. This can lead to upper respiratory tract infection and sometimes requires tracheostomy to relieve the symptom. Too much thickening of the frenulum can restrict tongue movement and may result in speech impediments. Beading of the papules around the eyelids is a very common symptom and is often used as part of a diagnosis of the disease. Some other dermatological symptoms that are sometimes seen but less common include hair loss, parotitis and other dental abnormalities, corneal ulceration, and focal degeneration of the macula.

Males

In males the symptoms of Danon Disease are more severe. Features of Danon Disease in males are:

- An early age of onset of muscle weakness and heart disease (onset in childhood or adolescence)

- Some learning problems or intellectual disability can be present

- Muscle weakness can be severe and can affect endurance and the ability to walk

- Heart disease (cardiomyopathy) can be severe and can lead to a need for medications. It usually progress to heart failure, commonly complicated by atrial fibrillation and embolic strokes with severe neurological disability, leading to death unless heart transplant is performed.

- Cardiac conduction abnormalities can occur. Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is a common conduction pattern in Danon disease.

- Symptoms are usually gradually progressive

- Some individuals may have visual disturbances, and/or retinal pigment abnormalities

- Danon Disease is rare and unfamiliar to most physicians. It can be mistaken for other forms of heart disease and/or muscular dystrophies, including Pompe disease.

Females

In females the symptoms of Danon Disease are less severe. Common symptoms of Danon Disease in females are:

- A later age of onset of symptoms. Many females will not have obvious symptoms until late adolescence or even adulthood.

- Learning problems and intellectual disability are usually ABSENT

- Muscle weakness is often absent or subtle. Some females will tire easily with exercise

- Cardiomyopathy) is often absent in childhood. Some women will develop this in adulthood. Cardiomyopathy can be associated with atrial fibrillation and embolic strokes.

- Cardiac conduction abnormalities can occur. Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is a common conduction pattern in Danon disease.

- Symptoms in females progress more slowly than in males.

- Some females may have visual disturbances, and/or retinal pigment abnormalities

- Danon Disease is rare and unfamiliar to most physicians. The milder and more subtle symptoms in females can make it more difficult to diagnose females with Danon Disease

Early signs and symptoms of the disorder usually appear around ages 2–10, with gradual onset of vision problems, or seizures. Early signs may be subtle personality and behavior changes, slow learning or regression, repetitive speech or echolalia, clumsiness, or stumbling. Slowing head growth in the infantile form, poor circulation in lower extremities (legs and feet), decreased body fat and muscle mass, curvature of the spine, hyperventilation and/or breath-holding spells, teeth grinding, and constipation may occur.

Over time, affected children suffer mental impairment, worsening seizures, and progressive loss of sight, speech, and motor skills. Batten disease is a terminal disease; life expectancy varies depending on the type or variation.

Females with juvenile Batten disease show first symptoms a year later than males, but on average die a year sooner.

The main sign of metabolic syndrome is central obesity (also known as visceral, male-pattern or apple-shaped adiposity), overweight with adipose tissue accumulation particularly around the waist and trunk.

Other signs of metabolic syndrome include high blood pressure, decreased fasting serum HDL cholesterol, elevated fasting serum triglyceride level (VLDL triglyceride), impaired fasting glucose, insulin resistance, or prediabetes.

Associated conditions include hyperuricemia, fatty liver (especially in concurrent obesity) progressing to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome (in women), erectile dysfunction (in men), and acanthosis nigricans.

Vascular disease is a class of diseases of the blood vessels – the arteries and veins of the circulatory system of the body. It is a subgroup of cardiovascular disease. Disorders in this vast network of blood vessels, can cause a range of health problems which can be severe or prove fatal.

Fields' disease is considered to be one of the rarest known diseases in the world, with only two diagnosed cases in history. The frequency of this disease is therefore 1 in approximately 3.75 billion (although since the disease manifested in identical twins, the actual frequency is 1 in approximately 7.5 billion). It is named after Welsh twins Catherine and Kirstie Fields, of Llanelli. Fields' disease is a neuromuscular disease, causing muscular degeneration.

The disease was first noticed when the twins were around the age of four. Doctors have been unable to identify it and have not been able to match it to any known diseases. As a result, the Fields sisters have undergone numerous tests, but no treatment has yet been found. No definitive cause has been determined and doctors have generally concluded that they were born with it.

Signs and symptoms associated with VHL disease include headaches, problems with balance and walking, dizziness, weakness of the limbs, vision problems, and high blood pressure. Conditions associated with VHL disease include angiomatosis, hemangioblastomas, pheochromocytoma, renal cell carcinoma, pancreatic cysts (pancreatic serous cystadenoma), endolymphatic sac tumor, and bilateral papillary cystadenomas of the epididymis (men) or broad ligament of the uterus (women). Angiomatosis occurs in 37.2% of patients presenting with VHL disease and usually occurs in the retina. As a result, loss of vision is very common. However, other organs can be affected: strokes, heart attacks, and cardiovascular disease are common additional symptoms. Approximately 40% of VHL disease presents with CNS hemangioblastomas and they are present in around 60-80%. Spinal hemangioblastomas are found in 13-59% of VHL disease and are specific because 80% are found in VHL disease. Although all of these tumours are common in VHL disease, around half of cases present with only one tumour type.

Binswanger's disease, also known as subcortical leukoencephalopathy, is a form of small vessel vascular dementia caused by damage to the white brain matter. White matter atrophy can be caused by many circumstances including chronic hypertension as well as old age. This disease is characterized by loss of memory and intellectual function and by changes in mood. These changes encompass what are known as executive functions of the brain. It usually presents between 54 and 66 years of age, and the first symptoms are usually mental deterioration or stroke.

It was described by Otto Binswanger in 1894, and Alois Alzheimer first used the phrase "Binswanger's disease" in 1902. However, Olszewski is credited with much of the modern-day investigation of this disease which began in 1962.

Individuals with Refsum disease present with neurologic damage, cerebellar degeneration, and peripheral neuropathy. Onset is most commonly in childhood/adolescence with a progressive course, although periods of stagnation or remission occur. Symptoms also include ataxia, scaly skin (ichthyosis), difficulty hearing, and eye problems including retinitis pigmentosa, cataracts, and night blindness. In 80% of patients diagnosed with Refsum disease, sensorineural hearing loss has been reported. This is hearing loss as the result of damage to the inner ear or the nerve connected to ear to the brain.

The disease typically presents with joint pain, high fevers, a salmon-pink rash, enlargement of the liver and spleen, swollen lymph nodes, and an increased white blood cell count in the blood. Tests for rheumatoid factor and anti-nuclear antibodies are usually negative and serum ferritin is elevated. Patients experiencing a flare-up from Adult-onset Still's disease usually report extreme fatigue, swelling of the lymph nodes and, less commonly, fluid accumulation in the lungs and heart. In rare cases, AOSD can cause aseptic meningitis and sensorineural hearing loss.

Angiokeratomas (tiny, painless papules that can appear on any region of the body, but are predominant on the thighs, around the belly button, buttocks, lower abdomen, and groin) are common.

Anhidrosis (lack of sweating) is a common symptom, and less commonly hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).

Additionally, patients can exhibit Raynaud's disease-like symptoms with neuropathy (in particular, burning extremity pain).

Ocular involvement may be present showing cornea verticillata (also known as vortex keratopathy), i.e. clouding of the corneas. Keratopathy may be the presenting feature in asymptomatic patients, and must be differentiated from other causes of vortex keratopathy (e.g. drug deposition in the cornea). This clouding does not affect vision.

Other ocular findings can include conjunctival and retinal vascular abnormalities and anterior/posterior spoke-like cataract. Visual reduction from these manifestations is uncommon.

Danon disease (or glycogen storage disease Type IIb) is a metabolic disorder.Danon disease is an X-linked lysosomal and glycogen storage disorder associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, skeletal muscle weakness, and intellectual disability.

There are several types of vascular disease, (which is a subgroup of cardiovascular disease), the signs and symptoms depend on which type, among them are:

- Erythromelalgia - a rare peripheral vascular disease where syndromes includes burning pain, increased temperature, erythema and swelling, of mainly the hands and feet are affected.

- Peripheral artery disease – happens when atheromatous plaques build up in the arteries that supply blood to the arms and legs, plaque causes the arteries to narrow or become blocked.

- Renal artery stenosis - is the narrowing of renal arteries that carry blood to the kidneys from the aorta.

- Buerger's disease – is due to small blood vessels that inflame and swell, vessels then narrow or are blocked by blood clots.

- Raynaud's disease – a rare peripheral vascular disorder of constriction of the peripheral blood vessels, in the fingers and toes when the person is cold.

- Disseminated intravascular coagulation – a widespread activation of clotting in the smaller blood vessels.

- Cerebrovascular disease–a group of vascular diseases that affect brain function.

Kidney complications are a common and serious effect of the disease; kidney insufficiency and kidney failure may worsen throughout life. The presence of protein in the urine (which causes foamy urine) is often the first sign of kidney involvement. End-stage kidney failure in those with Fabry disease typically occurs in the third decade of life, and is a common cause of death due to the disease.