Emphysema Glossary of Terms

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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Absorption: Uptake. In the biomedical sciences, absorption has diverse specific meanings.
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Accessory: Additional, extra, supplementary, subsidiary to the main thing. An accessory digestive organ is an organ that helps with digestion but is not part of the digestive tract. The accessory nerve is so-called because it receives an additional (accessory) root from the upper part of the spinal cord. An accessory placenta is an extra placenta separate from the main placenta.

Aging: The process of becoming older, a process that is genetically determined and environmentally modulated.
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Alpha-1: Short for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Alveolar: Pertaining to the alveoli, the tiny air sacs in the lungs. The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place in the alveoli which look like cells in a honeycomb.
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Alveoli: The plural of alveolus. The alveoli are tiny air sacs within the lungs where the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place.

Anticholinergic: The action of certain medications that inhibit the transmission of parasympathetic nerve impulses and thereby reduce spasms of smooth muscle (such as that, for example, in the bladder).

Asthma : A common disorder in which chronic inflammation of the bronchial tubes (bronchi) makes them swell, narrowing the airways. Asthma involves only the bronchial tubes and does not affect the air sacs ( alveoli ) or the lung tissue (the parenchyma of the lung) itself.
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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.

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is produced primarily by the contraction of the heart muscle. It's measurement is recorded by two numbers. The first (systolic pressure) is measured after the heart contracts and is highest. The second (diastolic pressure) is measured before the heart contracts and lowest. A blood pressure cuff is used to measure the pressure. Elevation of blood pressure is called "hypertension".

Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through the mouth or nose due to muscle contraction, and then exhaled due to muscle relaxation.

Bronchi: The large air tubes leading from the trachea to the lungs that convey air to and from the lungs. The bronchi have cartilage as part of their supporting wall structure. The trachea divides to form the right and left main bronchi which, in turn, divide to form the lobar , segmental, and finally the subsegmental bronchi.
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Bronchiectasis: Permanent dilatation (widening) of the bronchi (the large air tubes which begin at the bottom of the trachea and branch into the lungs ). Bronchiectasis can result in very serious illness including recurrent respiratory infections , a disabling cough, shortness of breath, and hemoptysis (coughing up blood).
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Bronchitis: Inflammation and swelling of the bronchi. Bronchitis can be acute or chronic.
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Capillaries: Capillaries are the smallest of blood vessels. They serve to distribute oxygenated blood from arteries to the tissues of the body and to feed deoxygenated blood from the tissues back into the veins. The capillaries are thus a central component in the circulatory system, essentially between the arteries and the veins. When pink areas of skin are compressed, this causes blanching because blood is pressed out of the capillaries. The blood is the fluid in the body that contains, among other elements, the red blood cells (erythrocytes) that carry the oxygen and give the blood its red color.

Capillary: One of the tiny blood vessels that connect the arterioles (the smallest divisions of the arteries) and the venules (the smallest divisions of the veins). The capillaries form a fine network in many parts of the body.
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Carbon dioxide: A gas which is the byproduct of cellular metabolism and which collects in the tissues, is cleared from the tissues by the blood within the veins, is carried by the hemoglobin in the red blood cells, and removed from the body via the lungs in the exhaled air. Abbreviated CO2.

CBC: A commonly used abbreviation in medicine that stands for complete blood count , a set values of the cellular (formed elements) of blood. These measurements are generally determined by specially designed machines that analyze the different components of blood in less than a minute.
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Cell: The basic structural and functional unit in people and all living things. Each cell is a small container of chemicals and water wrapped in a membrane .
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Chest: The area of the body located between the neck and the abdomen . The chest contains the lungs , the heart and part of the aorta . The walls of the chest are supported by the dorsal vertebrae , the ribs , and the sternum .
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Chest X-ray: Commonly used to detect abnormalities in the lungs, but can also detect abnormalities in the heart, aorta, and the bones of the thoracic area. Metallic objects, such as jewelry are removed from the chest and neck areas for a chest x-ray to avoid interference with x-ray penetration and improve accuracy of the interpretation.

Chronic: This important term in medicine comes from the Greek chronos, time and means lasting a long time.
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Chronic bronchitis: Defined clinically as a daily cough with production of sputum for 3 months, two years in a row.
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Circulatory: Having to do with the circulation, the movement of fluid in a regular or circuitous course. Although the adjective "circulatory" need not necessarily refer to the circulation of the blood, for all practical purposes today it does. A circulatory problem is taken usually to be a problem with the blood circulation, for example with heart failure.
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Circulatory system: The system that moves blood throughout the body. The circulatory system is composed of the heart, arteries, capillaries, and veins. This remarkable system transports oxygenated blood from the lungs and heart throughout the body via the arteries. The blood goes through the capillaries which are situated between the arteries and veins. And the blood that has been depleted of oxygen by the body is then returned to the lungs and heart via the veins.

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.

Connective tissue: A material made up of fibers forming a framework and support structure for body tissues and organs. Connective tissue surrounds many organs. Cartilage and bone are specialized forms of connective tissue. All connective tissue is derived from mesoderm, the middle germ cell layer in the embryo.

COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease . Any disorder that persistently obstructs bronchial airflow. COPD mainly involves two related diseases -- chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Both cause chronic obstruction of air flowing through the airways and in and out of the lungs. The obstruction is generally permanent and progresses (becomes worse) over time.
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Corticosteroid: Any of the steroid hormones made by the cortex (outer layer) of the adrenal gland. Cortisol is a corticosteroid.
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Curable: Amenable to a cure, capable of being cured, to being healed and made well. Most skin cancers, fortunately, are curable. From the word cure, from the Latin cura meaning care, concern or attention.

Cyanotic: Showing cyanosis (bluish discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes due to not enough oxygen in the blood). See: Cyanosis.

Dilate: To stretch or enlarge. It comes from the Latin verb "dilatare" meaning "to enlarge or expand."

Dyspnea: Difficult or labored breathing; shortness of breath.
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Ehlers-Danlos syndrome : A heritable disorder of connective tissue with easy bruising, joint hypermobility (loose joints), skin laxity, and weakness of tissues. There are a number of different types of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) which share the foregoing features but can be categorized into at least nine different types:
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Emphysema: 1) A lung condition featuring an abnormal accumulation of air in the lung's many tiny air sacs, a tissue called alveoli. As air continues to collect in these sacs, they become enlarged, and may break, or be damaged and form scar tissue. Emphysema is strongly associated with smoking cigarettes, a practice that causes lung irritation. It can also be associated with or worsened by repeated infection of the lungs, such as is seen in chronic bronchitis. The best response to the early warning signs of emphysema is prevention: stop smoking and get immediate treatment for incipient lung infections. Curing established emphysema is not yet possible. Because patients don't have an adequate amount of space in the lungs to breathe, they gasp for breath, and may not be able to obtain enough oxygen. Those with severe emphysema usually end up using an oxygen machine to breathe. In some cases, medication may be helpful to ease symptoms or to treat infection in already-damaged lungs.
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Enzymes: Proteins that act as a catalysts in mediating and speeding a specific chemical reaction .
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Essential: 1. Something that cannot be done without.
2. Required in the diet, because the body cannot make it. As in an essential amino acid or an essential fatty acid.
3. Idiopathic. As in essential hypertension. "Essential" is a hallowed term meaning "We don't know the cause."

Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including information about diseases in family members.
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Fever : Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degrees F. (37 degrees C.), in practice a person is usually not considered to have a significant fever until the temperature is above 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C.).
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Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic information.

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. It is positioned in the chest behind the sternum (breastbone; in front of the trachea, esophagus, and aorta; and above the diaphragm muscle that separates the chest and abdominal cavities. The normal heart is about the size of a closed fist, and weighs about 10.5 ounces. It is cone-shaped, with the point of the cone pointing down to the left. Two-thirds of the heart lies in the left side of the chest with the balance in the right chest.
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Heart muscle: A type of muscle with unique features only found in the heart. The heart muscle, or cardiac muscle, is medically called the myocardium ("myo-" being the prefix denoting muscle).

Hemoglobin: The oxygen-carrying pigment and predominant protein in the red blood cells . Hemoglobin forms an unstable, reversible bond with oxygen. In its oxygenated state it is called oxyhemoglobin and is bright red. In the reduced state it is called deoxyhemoglobin and is purple-blue.
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Hypertension: High blood pressure , defined as a repeatedly elevated blood pressure exceeding 140 over 90 mmHg -- a systolic pressure above 140 with a diastolic pressure above 90.
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Hypertrophy: Enlargement or overgrowth of an organ or part of the body due to the increased size of the constituent cells. Hypertrophy occurs in the biceps and heart because of increased work. Cardiac hypertrophy is recognizable microscopically by the increased size of the cells. The term hypertrophy is applied to the enlargement of the uterus during pregnancy. The term benign prostatic hypertrophy is a misnomer because the increased size of the prostate is due to hyperplasia, an increase in the number of cells.

Hyperventilation: Overbreathing. This can cause dizziness , lightheadedness , weakness, shortness of breath, a sense of unsteadiness, muscle spasms in the hands and feet, and tingling around the mouth and fingertips. All of these symptoms are the result of abnormally low levels of carbon dioxide in the blood caused by overbreathing.
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Immune: Protected against infection. The Latin immunis means free, exempt.

Infection: The growth of a parasitic organism within the body. (A parasitic organism is one that lives on or in another organism and draws its nourishment therefrom.) A person with an infection has another organism (a "germ") growing within him, drawing its nourishment from the person.
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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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Lung volume reduction surgery: See: Lung reduction surgery.

Lungs: The lungs are a pair of breathing organs located with the chest which remove carbon dioxide from and bring oxygen to the blood. There is a right and left lung.

Maintenance therapy: Treatment designed to help the original primary treatment succeed. Maintenance chemotherapy may be given to patients with cancer in remission to prevent a relapse.

Marfan syndrome: An inherited disorder of connective tissue characterized by abnormalities of the eyes, skeleton, and cardiovascular system.
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Medication: 1. A drug or medicine. 2. The administration of a drug or medicine. (Note that "medication" does not have the dangerous double meaning of "drug.")

Metabolism: The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within us (or any living organism). Metabolism consists both of anabolism and catabolism (the buildup and breakdown of substances, respectively). The term is commonly used to refer specifically to the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy.

Metered dose inhaler: See: Metered-dose inhaler.

Molecule: The smallest unit of a substance that can exist alone and retain the character of that substance.

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. There are three types of muscle in the body. Muscle which is responsible for moving extremities and external areas of the body is called "skeletal muscle." Heart muscle is called "cardiac muscle." Muscle that is in the walls of arteries and bowel is called "smooth muscle."

Nebulizer: A device for administering a medication by spraying a fine mist into the nose. Also known as an atomizer.
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Obstruction: Blockage of a passageway. See, for example: Airway obstruction; Intestinal obstruction.

Onset: In medicine, the first appearance of the signs or symptoms of an illness as, for example, the onset of rheumatoid arthritis . There is always an onset to a disease but never to the return to good health. The default setting is good health.
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Oxygen: A colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that makes up about 20% of the air we breathe (and at least half the weight of the entire solid crust of the earth) and which combines with most of the other elements to form oxides. Oxygen is essential to human, animal and plant life.
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Ozone: A form of oxygen that consists of three atoms of oxygen, in contrast to normal atmospheric oxygen which consists of two atoms of oxygen. Ozone is an important greenhouse gas found in both the stratosphere and the troposphere. Ozone has effects beyond acting as a greenhouse gas. In the stratosphere, ozone provides a protective layer shielding the Earth from ultraviolet radiation and subsequent harmful health effect on humans and the environment. In the troposphere, oxygen molecules in ozone combine with other chemicals and gases (oxidization) to cause smog.
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Pneumocystis: Pneumocystis jiroveci (previously classified as Pneumocystis carinii), the fungus that causes pneumocystis pneumonia ( PCP ). Pneumocystis jiroveci is found worldwide, in humans and animals. Serologic evidence indicates that most healthy children have been exposed to it by age 3 to 4. Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) occurs in immunosuppressed individuals and in premature, malnourished infants.
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Pneumocystis carinii: Now called Pneumocystis jiroveci. See: Pneumocystis.

Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs with consolidation. Pneumonia is frequently but not always due to infection. The infection may be bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic. Symptoms may include fever, chills, cough with sputum production, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

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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Pulmonary: Having to do with the lungs. (The word comes from the Latin pulmo for lung).

Pulmonary hypertension : High blood pressure in the pulmonary artery that conveys blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. The pressure in the pulmonary artery is normally low compared to that in the aorta . Pulmonary hypertension can irrevocably damage the lungs and cause failure of the right ventricle.
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Pulse: The rhythmic contraction and expansion of an artery due to the surge of blood from the beat of the heart. The pulse is most often measured by feeling the arteries of the wrist. There is also a pulse, although far weaker, in veins.

Quality of life: An important consideration in medical care, quality of life refers to the patient's ability to enjoy normal life activities. Some medical treatments can seriously impair quality of life without providing appreciable benefit, while others greatly enhance quality of life.

Radiology: The branch of medicine that uses ionizing and nonionizing radiation for the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
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Red blood cell: The blood cell that carries oxygen. Red cells contain hemoglobin and it is the hemoglobin which permits them to transport oxygen (and carbon dioxide). Hemoglobin, aside from being a transport molecule, is a pigment. It gives the cell its red color (and name).
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Red blood cells: The blood cells that carry oxygen. Red cells contain hemoglobin and it is the hemoglobin which permits them to transport oxygen (and carbon dioxide). Hemoglobin, aside from being a transport molecule, is a pigment. It gives the cells their red color (and their name).
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Rehabilitation: The process of restoration of skills by a person who has had an illness or injury so as to regain maximum self-sufficiency and function in a normal or as near normal manner as possible. For example, rehabilitation after a stroke may help the patient walk again and speak clearly again.
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Respiratory: Having to do with respiration, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. From the Latin re- (again) + spirare (to breathe) = to breathe again.

Respiratory rate: The number of breaths per minute or, more formally, the number of movements indicative of inspiration and expiration per unit time. In practice, the respiratory rate is usually determined by counting the number of times the chest rises or falls per minute. By whatever means, the aim is to determine if the respirations are normal, abnormally fast (tachypnea), abnormally slow (bradypnea), or nonexistent (apnea).

Rest: 1. Repose. Relaxation.
2. A fragment of embryonic tissue that has been retained after the period of embryonic development. Also called an embryonic rest.

Rib: One of the 12 paired arches of bone which form the skeletal structure of the chest wall (the rib cage). The ribs attach to the building blocks of the spine (vertebrae) in the back. The 12 pairs of ribs consist of:

• True ribs: The first seven ribs attach to the sternum (the breast bone) in the front and are known as true ribs (or sternal ribs).
• False ribs: The lower five ribs do not directly connect to the sternum and are known as false ribs.

Secondhand smoke: Also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). See: ETS.

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.

Skin color: The color of skin which is complexly determined. Skin color depends on many factors including reddening caused by inflammation , the hemoglobin level in the blood, and the darkening caused by increased deposition of the pigment melanin . Melanin itself is a polymer that comes in two types -- a red-yellow form known as pheomelanin and a black-brown form known as eumelanin.
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Sputum: The mucus and other matter brought up from the lungs, bronchi, and trachea that one may cough up and spit out or swallow. The word "sputum" is borrowed directly from the Latin "to spit." Called also expectoration.

Steroid: A general class of chemical substances that are structurally related to one another and share the same chemical skeleton (a tetracyclic cyclopenta[a]phenanthrene skeleton).
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Surgery: The word "surgery" has multiple meanings. It is the branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions which require or are amenable to operative procedures. Surgery is the work done by a surgeon. By analogy, the work of an editor wielding his pen as a scalpel is s form of surgery. A surgery in England (and some other countries) is a physician's or dentist's office.
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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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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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Therapy: The treatment of disease .
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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.

Trachea: A tube-like portion of the breathing or "respiratory" tract that connects the "voice box" (larynx) with the bronchial parts of the lungs.

Tubes: The "tubes" are medically known as the Fallopian tubes. There are two Fallopian tubes, one on each side, which transport the egg from the ovary to the uterus (the womb). The Fallopian tubes have small hair-like projections called cilia on the cells of the lining.
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Wheezing: A whistling noise in the chest during breathing when the airways are narrowed or compressed.

X-ray: 1. High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light. X-rays possess the properties of penetrating most substances (to varying extents), of acting on a photographic film or plate (permitting radiography), and of causing a fluorescent screen to give off light (permitting fluoroscopy). In low doses X-rays are used for making images that help to diagnose disease, and in high doses to treat cancer . Formerly called a Roentgen ray. 2. An image obtained by means of X-rays.
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From the Doctors at MedicineNet.com

ipratropium bromide inhaler, Atrovent - Source:MedicineNet Complete Blood Count - A complete blood count (CBC) is a calculation of the cellular makeup of blood. A CBC measures the concentration of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets in the blood. Source:MedicineNet Chest X-ray - A chest x-ray is a radiology test that involves exposing the chest briefly to radiation to produce an image of the chest and the internal organs of the chest. chest x-ray can be used to define abnormalities of the lungs such as excessive fluid, pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma, cysts, and cancers. Source:MedicineNet Read 40 more Emphysema related articles ... Quit Smoking: Death Risk Drops Fast Report: Polluted Air Puts Millions at Risk Acne Drug Prevents Tissue Damage From Emphysema Common Genetic Variant Tied to Lung Cancer Risk Young Pop Star's Emphysema Startles Experts