Antiphospholipid Syndrome Glossary of Terms

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Abnormal: Not normal. Deviating from the usual structure, position, condition, or behavior. In referring to a growth, abnormal may mean that it is cancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer ).
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Annexin V: Annexin V is the cause of a syndrome called the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome with abnormal blood clotting.
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Antibody: An immunoglobulin, a specialized immune protein , produced because of the introduction of an antigen into the body, and which possesses the remarkable ability to combine with the very antigen that triggered its production.
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Anticoagulant: Any agent used to prevent the formation of blood clots.
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Aspirin: A good example of a tradename that entered into the language, Aspirin was once the Bayer trademark for acetylsalicylic acid .
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Atypical: Not typical, not usual, not normal, abnormal. Atypical is often used to refer to the appearance of precancerous or cancerous cells.

Bacterial: Of or pertaining to bacteria. For example, a bacterial lung infection.

Blood: The familiar red fluid in the body that contains white and red blood cells, platelets, proteins, and other elements. The blood is transported throughout the body by the circulatory system. Blood functions in two directions: arterial and venous. Arterial blood is the means by which oxygen and nutrients are transported to tissues while venous blood is the means by which carbon dioxide and metabolic by-products are transported to the lungs and kidneys, respectively, for removal from the body.

Brain: That part of the central nervous system that is located within the cranium ( skull ). The brain functions as the primary receiver, organizer and distributor of information for the body. It has two (right and left) halves called "hemispheres."
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Cocaine: The most potent stimulant of natural origin, a bitter addictive anesthetic (pain blocker) which is extracted from the leaves of the coca scrub (Erythroxylon coca) indigenous to the Andean highlands of South America.
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Condition: The term "condition" has a number of biomedical meanings including the following:

1. An unhealthy state, such as in "this is a progressive condition."
2. A state of fitness, such as "getting into condition."
3. Something that is essential to the occurrence of something else; essentially a "precondition."
4. As a verb: to cause a change in something so that a response that was previously associated with a certain stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus; to condition a person, as in behavioral conditioning.

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease ; the identification of an illness. 2 A conclusion or decision reached by diagnosis. The diagnosis is rabies . 3 The identification of any problem. The diagnosis was a plugged IV.
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Disease: Illness or sickness often characterized by typical patient problems (symptoms) and physical findings (signs). Disruption sequence: The events that occur when a fetus that is developing normally is subjected to a destructive agent such as the rubella (German measles) virus.

Gamma globulin: A major class of immunoglobulins found in the blood, including many of the most common antibodies circulating in the blood. Also called immunoglobulin G (IgG).

Heparin: An anticoagulant (anti-clotting) medication. Heparin is useful in preventing thromboembolic complications (clots that travel from their site of origin through the blood stream to clog up another vessel). Heparin is also used in the early treatment of blood clots in the lungs (pulmonary embolisms).

Hepatitis: Inflammation of the liver from any cause.
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HIV: Acronym for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus , the cause of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). HIV has also been called the human lymphotropic virus type III, the lymphadenopathy-associated virus and the lymphadenopathy virus . No matter what name is applied, it is a retrovirus. (A retrovirus has an RNA genome and a reverse transcriptase enzyme. Using the reverse transcriptase , the virus uses its RNA as a template for making complementary DNA which can integrate into the DNA of the host organism).
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Immune: Protected against infection. The Latin immunis means free, exempt.

Infarction: The formation of an infarct, an area of tissue death due to a local lack of oxygen.
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Inflammation: A basic way in which the body reacts to infection , irritation or other injury, the key feature being redness, warmth, swelling and pain . Inflammation is now recognized as a type of nonspecific immune response .
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Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures and preparing chemicals, etc. Although "laboratory" looks very like the Latin "laboratorium" (a place to labor, a work place), the word "laboratory" came from the Latin "elaborare" (to work out, as a problem, and with great pains), as evidenced by the Old English spelling "elaboratory" designating "a place where learned effort was applied to the solution of scientific problems."
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Livedo reticularis: A mottled purplish discoloration of the skin.
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Lupus: A chronic inflammatory condition caused by an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease occurs when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system. Patients with lupus have unusual antibodies in their blood that are targeted against their own body tissues.
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Malaria : An infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites from the Plasmodium family that can be transmitted by the sting of the Anopheles mosquito or by a contaminated needle or transfusion. Falciparum malaria is the most deadly type.
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Memory: 1. The ability to recover information about past events or knowledge. 2. The process of recovering information about past events or knowledge. 3. Cognitive reconstruction. The brain engages in a remarkable reshuffling process in an attempt to extract what is general and what is particular about each passing moment.
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Migraine: Usually, periodic attacks of headaches on one or both sides of the head. These may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity of the eyes to light (photophobia), increased sensitivity to sound (phonophobia), dizziness , blurred vision, cognitive disturbances, and other symptoms. Some migraines do not include headache, and migraines may or may not be preceded by an aura.
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Miscarriage: Inadvertent loss of a pregnancy before the fetus is viable. A considerable proportion of pregnancies end in a miscarriage. Also called a spontaneous abortion.

Multiple sclerosis : Abbreviated MS. A disease of the central nervous system (CNS) marked by numbness, weakness, loss of muscle coordination, and problems with vision, speech, and bladder control. MS is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks myelin, a key substance that serves as a nerve insulator and helps in the transmission of nerve signals. The progress, severity and specific symptoms in MS are unpredictable. One never knows when attacks will occur, how long they will last, or how severe they will be. Most people with MS are between the ages of 20 and 40 at the time of diagnosis. The term "multiple" refers to the multiple places in the CNS that are affected and to the multiple relapses and remissions characteristic of MS.
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Myelitis: Inflammation of the spinal cord.
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Organ: A relatively independent part of the body that carries out one or more special functions. The organs of the human body include the eye, ear, heart, lungs, and liver.

Parasite: An organism that lives in or on and takes its nourishment from another organism. A parasite cannot live independently.
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Phlebitis: Inflammation of a vein. With phlebitis, there is infiltration of the walls of the vein and, usually, the formation of a clot (thrombus) in the vein (thrombophlebitis). Phlebitis in a leg, for example, will cause the leg to swell with edema fluid and feel stiff and painful.

Platelet: An irregular, disc-shaped element in the blood that assists in blood clotting. During normal blood clotting, the platelets clump together (aggregate). Although platelets are often classed as blood cells, they are actually fragments of large bone marrow cells called megakaryocytes.

Pregnancy: The state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body. This condition can be indicated by positive results on an over-the-counter urine test, and confirmed through a blood test, ultrasound, detection of fetal heartbeat, or an X-ray. Pregnancy lasts for about nine months, measured from the date of the woman's last menstrual period (LMP). It is conventionally divided into three trimesters, each roughly three months long.
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Premature birth: A birth that takes place before 37 weeks of gestation have passed. Historically, the definition of prematurity was 2500 grams (about 5 1/2 pounds) or less at birth. The current World Health Organization definition of prematurity is a baby born before 37 weeks of gestation, counting from the first day of the Last Menstrual Period (the LMP ).
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Progressive: Increasing in scope or severity. Advancing. Going forward. In medicine, a disease that is progressive is going from bad to worse.
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Protein: A large molecule composed of one or more chains of amino acids in a specific order determined by the base sequence of nucleotides in the DNA coding for the protein.
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Quinine: The original antimalarial agent, quinine took its name from the Peruvian Indian word "kina" meaning "bark of the tree" referring to the cinchona tree. From this tree, quinine was first obtained. The Peruvian Indians called it "the fever tree."
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Sclerosis: Localized hardening of skin.

Skin: The skin is the body's outer covering. It protects us against heat and light, injury, and infection. It regulates body temperature and stores water, fat, and vitamin D. Weighing about 6 pounds, the skin is the body's largest organ. It is made up of two main layers; the outer epidermis and the inner dermis.

Spinal cord: The major column of nerve tissue that is connected to the brain and lies within the vertebral canal and from which the spinal nerves emerge. Thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves originate in the spinal cord: 8 cervical , 12 thoracic , 5 lumbar, 5 sacral, and 1 coccygeal. The spinal cord and the brain constitute the central nervous system ( CNS ). The spinal cord consists of nerve fibers that transmit impulses to and from the brain. Like the brain, the spinal cord is covered by three connective-tissue envelopes called the meninges . The space between the outer and middle envelopes is filled with cerebrospinal fluid ( CSF ), a clear colorless fluid that cushions the spinal cord against jarring shock. Also known simply as the cord.
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Stroke : The sudden death of some brain cells due to a lack of oxygen when the blood flow to the brain is impaired by blockage or rupture of an artery to the brain. A stroke is also called a cerebrovascular accident or, for short, a CVA.
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Syndrome: A set of signs and symptoms that tend to occur together and which reflect the presence of a particular disease or an increased chance of developing a particular disease.
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Syphilis: A sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum, a microscopic organism called a spirochete. This worm-like, spiral-shaped organism infects people by burrowing into the moist mucous membranes of the mouth or genitals. From there, the spirochete produces a non-painful ulcer known as a chancre. There are three stages of syphilis:
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Systemic: Affecting the entire body. A systemic disease such as diabetes can affect the whole body. Systemic chemotherapy employs drugs that travel through the bloodstream and reach and affect cells all over the body.
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Systemic lupus erythematosus : A chronic inflammatory condition caused by an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease occurs when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system. Patients with lupus have unusual antibodies in their blood that are targeted against their own body tissues.
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Thrombosis: The formation or presence of a blood clot in a blood vessel. The vessel may be any vein or artery as, for example, in a deep vein thrombosis or a coronary (artery) thrombosis. The clot itself is termed a thrombus. If the clot breaks loose and travels through the bloodstream, it is a thromboembolism. Thrombosis, thrombus, and the prefix thrombo- all come from the Greek thrombos meaning a lump or clump, or a curd or clot of milk. See entries also to: Cavernous sinus thrombosis; Renal vein thrombosis. And see: Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism.

Tissue: A tissue in medicine is not like a piece of tissue paper. It is a broad term that is applied to any group of cells that perform specific functions. A tissue in medicine need not form a layer. Thus,

• The bone marrow is a tissue;
• Connective tissue consists of cells that make up fibers in the framework supporting other body tissues; and
• Lymphoid tissue is the part of the body's immune system that helps protect it from bacteria and other foreign entities.

Transverse: In anatomy, a horizontal plane passing through the standing body so that the transverse plane is parallel to the floor.
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Transverse myelitis: A disease of the spinal cord in which there is demyelination (erosion of the myelin sheath that normally protects nerve fibers). The onset of the disorder is typically sudden. Symptoms include back pain followed by ascending weakness in the legs. There is no cure. Many patients are left with permanent disabilities or paralysis . Transverse myelitis occurs alone and in combination with demyelination of other parts of the nervous system . It may be associated with multiple sclerosis .
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Viral: Of or pertaining to a virus. For example, "My daughter has a viral rash ."
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