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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Acute: Of abrupt onset, in reference to a disease. Acute often also connotes an illness that is of short duration, rapidly progressive, and in need of urgent care.
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Analysis: A psychology term for processes used to gain understanding of complex emotional or behavioral issues.
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Anterior: The front, as opposed to the posterior. The anterior surface of the heart is toward the breast bone (the sternum).
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Aspiration: Removal of a sample of fluid and cells through a needle. Aspiration also refers to the accidental sucking in of food particles or fluids into the lungs.
Atrophy: Wasting away or diminution. Muscle atrophy is wasting of muscle, decrease in muscle mass.
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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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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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Brainstem: The lowest part of the brain which merges with the spinal cord and provides the major route by which the upper realms of the brain send information to, and receives information from, the spinal cord and peripheral nerves. The brainstem consists of the medulla oblongata, midbrain, and pons. All but two of the 12 cranial nerves originate in the brainstem. The brainstem influences basic processes such as alertness, breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate.
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.
Cardiopulmonary: Having to do with both the heart and lungs.
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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Chronic: This important term in medicine comes from the Greek chronos, time and means lasting a long time.
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Colorectal: Related to the colon and/or rectum.
Computed tomography: An x-ray procedure that uses the help of a computer to produce a detailed picture of a cross section of the body. Also called a CT scan or CAT scan.
Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. Cures are easy to claim and, all too often, difficult to confirm.
2. A time without recurrence of a disease so that the risk of recurrence is small, as in the 5-year cure rate for malignant melanoma .
3. Particularly in the past, a course of treatment. For example, take a cure at a spa.
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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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Fatigue: A condition characterized by a lessened capacity for work and reduced efficiency of accomplishment, usually accompanied by a feeling of weariness and tiredness. Fatigue can be acute and come on suddenly or chronic and persist.
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Indicate: In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular condition or circumstance. For example, certain medications are indicated for the treatment of hypertension during pregnancy while others are contraindicated.
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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Interferon : A naturally occurring substance that interferes with the ability of viruses to reproduce. Interferon also boosts the immune system.
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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.
Joint: A joint is the area where two bones are attached for the purpose of motion of body parts. A joint is usually formed of fibrous connective tissue and cartilage. An articulation or an arthrosis is the same as a joint.
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Magnetic resonance imaging : A special radiology technique designed to image internal structures of the body using magnetism, radio waves, and a computer to produce the images of body structures. In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scanner is a tube surrounded by a giant circular magnet. The patient is placed on a moveable bed that is inserted into the magnet. The magnet creates a strong magnetic field that aligns the protons of hydrogen atoms, which are then exposed to a beam of radio waves. This spins the various protons of the body, and they produce a faint signal that is detected by the receiver portion of the MRI scanner. A computer processes the receiver information, and an image is produced. The image and resolution is quite detailed and can detect tiny changes of structures within the body, particularly in the soft tissue, brain and spinal cord, abdomen and joints.
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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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Metabolic: Relating to metabolism, the whole range of biochemical processes that occur within us (or any living organism). Metabolism consists of anabolism (the buildup of substances) and catabolism (the breakdown of substances).
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Modafinil: An oral drug first approved by the FDA in 1998 for the treatment of narcolepsy , a condition in which there is an uncontrollable desire to sleep . Modafinil promotes wakefulness. In 2004 the FDA also approved modafinil for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and sleeping problems caused by shift work.
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Motor: In medicine, having to do with the movement of a part of the body. Something that produces motion or refers to motion. For example, a motor neuron is a nerve cell that conveys an impulse to a muscle causing it to contract. The term "motor" today is also applied to a nerve that signals a gland to secrete. Motor is as opposed to sensory.
Motor neuron: A neuron that sends electrical output signals to muscle neurons. Also called a motoneuron.
MRI: Abbreviation and nickname for magnetic resonance imaging. For more information, see: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Paul C. Lauterbur; Peter Mansfield.
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."
Muscle biopsy: A minor surgical procedure done under local anesthetic using a needle or a small incision to remove a small sample of muscle. The procedure may be done to confirm a clinical diagnosis, distinguish between nerve and muscle disorders, identify a metabolic defect of muscle, diagnose diseases of connective tissue and blood vessels, detect muscle inflammation, or rule out muscle disease. Afterwards, there may be minor discomfort and bruising at the biopsy site which usually takes a week to heal fully.
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Muscular: Having to do with the muscles. Also, endowed with above average muscle development. Muscular system refers to all of the muscles of the body collectively.
Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses chemical and electrical signals to transmit sensory and motor information from one body part to another. See: Nervous system.
Nerve cell: See: Neuron.
Neurological: Having to do with the nerves or the nervous system.
Neuromuscular: Pertaining to both nerves and muscles, as in neuromuscular blockade by an anesthetic agent, the neuromuscular junction (the meeting place of a nerve and a muscle fiber), and neuromuscular transmission (the transfer of "information" from the nerve to the muscle).
Neuron: A nerve cell that sends and receives electrical signals over long distances within the body. A neuron may send electrical output signals to muscle neurons (called motor neurons or motoneurons) and to other neurons. A neuron may receive electrical input signals from sensory cells (called sensory neurons) and from other neurons. A neuron that simply signals another neuron is called an interneuron.
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NIH: The National Institutes of Health. The NIH is an important U.S. health agency. It is devoted to medical research. Administratively under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the NIH consists of 20-some separate Institutes and Centers. NIH's program activities are represented by these Institutes and Centers.
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NINDS: Stands for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, one of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S., whose mission is to "support and conduct research and research training on the normal structure and function of the nervous system and on the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of more than 600 nervous system disorders including stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, head and spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's disease, and brain tumors."
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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Osteoarthritis: A type of arthritis caused by inflammation, breakdown, and eventual loss of cartilage in the joints. Also known as degenerative arthritis.
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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Peripheral: Situated away from the center, as opposed to centrally located.
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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.
Polio: Abbreviation for poliomyelitis, an acute and sometimes devastating disease caused by a virus. Man is the only natural host for polio virus. The virus enters the mouth and multiplies in lymphoid tissues in the throat and intestine. Small numbers of virus enter the blood and go to other sites where the virus multiplies more extensively. Another round of viremia (virus in the bloodstream) leads to invasion of the central nervous system (CNS), the spinal cord and brain, the target sites struck by the virus.
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Poliomyelitis: An acute and sometimes devastating viral disease. Man is the only natural host for poliovirus. The virus enters the mouth and multiplies in lymphoid tissues in the pharynx and intestine. Small numbers of virus enter the blood and go to other sites where the virus multiplies more extensively. Another round of viremia (virus in the bloodstream) leads to invasion of the central nervous system (CNS), the spinal cord and brain, the key sites struck by the virus.
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Poliovirus: A member of the enterovirus subgroup, family Picornaviridae. Enteroviruses are transient inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract. Picornaviruses are small viruses with an RNA genome. There are three strains of poliovirus. They are called P1 or the Brunhilde virus, P2 or the Lansing virus, and P3 or the Leon virus). Immunity to one strain of poliovirus does not produce significant immunity to the other two strains. Poliovirus is rapidly inactivated by heat, formaldehyde, chlorine, or ultraviolet (UV) light.
Prevalence: The proportion of individuals in a population having a disease. Prevalence is a statistical concept referring to the number of cases of a disease that are present in a particular population at a given time.
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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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Provigil: Brand name of the drug modafinil. See: Modafinil.
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.
Recombinant: A person with a new combination of genes, a combination of genes not present in either parent, due to parental recombination of those genes.
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Regenerate: To reproduce or renew something lost. For example, after an injury, the liver has the capacity to regenerate.
Residual: Something left behind. With residual disease, the disease has not been eradicated.
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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.
Scoliosis: Sideways ( lateral ) curving of the spine (the backbone ).
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Shoulder: A structure made up of two main bones: the scapula (shoulder blade) and the humerus (the long bone of the upper arm). The end of the scapula, called the glenoid, is a socket into which the head of the humerus fits, forming a flexible ball-and-socket joint. The scapula is an unusually shaped bone. It extends up and around the shoulder joint at the rear to create a roof called the acromion and around the shoulder joint at the front to constitute the coracoid process. The shoulder joint is cushioned by cartilage that covers the face of the glenoid socket and the head of the humerus. The joint is stabilized by a ring of fibrous cartilage around the glenoid socket that is called the labrum. Ligaments connect the bones of the shoulder and tendons join these bones to surrounding muscles. The biceps tendon attaches the biceps muscle to the shoulder and helps stabilize the joint. Four short muscles that originate on the scapula pass around the shoulder where their tendons fuse together to form the rotator cuff.
Skeletal: Pertaining to the skeleton, the bones of the body which collectively provide the framework for the body.
Sleep : The body's rest cycle.
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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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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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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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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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Tear: A drop of the salty secretion of the lacrimal glands which serves to moisten the conjunctiva and cornea.
Tomography: The process for generating a tomogram , a two-dimensional image of a slice or section through a three-dimensional object. Tomography achieves this remarkable result by simply moving an x-ray source in one direction as the x-ray film is moved in the opposite direction during the exposure to sharpen structures in the focal plane, while structures in other planes appear blurred. The tomogram is the picture; the tomograph is the apparatus; and tomography is the process.
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Trauma: Any injury , whether physically or emotionally inflicted. "Trauma" has both a medical and a psychiatric definition. Medically, "trauma" refers to a serious or critical bodily injury, wound, or shock . This definition is often associated with trauma medicine practiced in emergency rooms and represents a popular view of the term. In psychiatry , "trauma" has assumed a different meaning and refers to an experience that is emotionally painful, distressful, or shocking, which often results in lasting mental and physical effects.
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Underventilation: See: Hypoventilation.
Virus: A microorganism smaller than a bacteria, which cannot grow or reproduce apart from a living cell. A virus invades living cells and uses their chemical machinery to keep itself alive and to replicate itself. It may reproduce with fidelity or with errors (mutations)-this ability to mutate is responsible for the ability of some viruses to change slightly in each infected person, making treatment more difficult.
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Wasting: 1. Gradual loss (for example, of weight), deterioration, emaciation. As in a wasting disease. 2. Excessive depletion. As in salt wasting, the excessive loss of salt.
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- ibuprofen, Advil, Children's Advil/Motrin, Medipren, Motrin, Nuprin, PediaCare Fever, etc. - Explains the medication ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, Nuprin, Medipren) a drug used for the management of mild to moderate pain, fever, and inflammation. 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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