Arthritis: Inflammation of a joint. When joints are inflamed they can develop stiffness, warmth, swelling, redness and pain. There are over 100 types of arthritis. (see osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, gout, pseudogout).
Asbestos: A natural material made up of tiny fibers which can lodge in the lungs and lead to cancer or scarring of the lungs. The cancer may be lung cancer or ( mesothelioma ), which is a cancer of the lining of the lungs or other internal organs. The scarring of the lungs is termed asbestosis . Exposure to asbestos usually occurs by breathing contaminated air in workplaces that make or use asbestos or in the air of buildings containing asbestos that are being torn down or renovated.
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Autoimmune: Pertaining to autoimmunity, a misdirected immune response that occurs when the immune system goes awry and attacks the body itself.
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Biopsy: The removal of a sample of tissue for purposes of diagnosis. (Many definitions of "biopsy" stipulate that the sample of tissue is removed for examination under a microscope. This may or may not be the case. The diagnosis may be achieved by other means such as by analysis of chromosomes or genes.)
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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.
Bronchiolitis: Inflammation of the bronchioles, the airways that extend beyond the bronchi and terminate in the alveoli. Bronchiolitis is due to viral infections such as parainfluenza, influenza , adenovirus and, especially, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
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Bronchoscopy : A procedure that permits the doctor to see the breathing passages through a lighted tube.
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Cardiovascular: The circulatory system comprising the heart and blood vessels which carries nutrients and oxygen to the tissues of the body and removes carbon dioxide and other wastes from them.
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Chemotherapy : 1. In the original sense, a chemical that binds to and specifically kills microbes or tumor cells. The term chemotherapy was coined in this regard by Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915).
2. In oncology, drug therapy for cancer. Also called "chemo" for short.
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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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Chronic: This important term in medicine comes from the Greek chronos, time and means lasting a long time.
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Complication: In medicine, an additional problem that arises following a procedure, treatment or illness and is secondary to it. A complication complicates the situation.
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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.
Cor pulmonale: Heart disease that results from abnormally high resistance to the passage of blood through the lungs; it often leads to right heart failure.
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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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Cough: A rapid expulsion of air from the lungs typically in order to clear the lung airways of fluids, mucus, or material. Also called tussis.
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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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 failure : Inability of the heart to keep up with the demands on it and, specifically, failure of the heart to pump blood with normal efficiency. When this occurs, the heart is unable to provide adequate blood flow to other organs such as the brain, liver and kidneys. Heart failure may be due to failure of the right or left or both ventricles. The signs and symptoms depend upon which side of the heart is failing. They can include shortness of breath (dyspnea), asthma due to the heart (cardiac asthma), pooling of blood (stasis) in the general body (systemic) circulation or in the liver's (portal) circulation, swelling ( edema ), blueness or duskiness (cyanosis), and enlargement (hypertrophy) of the heart.
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High blood pressure : Also known as hypertension, high blood pressure is, by definition, 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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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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Idiopathic: Of unknown cause. Any disease that is of uncertain or unknown origin may be termed idiopathic. For example, acute idiopathic polyneuritis , diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis , idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis , idiopathic scoliosis , etc.
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: Scarring throughout the lungs without an identifiable cause. See: Pulmonary fibrosis.
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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Interstitial: Pertaining to being between things, especially between things that are normally closely spaced.
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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.
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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Lymphocytic: Referring to lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell.
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Medical history: 1. In clinical medicine, the patient's past and present which may contain clues bearing on their health past, present, and future. The medical history, being an account of all medical events and problems a person has experienced, including psychiatric illness, is especially helpful when a differential diagnosis is needed.
2. The history of medicine.
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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Pathologist: A doctor who identifies diseases by studying cells and tissues under a microscope.
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.
Pulmonary: Having to do with the lungs. (The word comes from the Latin pulmo for lung).
Pulmonary fibrosis: Scarring throughout the lungs which can be caused by many conditions such as, sarcoidosis , hypersensitivity pneumonitis , asbestosis, and certain medications. Pulmonary fibrosis can also occur without an identifiable cause, in which case it is referred to as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis . Symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing and diminished exercise tolerance. Treatment involves the use of corticosteroids (such as prednisone ) and/or other medications that suppress the body's immune system. Interferon gamma-1b treatment may help patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis who do not respond to corticosteroid therapy. The goal of treatment is to decrease lung inflammation and subsequent scarring. Responses to treatment vary. Toxicity and side effects of treatments can be serious. Therefore, patients with pulmonary fibrosis are generally cared for by lung specialists.
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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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Radiation: 1. Rays of energy. Gamma rays and X-rays are two of the types of energy waves often used in medicine. 2. The use of energy waves to diagnose or treat disease. See also: Irradiation.
Radiation therapy : The use of high-energy rays to damage cancer cells, stopping them from growing and dividing. Like surgery, radiation therapy is a local treatment that affects cancer cells only in the treated area.
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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 failure: Inability of the lungs to perform their basic task of gas exchange , the transfer of oxygen from inhaled air into the blood and the transfer of carbon dioxide from the blood into exhaled air. The basis of respiratory failure may be failure of the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide within the tiny air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs; failure of the muscles required to expand the lungs; or failure of the brain centers controlling respiration.
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Respiratory therapy: Exercises and treatments designed to help patients maintain and recover lung function, such as with cystic fibrosis and after surgery.
Rheumatoid arthritis : An autoimmune disease which causes chronic inflammation of the joints, the tissue around the joints, as well as other organs in the body. Autoimmune diseases occur when the body tissues are mistakenly attacked by its own immune system. The immune system is a complex organization of cells and antibodies designed normally to "seek and destroy" invaders of the body, particularly infections. Patients with these diseases have antibodies in their blood which target their own body tissues, where they can be associated with inflammation. Because it can affect multiple other organs of the body, rheumatoid arthritis is referred to as a systemic illness and is sometimes called rheumatoid disease. While rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic illness (meaning it can last for years) patients may experience long periods without symptoms.
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Rule out: A term much used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from consideration. The ACB (albumin cobalt binding) test helps rule out a heart attack in the differential diagnosis of severe chest pain.
Scleroderma: A disease of connective tissue with the formation of scar tissue (fibrosis) in the skin and sometimes also in other organs of the body.
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Silica: The chief component of sand and a substance responsible for lung disease and cancer.
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Stage: As regards cancer , the extent of a cancer, especially whether the disease has spread from the original site to other parts of the body. See also: Staging .
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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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Therapy: The treatment of disease .
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- prednisolone, Pediapred Oral Liquid, Medrol - Defines the medication prednisolone (Pediapred Oral Liquid, Medrol) a drug used used to treat inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, colitis, asthma, bronchitis, certain skin rashes, and allergic or inflammatory conditions of the nose and eyes. Article includes descriptions, uses, drug interactions, and side effects.
- CT Scan (Computerized Axial Tomography) - CT Scan (Computerized Axial Tomography, CAT scan) is a procedure that assists in diagnosing tumors, fractures, bony structures, and infections in the organs and tissues of the body.
- Pneumonia - Learn pneumonia symptoms, causes, treatment, signs, diagnosis and types: viral and bacterial (Pneumocystis carinii, Klebsiella, Mycoplasma, Chlamydia pneumoniae).
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