The following are health and medical definitions of terms that appear in the Parenting article. Access: 1. In general, a means of approaching something. 2. In health care, the opportunity or right to receive health care. 3. In dialysis, the point on the body where a needle or catheter is inserted to gain entry to the bloodstream.
Accommodation: In medicine, the ability of the eye to change its focus from distant to near objects (and vice versa). This process is achieved by the lens changing its shape.
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Acquired: Anything that is not present at birth but develops some time later. In medicine, the word "acquired" implies "new" or "added." An acquired condition is "new" in the sense that it is not genetic (inherited) and "added" in the sense that was not present at birth.
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Alcohol: An organic chemical in which one or more hydroxyl (OH) groups are attached to carbon (C) atoms in place of hydrogen (H) atoms. Common alcohols include ethyl alcohol or ethanol (found in alcoholic beverages), methyl alcohol or methanol (can cause blindness) and propyl alcohol or propanol (used as a solvent and antiseptic ). Rubbing alcohol is a mixture of acetone , methyl isobutyl ketone, and ethyl alcohol. In everyday talk, alcohol usually refers to ethanol as, for example, in wine, beer, and liquor. It can cause changes in behavior and be addictive.
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Anorexia: An eating disorder characterized by markedly reduced appetite or total aversion to food. Anorexia is a serious psychological disorder. It is a condition that goes well beyond out-of-control dieting. The person with anorexia, most often a girl or young woman, initially begins dieting to lose weight. Over time, the weight loss becomes a sign of mastery and control. The drive to become thinner is thought to be secondary to concerns about control and fears relating to one's body. The individual continues the endless cycle of restrictive eating, often to a point close to starvation. This becomes an obsession and is similar to an addiction to a drug. Anorexia can be life-threatening. Also called anorexia nervosa.
Anxiety: A feeling of apprehension and fear characterized by physical symptoms such as palpitations , sweating, and feelings of stress . Anxiety disorders are serious medical illnesses that affect approximately 19 million American adults. These disorders fill people's lives with overwhelming anxiety and fear. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event such as a business presentation or a first date, anxiety disorders are chronic, relentless, and can grow progressively worse if not treated.
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Attention: The ability to focus selectively on a selected stimulus, sustaining that focus and shifting it at will. The ability to concentrate.
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Binge drinking: The dangerous practice of consuming large quantities of alcoholic beverages in a single session. Binge drinking carries a serious risk of harm, including alcohol poisoning.
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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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Bulimia: Also called bulimia nervosa. An eating disorder characterized by episodes of secretive excessive eating (binge-eating) followed by inappropriate methods of weight control, such as self-induced vomiting (purging), abuse of laxatives and diuretics, or excessive exercise. The insatiable appetite of bulimia is often interrupted by periods of anorexia.
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Bumps: The raised area of a bump or bruise results from blood leaking from these injured blood vessels into the tissues as well as from the body's response to the injury. A purplish, flat bruise that occurs when blood leaks out into the top layers of skin is referred to as an ecchymosis.
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Burp: 1. To bring up gas from the stomach through the mouth.
2. To help a baby bring up gas after feeding by rubbing or patting its back.
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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Childhood: (1) The time for a boy or girl from birth until he or she is an adult. (2) The more circumscribed period of time from infancy to the onset of puberty .
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Chlamydia: A type of bacteria one species of which causes an infection very similar to gonorrhea in the way that it is spread, the symptoms it produces, and the long-term consequences.
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Clinical: 1. Having to do with the examination and treatment of patients. 2. Applicable to patients. A laboratory test may be of clinical value (of use to patients).
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Cognitive: Pertaining to cognition , the process of knowing and, more precisely, the process of being aware, knowing, thinking, learning and judging. The study of cognition touches on the fields of psychology , linguistics, computer science, neuroscience , mathematics, ethology and philosophy.
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Cognitive therapy: A relatively short-term form of psychotherapy based on the concept that the way we think about things affects how we feel emotionally. Cognitive therapy focuses on present thinking, behavior, and communication rather than on past experiences and is oriented toward problem solving. Cognitive therapy has been applied to a broad range of problems including depression , anxiety , panic , fears, eating disorders, substance abuse , and personality problems.
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Cone: A type of specialized light-sensitive cell (photoreceptor) in the retina of the eye that provide sharp central vision and color vision.
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Contrast: Short for "contrast media." Contrast media are X-ray dyes used to provide contrast, for example, between blood vessels and other tissue.
Cortex: The outer portion of an organ.
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Culture: A culture is the propagation of microorganisms in a growth media. Any body tissue or fluid can be evaluated in the laboratory by culture techniques in order to detect and identify infectious processes. Culture techniques also be used to determine sensitivity to antibiotics.
Depression : An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts, that affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be wished away. People with a depressive disease cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people with depression.
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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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Engagement: This term in obstetrics refers to the sensation that a pregnant woman feels when the baby drops. This is the time when the presenting (the lowermost) part of the fetus descends and is engaged in the mother's pelvis .
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Environment: The sum of the total of the elements, factors and conditions in the surroundings which may have an impact on the development , action or survival of an organism or group of organisms.
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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."
Event: A set of outcomes. Cardiovascular events might include a heart attack and gastrointestinal events a GI bleed. The use of the term "event" in medicine comes from probability theory.
Father: (1) The male parent. (2) One who originates. For example, "Wilhelm Roentgen is considered the father of radiology." (3) To produce offspring as a male. (4) To provide paternal protection and guidance to children.
Flu: Short for influenza. The flu is caused by viruses that infect the respiratory tract which are divided into three types, designated A, B, and C. Most people who get the flu recover completely in 1 to 2 weeks, but some people develop serious and potentially life-threatening medical complications, such as pneumonia. Much of the illness and death caused by influenza can be prevented by annual influenza vaccination.
Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic information.
Health: As officially defined by the World Health Organization, a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
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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Infant: A child up to 2 years (24 months) of age.
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Juvenile: Between infantile and adult as, for example, in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (onset before age 16 years) and juvenile diabetes (type 1 diabetes).
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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Mind: That which thinks, reasons, perceives, wills, and feels. The mind now appears in no way separate from the brain. In neuroscience, there is no duality between the mind and body. They are one.
Precursor: Forerunner. That which precedes or is derived from an available source.
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Primary: First or foremost in time or development. The primary teeth (the baby teeth) are those that come first. Primary may also refer to symptoms or a disease to which others are secondary.
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Psychiatric: Pertaining to or within the purview of psychiatry , the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis , and treatment of mental illness.
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Psychiatry: The medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis , and treatment of mental illness.
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Psychology: The study of the mind and mental processes, especially in relation to behavior. There are a number of fields of psychology. Clinical psychology is concerned with diagnosing and treating disorders of the brain, emotional disturbances, and behavior problems. Child psychology is the study of the mental and emotional development of children and is part of developmental psychology, the study of changes in behavior that occur through the life span. Cognitive psychology deals with how the human mind receives and interprets impressions and ideas. Social psychology looks at how the actions of others influence the behavior of an individual.
Race: An ethnic stock or division of humans. Naturalists and ethnographers have long divided humans into a variable number of distinct races. However, DNA and other genetic studies have revealed that that most genetic variation, about 94%, is within so-called racial groups while these racial groupings differ from one another only in about 6% of their genes. This means that there is greater genetic variation within racial groups than between them. The concept of race is a superficial and subjective one. All of humankind is a single species.
Resistance: Opposition to something, or the ability to withstand it. For example, some forms of staphylococcus are resistant to treatment with antibiotics.
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Rigor: A word with two different but related meanings in medicine:
1. A chill, usually with shivering, as at the onset of high fever and chills.
2. Rigidity, as in rigor mortis, the rigidity of a body after death.
The alternate spelling rigour is chiefly British. From the French, from the Latin rigor, meaning stiffness, from rigere, to be stiff.
Risk factor: Something that increases a person's chances of developing a disease.
Sense: In biology and medicine, the faculty of sensory reception. The ability to convey specific types of external or internal stimuli to the brain and perceive them. Sensory reception occurs through a process known as transduction in which stimuli are converted into nerve impulses which are relayed to the brain.
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Side effects: Problems that occur when treatment goes beyond the desired effect. Or problems that occur in addition to the desired therapeutic effect.
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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.
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Stomach: 1. The sac-shaped digestive organ that is located in the upper abdomen, under the ribs. The upper part of the stomach connects to the esophagus, and the lower part leads into the small intestine.
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Stress: Forces from the outside world impinging on the individual. Stress is a normal part of life that can help us learn and grow. Conversely, stress can cause us significant problems.
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Substance: 1. Material with particular features, as a pressor substance.
2. The material that makes up an organ or structure. Also known in medicine as the substantia.
3. A psychoactive drug as, for example, in substance abuse.
Substance abuse: The excessive use of a substance, especially alcohol or a drug. (There is no universally accepted definition of substance abuse.)
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Suicide : The act of causing ones own death. Suicide may be positive or negative and it may be direct or indirect. Suicide is a positive act when one takes ones own life.
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Suicide prevention: Diminishing the risk of suicide. It may not be possible to eliminate entirely the risk of suicide but it is possible to reduce this risk. For example, the suicide rate among US Air Force personnel fell precipitously after the service launched a community-based suicide prevention program. Suicide should not be viewed solely as a medical or mental health problem, since protective factors such as social support and connectedness appear to play significant roles in the prevention of suicide.
Temporal: 1. Pertaining to time, limited in time, temporary, or transient.
2. Pertaining to the temple region of the head. The temporal lobe of the brain is located beneath the temple.
From the Latin tempus which means both time and the temple of the head.
Therapy: The treatment of disease .
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Umbilicus: The vestige left behind on a newborn's belly when the umbilical cord is cut. Also called the navel or belly button.
Uncertainty: You may be uncertain why "uncertainty" deserves a place in a medical dictionary but some would say that uncertainty is a key element in medicine.
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Womb: The womb (uterus) is a hollow, pear-shaped organ located in a woman's lower abdomen between the bladder and the rectum. The narrow, lower portion of the uterus is the cervix; the broader, upper part is the corpus. The corpus is made up of two layers of tissue.
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Youth: The time between childhood and maturity. (Unfortunately, as the songwriter Sammy Cahn noted, "youth is wasted on the young.")
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