Sweat Chloride Test Glossary of Terms

Chloride: The major anion (negatively charged substance) in the blood and extracellular fluid (the body fluid that lies outside cells). Blood and other body fluids have almost the same concentration of chloride ion as sea water. The balance of chloride ion (Cl^-) is closely regulated by the body.
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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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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.

Cystic fibrosis : One of the most common grave genetic (inherited) diseases, CF affects the exocrine glands and is characterized by the production of abnormal secretions, leading to mucous build-up.
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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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Disease: Illness or sickness often characterized by typical patient problems (symptoms) and physical findings (signs). Disruption sequence: The events that occur when a fetus that is developing normally is subjected to a destructive agent such as the rubella (German measles) virus.

False positive: A result that is erroneously positive when a situation is normal. An example of a false positive: a particular test designed to detect cancer of the toenail is positive but the person does not have toenail cancer.
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Forearm: The portion of the upper limb from the elbow to the wrist.
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Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic information.

Genetic disease: A disease caused by an abnormality in an individual's genome .
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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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Iontophoresis: A transdermal delivery system in which a substance bearing a charge is propelled through the skin by a low electrical current. This method can be used to drive a drug across the skin barrier, as is done with pilocarpine to stimulate sweating in the sweat chloride test for cystic fibrosis. Iontophoresis can also be used in the reverse direction to draw a molecule such as glucose through the skin.

Lethal: Deadly, fatal, capable of causing death, death-dealing. The word "lethal" comes from the Latin "letum" meaning "death or destruction."

Lipid: Another word for "fat." (Please see the various meanings of Fat .) A lipid is more formally defined as a substance such as a fat, oil or wax that dissolves in alcohol but not in water. Lipids contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen but have far less oxygen proportionally than carbohydrates .
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Lipid storage diseases: A series of disorders due to inborn errors in lipid metabolism resulting in the abnormal accumulation of lipids in the wrong places (Examples include Gaucher, Fabry and Niemann-Pick diseases and metachromatic leukodystrophy).

Liter: A metric measure of capacity that, by definition, is equal to the volume of a kilogram of water at 4 degrees centigrade and at standard atmospheric pressure of 760 millimeters of mercury.

• Metric equivalents -- There are 1000 cubic centimeters or 1 cubic decimeter in 1 liter.
• U.S. equivalent -- A liter is a little more than a quart (1.057 U.S. liquid quarts).

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.")

Pancreas: A fish-shaped spongy grayish-pink organ about 6 inches (15 cm) long that stretches across the back of the abdomen, behind the stomach. The head of the pancreas is on the right side of the abdomen and is connected to the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine). The narrow end of the pancreas, called the tail, extends to the left side of the body.

Pituitary: 1. As an adjective, pertaining to the pituitary gland or its hormonal secretions. 2. As a noun, the pituitary gland itself.

Recurrent: Back again. A recurrent fever is a fever that has returned after an intermission: a recrudescent fever.

Respiratory: Having to do with respiration, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. From the Latin re- (again) + spirare (to breathe) = to breathe again.

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.

Sweat: A colorless transparent acidic fluid with a distinctive odor secreted by the small tubular sudoriferous (sweat) glands situated within the skin and under it in the subcutaneous tissue . The sweat glands discharge their fluid through tiny openings in the surface of the skin.
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Sweat chloride test: A test for cystic fibrosis. See: Sweat test.

Thyroid: 1. The thyroid gland. Also, pertaining to the thyroid gland. 2. A preparation of the thyroid gland used to treat hypothyroidism. 3. Shaped like a shield. (The thyroid gland was so-named by Thomas Wharton in 1656 because it was shaped like an ancient Greek shield.)

Toddler: A young child who is learning to walk with short unsteady steps. The word toddle is of unknown origin.

From the Doctors at MedicineNet.com

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