Bitcoin Core relies on several databases to function:

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blocks/ folder: Contains the raw blockchain data (blk*.dat files) – the actual historical record of all Bitcoin transactions.
chainstate/ folder: This is a LevelDB database that stores the Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) set. This database is critical for fast transaction validation, as it tracks all spendable bitcoins.
indexes/ folder (optional): Contains other databases if features like transaction indexing (txindex) are enabled.
When "corruption" is detected, it means one or more of these files are damaged, unreadable, or contain inconsistencies that violate Bitcoin's rules.

Common Causes:
Improper Shutdown: This is the most frequent cause. If Bitcoin Core is not shut down gracefully (e.g., power outage, system crash, force-quitting the application, operating system update/restart without proper shutdown), database files being written at that moment can become corrupted.
Disk Corruption or Failure: Bad sectors on your clinics email list hard drive or SSD, or a failing drive, can lead to data being written incorrectly or becoming unreadable.
Memory (RAM) Issues: Faulty RAM can cause data corruption as it's being processed or written to disk, leading to database inconsistencies.
File System Errors: Problems with your operating system's file system can prevent Bitcoin Core from properly reading or writing to its data directory.