The following are health and medical definitions of terms that appear in the Plague article. Abdominal: Relating to the abdomen, the belly , that part of the body that contains all of the structures between the chest and the pelvis . The abdomen is separated anatomically from the chest by the diaphragm , the powerful muscle spanning the body cavity below the lungs .
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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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Adenoids: Masses of lymphoid tissue in the upper part of throat behind the nose.
Allergy : A misguided reaction to foreign substances by the immune system , the body system of defense against foreign invaders, particularly pathogens (the agents of infection ). The allergic reaction is misguided in that these foreign substances are usually harmless. The substances that trigger allergy are called allergen. Examples include pollens , dust mite, molds , danders , and certain foods. People prone to allergies are said to be allergic or atopic .
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Bacteria: Single-celled microorganisms which can exist either as independent (free-living) organisms or as parasites (dependent upon another organism for life).
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Bacterium: The singular of bacteria.
Black Death: The Medieval black plague that ravaged Europe and killed a third of its population. It was due to the plague which is caused by a bacterium ( Yersinia pestis ) transmitted to humans from infected rats by the oriental rat flea.
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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.
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.
Buboes: The plural of "bubo".
Bubonic plague: The most common form of the plague , named for the characteristic buboes -- buboes are enlarged lymph nodes ("swollen glands") -- in the groin which are usually very tender and painful. Lymph nodes may be similarly affected elsewhere such as in the armpits and neck. Common but less specific features of the disease include headache , fever, chills, and weakness.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The US agency charged with tracking and investigating public health trends. The stated mission of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, commonly called the CDC, is "To promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability."
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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 pain: There are many causes of chest pain. One is angina which results from inadequate oxygen supply to the heart muscle. Angina can be caused by coronary artery disease or spasm of the coronary arteries. Chest pain can also be due to a heart attack (coronary occlusion) and other important diseases such as, for example, dissection of the aorta and a pulmonary embolism. Do not try to ignore chest pain and "work (or play) though it." Chest pain is a warning to seek medical attention.
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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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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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.
Genes: The basic biological units of heredity . Segments of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) needed to contribute to a function.
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Genome: All of the genetic information, the entire genetic complement, all of the hereditary material possessed by an organism.
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Headache : A pain in the head with the pain being above the eyes or the ears, behind the head (occipital), or in the back of the upper neck. Headache, like chest pain or back ache, has many causes.
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Immune: Protected against infection. The Latin immunis means free, exempt.
Immune system: A complex system that is responsible for distinguishing us from everything foreign to us, and for protecting us against infections and foreign substances. The immune system works to seek and kill invaders.
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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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Intervention: The act of intervening, interfering or interceding with the intent of modifying the outcome. In medicine, an intervention is usually undertaken to help treat or cure a condition. For example, early intervention may help children with autism to speak. "Acupuncture as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the United States," according to the National Institutes of Health. From the Latin intervenire, to come between.
Isolate: A group in which mating is always between members of the group. For example, the Amish.
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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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.
Lymph: An almost colorless fluid that travels through vessels called lymphatics in the lymphatic system and carries cells that help fight infection and disease.
Lymph node: Also sometimes referred to as lymph glands, lymph nodes are small rounded or bean-shaped masses of lymphatic tissue surrounded by a capsule of connective tissue . Lymph nodes are located in many places in the lymphatic system throughout the body. Lymph nodes filter the lymphatic fluid and store special cells that can trap cancer cells or bacteria that are traveling through the body in the lymph fluid. The lymph nodes are critical for the body's immune response and are principal sites where many immune reactions are initiated. During a physical examination, doctors often look for swollen lymph nodes in areas where lymph nodes are abundant, including the neck, around the collarbone , the armpit ( axilla ), and the groin .
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Lymphatic: 1. One of the lymphatics, vessel that convey the lymph fluid. 2. Pertaining to the lymph, lymphoid tissue, or lymphocytes. 3. Lacking energy. Sluggish.
From the Latin lympha (water or water goddess), from the Greek nymphe (nymph).
Lymphatic system: The tissues and organs, including the bone marrow, spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes, that produce and store cells that fight infection and disease. The channels that carry lymph are also part of this system.
Node: Literally a knot, a node is a collection of tissue. For example a lymph node, is a collection of lymphoid tissue. A nodule is a small node, a little collection of tissue.
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Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physical and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it can be more diffuse, as in disorders like fibromyalgia . Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors.
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Pandemic: An epidemic (a sudden outbreak) that becomes very widespread and affects a whole region, a continent, or the world.
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Pathogen: An agent of disease. A disease producer. The term pathogen most commonly is used to refer to infectious organisms. These include bacteria (such as staph ), viruses (such as HIV ), and fungi (such as yeast ). Less commonly, pathogen refers to a noninfectious agent of disease such as a chemical.
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Pestis: The plague . An infectious disease due to a bacteria called Yersinia pestis .
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Plague: The plague is an infectious disease due to a bacteria called Yersinia pestis .
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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.
Pneumonic plague: Infection of the lungs by Yersina pestis , the bacterial agent that causes the plague , a disease of animals (rodents and their fleas) and humans.
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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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Proteins: Large molecules 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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Shock: In medicine, shock is a critical condition brought on by a sudden drop in blood flow through the body. There is failure of the circulatory system to maintain adequate blood flow. This sharply curtails the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to vital organs. It also compromises the kidney and so curtails the removal of wastes from the body. Shock can be due to a number of different mechanisms including not enough blood volume (hypovolemic shock) and not enough output of blood by the heart (cardiogenic shock). The signs and symptoms of shock include low blood pressure (hypotension), overbreathing (hyperventilation), a weak rapid pulse, cold clammy grayish-bluish (cyanotic) skin, decreased urine flow (oliguria), and mental changes (a sense of great anxiety and foreboding, confusion and, sometimes, combativeness).
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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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Spleen: An organ located in the upper left part of the abdomen near the stomach . The spleen produces lymphocytes ; it is the largest lymphatic organ in the body. The spleen also filters the blood, serves as a major reservoir for blood and destroys blood cells that are aged.
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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.
Strain: 1. An injury to a tendon or muscle resulting from overuse or trauma. 2. A hereditary tendency that originated from a common ancestor. 3. To exert maximum effort. 4. To filter.
Therapeutics: In medicine, the branch that deals specifically with the treatment of disease and the art and science of healing.
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Thymus: A lymphoid organ situated in the center of the upper chest just behind the sternum (breastbone). It is in the thymus that lymphocytes mature, multiply, and become T cells . (That is why they are called T cells. The T is for thymus.)
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Tonsils: Small masses of lymphoid tissue at the back of the throat, on either side of the throat.
Vaccines: Microbial preparations of killed or modified microorganisms that can stimulate an immune response in the body to prevent future infection with similar microorganisms. These preparations are usually delivered by injection.
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World Health Organization: An agency of the United Nations established in 1948 to further international cooperation in improving health conditions. Although the World Health Organization inherited specific tasks relating to epidemic control, quarantine measures, and drug standardization from the Health Organization of the League of Nations (that was set up in 1923) and from the International Office of Public Health at Paris (established in 1909), the World Health Organization was given a broad mandate under its constitution to promote the attainment of "the highest possible level of health" by all people. WHO defines health positively as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
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Yersinia: A group of bacteria that appear rod-like under the microscope and include Yersinia pestis (the cause of the bubonic and pneumonic plague ), Yersinia entercolitica (the cause of a disease called yersinosis ), and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (which causes a condition called mesenteric adenitis, particularly in immunocompromised patients). Both Y. entercolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis have also been implicated in a viral form of arthritis . Infection with Yersinia bacteria can be treated with antibiotics.
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Yersinia pestis: The bacteria that causes the bubonic plague which in the year 541 (as the Black Death ) and later in the Middle Ages decimated Europe. The effects of the plague are described in the nursery rhyme "We all fall down."
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From the Doctors at MedicineNet.com  |
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- Abdominal Pain - Learn about abdominal pain (pain in the stomach / abdomen) including causes, symptoms, how abdominal pain is diagnosed, and how abdominal pain is treated. Source:MedicineNet
- Pneumonia - Learn pneumonia symptoms, causes, treatment, signs, diagnosis and types: viral and bacterial (Pneumocystis carinii, Klebsiella, Mycoplasma, Chlamydia pneumoniae). Source:MedicineNet
- Headache - Learn about the different types of headaches, migraine, tension, cluster, menstrual, and spinal headaches; and their causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Source:MedicineNet
- Read 24 more Plague related articles ...
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