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Dictionary of

Medical Terms

fourth edition

www.acblack.com

While every effort has been made to be as accurate as possible, the author,

advisers, editors and publishers of this book cannot be held liable for any errors

and omissions, or actions that may be taken as a consequence of using it.

First published in Great Britain in1987

as

English Medical Dictionary

Second edition published 1993

Third edition published 2000

Fourth edition published 2004

Reprinted 2005, 2007

A & C Black Publishers Ltd

37 Soho Square, London W1D 3QZ

© P. H. Collin 1987, 1993, 2000

© Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2004

© A & C Black Publishers Ltd 2005

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced

in any form or by any means without the permission of the publishers

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

eISBN-13: 978-1-4081-0209-1

Text Production and Proofreading

Heather Bateman, Ruth Hillmore, Daisy Jackson, Sarah Lusznat,

Katy McAdam, Charlotte Regan

This book is produced using paper that is made from wood grown in managed,

sustainable forests. It is natural, renewable and recyclable. The logging and

manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country

of origin.

Preface

This dictionary provides the user with the basic vocabulary currently being

used in a wide range of healthcare situations. The areas covered include the

technical language used in diagnosis, patient care, surgery, pathology,

general practice, pharmacy, dentistry and other specialisations, as well as

anatomical and physiological terms. Informal, everyday and sometimes

euphemistic terms commonly used by people in discussing their condition

with healthcare professionals are also included, as are common words used

in reading or writing reports, articles or guidelines.

The dictionary is designed for anyone who needs to check the meaning or

pronunciation of medical terms, but especially for those working in

health-related areas who may not be healthcare professionals or for whom

English is an additional language. Each headword is explained in clear,

straightforward English. Pronunciations, uncommon plurals and uncommon

verb forms are provided. Illustrations of some basic anatomical terms are

also included.

Pronunciation Guide

The following symbols have been used to show the pronunciation of the main

words in the dictionary.

Stress is indicated by a main stress mark (

) and a secondary stress mark (

) . Note

that these are only guides, as the stress of the word changes according to its position

in the sentence.

Vowels Consonants

back b buck

ɑ harm d dead

ɒ stop ð other

a type dȢ jump

aυ how f fare

aə hire DZ gold

aυə hour h head

ɔ course j yellow

ɔ annoy k cab

e head l leave

eə fair m mix

e make n nil

eυ go ŋ sing

word p print

i keep r rest

i happy s save

ə about ʃ shop

 fit t take

ə near tʃ change

u annual θ theft

u pool v value

υ book w work

υə tour x loch

' shut Ȣ measure

A

A

A /e/ noun a human blood type of the ABO system, containing the A antigen (NOTE: Some-one with type A can donate to people of the same group or of the AB group, and can receive blood from people with type A or type O.)

AA

AA abbr Alcoholics Anonymous A & E

A & E /ƠƠe ənd i/, A & E department /Ơe ənd i dƠpɑtmənt/ noun same as accident and

emergency department

A & E medicine

A & E medicine /Ơe ənd i med(ə)sn/ noun the medical procedures used in A & E de-partments

AB

AB /Ơe bi/ noun a human blood type of the ABO system, containing the A and B antigens (NOTE: Someone with type AB can donate to people of the same group and receive blood from people with type O, A, AB or B.)

ab-ab- /b/ prefix away from ABC

ABC /Ơe bi si/ noun the basic initial checks of a casualty’s condition. Full form airway, breathing and circulation

abdomen

abdomen /Ơ bdəmən/ noun a space inside the body below the diaphragm, above the pel-vis and in front of the spine, containing the stomach, intestines, liver and other vital or-gans쑗 _{pain in the abdomen (}NOTE: For other terms referring to the abdomen, see words be-ginning with coeli-, coelio-.)

COMMENT: The abdomen is divided for medi-cal purposes into nine regions: at the top, the right and left hypochondriac regions with the epigastrium between them; in the centre, the right and left lumbar regions with the umbilical between them; and at the bottom, the right and left iliac regions with the hypogastrium between them.

abdomin-abdomin- /bdɒmn/ prefix same as abdom-ino- (used before vowels)

abdominal

abdominal /bƠ dɒmn(ə)l/ adjective located in the abdomen, or relating to the abdomen abdominal aorta

abdominal aorta /bƠdɒmn(ə)l eƠ ɔtə/ noun the part of the aorta which lies between the diaphragm and the point where the aorta divides into the iliac arteries. See illustration at

KIDNEY in Supplement abdominal cavity

abdominal cavity /bƠdɒmn(ə)l kvti/ noun the space in the body below the chest

abdominal distension

abdominal distension /bƠdɒmn(ə)l dsƠ tenʃ(ə)n/ noun a condition in which the abdo-men is stretched because of gas or fluid abdominal pain

abdominal pain /bƠ dɒmn(ə)l pen/ noun pain in the abdomen caused by indigestion or more serious disorders

abdominal viscera

abdominal viscera /bƠdɒmn(ə)l vsərə/ plural noun the organs which are contained in the abdomen, e.g. the stomach, liver and intes-tines

abdominal wall

abdominal wall /bƠ dɒmn(ə)l wɔl/ noun muscular tissue which surrounds the abdomen

abdomino-abdomino- /bdɒmnəυ/ prefix referring to the abdomen

abdominopelvic

abdominopelvic /bƠdɒmnəυƠ pelvk/ ad-jective referring to the abdomen and pelvis abdominoperineal

abdominoperineal /bƠdɒmnəυperƠ niəl/ adjective referring to the abdomen and perineum

abdominoperineal excision

abdominoperineal excision /bƠdɒƠ mnəυperƠniəl kƠ sȢ(ə)n/ noun a surgical operation that involves cutting out tissue in both the abdomen and the perineum abdominoposterior

abdominoposterior /bƠdɒmnəυpɒƠ stəriə/ adjective referring to a position of a fetus in the uterus, where the fetus’s abdomen is facing the mother’s back

abdominoscopy

abdominoscopy /bƠdɒmƠ nɒskəpi/ noun an internal examination of the abdomen, usu-ally with an endoscope

abdominothoracic

abdominothoracic /bƠdɒmnəυθɔƠ rsk/ adjective referring to the abdomen and thorax abduce

abduce /bƠ djus/ verb same as abduct

abducens nerve

abducens nerve /bƠ djus(ə)nz n!v/ noun the sixth cranial nerve, which controls the muscle which makes the eyeball turn out-wards

abducent

abducent /bƠ djus(ə)nt/ adjective referring to a muscle which brings parts of the body away from each other or moves them away from the central line of the body or a limb. Compare adducent

abducent nerve

abducent nerve /bƠ djusənt n!v/ noun same as abducens nerve

abduct

abduction

2

the centre line of the body, or to pull a toe or finger away from the central line of a leg or arm. Compare adduct

abduction

abduction /bƠ d"kʃən/ noun the movement of a part of the body away from the centre line of the body or away from a neighbouring part. Opposite adduction. See illustration at ANA-TOMICAL TERMS in Supplement

‘Mary was nursed in a position of not more than 90° upright with her legs in abduction.’ [British Journal of Nursing]

abductor

abductor /bƠ d"ktə/, abductor muscle /bƠ d"ktə m"s(ə)l/ noun a muscle which pulls a part of the body away from the centre line of the body or away from a neighbouring part. Opposite adductor

aberrant

aberrant /Ơ berənt/ adjective not usual or ex-pected

aberration

aberration /ƠbəƠ reʃ(ə)n/ noun an action or growth which is not usual or expected ablation

ablation /Ơ bleʃ(ə)n/ noun the removal of an organ or of a part of the body by surgery abnormal

abnormal /bƠ nɔm(ə)l/ adjective not usual

쑗 _{abnormal behaviour} 쑗 _{an abnormal}

move-ment

‘…the synovium produces an excess of synovial flu-id, which is abnormal and becomes thickened. This causes pain, swelling and immobility of the affected joint.’ [Nursing Times]

abnormality

abnormality /ƠbnɔƠ mlti/ noun a form or condition which is not usual (NOTE: For other terms referring to abnormality, see words begin-ning with terat-, terato-.)

‘Even children with the milder forms of sickle-cell disease have an increased frequency of pneumococ-cal infection. The reason for this susceptibility is a profound abnormality of the immune system in chil-dren with SCD.’ [Lancet]

abocclusion

abocclusion /ƠbɒƠ kluȢ(ə)n/ noun a condi-tion in which the teeth in the top and bottom jaws do not touch

aboral

aboral /bƠ ɔrəl/ adjective situated away from or opposite the mouth

abort

abort /əƠ bɔt/ verb to eject an embryo or fetus, or to cause an embryo or fetus to be ejected, and so end a pregnancy before the fetus is fully developed

abortifacient

abortifacient /əƠbɔtƠ feʃ(ə)nt/ noun a drug or instrument which provokes an abortion abortion

abortion /əƠ bɔʃ(ə)n/ noun a situation where a fetus leaves the uterus before it is fully devel-oped, especially during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy, or a procedure which causes this to happen

왍

to have an abortion to have an op-eration to make a fetus leave the uterus during the first period of pregnancy

COMMENT: In the UK, an abortion can be car-ried out legally if two doctors agree that the mother’s life is in danger, that she risks grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of herself or her children, or that the fe-tus is likely to be born with severe disabilities.

abortionist

abortionist /əƠ bɔʃ(ə)nst/ noun a person who helps a woman abort, usually a person who performs an illegal abortion

abortion pill

abortion pill /əƠ bɔʃ(ə)n pl/ noun a drug that causes an abortion to occur very early in pregnancy

abortion trauma syndrome

abortion trauma syndrome /əƠbɔʃ(ə)n trɔmə sndrəυm/ noun a set of symptoms sometimes experienced in the period after an abortion including guilt, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, eating and sleeping disorders and suicidal thoughts

abortive

abortive /əƠ bɔtv/ adjective not successful쑗 an abortive attempt

abortive poliomyelitis

abortive poliomyelitis /əƠbɔtv pəυliəυƠ maəƠ lats/ noun a mild form of polio which only affects the throat and intestines abortus

abortus /əƠ bɔtəs/ noun a fetus which is ex-pelled during an abortion or miscarriage abortus fever

abortus fever /əƠ bɔtəs fivə/ noun same as

brucellosis

ABO system

ABO system /Ơe bi əυ sstəm/ noun a system of classifying blood groups. 쒁 blood group

abrasion

abrasion /əƠ breȢ(ə)n/ noun a condition in which the surface of the skin has been rubbed off by a rough surface and bleeds

COMMENT: As the intact skin is an efficient bar-rier to bacteria, even minor abrasions can al-low infection to enter the body and thus should be cleaned and treated with an anti-septic.

abreact

abreact /ƠbriƠ kt/ verb to release uncon-scious psychological tension by talking about or regularly remembering the events that caused it

abreaction

abreaction /ƠbriƠ kʃən/ noun the treat-ment of a person with a neurosis by making him or her think again about past bad experi-ences

abruptio placentae

abruptio placentae /əƠbr"ptiəυ pləƠ senti/ noun an occasion when the placenta suddenly comes away from the uterus earlier than it should, often causing shock and bleeding abscess

abscess /Ơ bses/ noun a painful swollen area where pus forms쑗 _{She had an abscess}

under a tooth. 쑗 The doctor decided to lance the abscess. (NOTE: The formation of an abscess is often accompanied by a high temperature. The plural is abscesses.)

COMMENT: An acute abscess can be dealt with by opening and draining when it has reached the stage where sufficient pus has been formed. A chronic abscess is usually treated with drugs.

absolute alcohol

absolute alcohol /Ơbsəlut lkəhɒl/ noun alcohol which contains no water absorb

absorb /əbƠ zɔb/ verb to take up or soak up something, especially a liquid, into a solid쑗

Cotton wads are used to absorb the discharge from the wound.

absorbable suture

ab-3

acetabulum

sorbed into the body, and does not need to be removed

absorbent cotton

absorbent cotton /əbƠzɔbənt kɒt(ə)n/ noun a soft white material used as a dressing to put on wounds

absorption

absorption /əbƠ zɔpʃən/ noun 1. the process by which a liquid is taken into a solid 2. the process of taking into the body substances such as proteins or fats which have been di-gested from food and enter the bloodstream from the stomach and intestines

왍

absorption rate the rate at which a liquid is absorbed by a solid

abstainer

abstainer /əbƠ stenə/ noun a person who does not drink alcohol

abstinence

abstinence /Ơ bstnəns/ noun a deliberate act of not doing something over a period of time, especially not eating or drinking쑗

absti-nence from alcohol

abulia

abulia /əƠ buliə/ noun a lack of willpower

abuse

abuse noun /əƠ bjus/ 1. the act of using some-thing wrongly쑗 _{the abuse of a privilege} 2. the illegal use of a drug or overuse of alcohol쑗

substance abuse 3. same as child abuse 4. bad treatment of a person쑗 _{physical abuse} 쑗

sex-ual abuse 쐽 verb /əƠ bjuz/ 1. to use something wrongly 쑗 _{Heroin and cocaine are drugs}

which are commonly abused.

왍

to abuse one’s authority to use one’s powers in an illegal or harmful way 2. to treat someone badly쑗

sexu-ally abused children 쑗 _{He had physically}

abused his wife and child.

a.c.

a.c. adverb (used on prescriptions) before food. Full form ante cibum

acanthosis

acanthosis /əƠknƠ θəυss/ noun a disease of the prickle cell layer of the skin, where warts appear on the skin or inside the mouth acapnia

acapnia /eƠ kpniə/ noun the condition of not having enough carbon dioxide in the blood and tissues

acariasis

acariasis /ƠkəƠ raəss/ noun the presence of mites or ticks on the skin

acaricide

acaricide /əƠ krsad/ noun a substance which kills mites or ticks

acarophobia

acarophobia /ƠkərəƠ fəυbiə/ noun an unu-sual fear of mites or ticks

acatalasia

acatalasia /eƠktəƠ leziə/ noun an inherited condition which results in a lack of catalase in all tissue

accessory

accessory /əkƠ sesəri/ noun something which helps something else to happen or oper-ate, but may not be very important in itself쐽

adjective helping something else to happen or operate

accessory nerve

accessory nerve /əkƠ sesəri n!v/ noun the eleventh cranial nerve which supplies the mus-cles in the neck and shoulders

accessory organ

accessory organ /əkƠsesəri ɔDZən/ noun an organ which has a function which is con-trolled by another organ

accident

accident /Ơ ksd(ə)nt/ noun 1. an unpleasant event which happens suddenly and harms someone’s health쑗 She had an accident in the kitchen and had to go to hospital. 쑗 Three peo-ple were killed in the accident on the motor-way. 2. chance, or something which happens by chance쑗 I met her by accident at the bus stop.

accidental injury

accidental injury /Ơksdent(ə)l ndȢəri/ noun an injury that happens to someone in an accident

accident and emergency department

accident and emergency department /Ơ ksd(ə)nt ənd Ơ m!dȢənsi dƠpɑtmənt/ noun the part of a hospital which deals with people who need urgent treatment because they have had accidents or are in sudden seri-ous pain. Abbr A & E

accident form

accident form /Ơ ksd(ə)nt fɔm/, accident report form /Ơksd(ə)nt rƠ pɔt fɔm/ noun a form to be filled in with details of an accident accident prevention

accident prevention /Ơksd(ə)nt prƠ venʃən/ noun the work of taking action or changing procedures to prevent accidents from happening

accident ward

accident ward /Ơ ksd(ə)nt wɔd/ noun a ward for urgent accident victims. Also called

casualty ward

accommodation

accommodation /əƠkɒməƠ deʃ(ə)n/,

ac-commodation reflex /əƠkɒməƠ deʃ(ə)n rifleks/ noun (of the lens of the eye) the abil-ity to focus on objects at different distances, using the ciliary muscle

accommodative squint

accommodative squint /əƠkɒmədetv skwnt/ noun a squint when the eye is trying to focus on an object which is very close accouchement

accouchement /əƠ kuʃmɒŋ/ noun the time when a woman is being looked after because her baby is being born, or has just been born accretion

accretion /əƠ kriʃ(ə)n/ noun a gradual in-crease in size, as through growth or external addition쑗 _{an accretion of calcium around the}

joint

ACE

ACE /Ơes/ noun an enzyme that increases blood pressure

acebutolol

acebutolol /ƠsƠ bjutəlɒl/ noun a drug which reduces both the heart rate and how strongly the heart muscles contract, used in the treatment of high blood pressure and irregular heart rhythms

ACE inhibitor

ACE inhibitor /Ơ es nƠhbtə/ noun same as

angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor

acephalus

acephalus /eƠ sefələs/ noun a fetus born without a head

acetabuloplasty

acetabuloplasty /ƠsƠ tbjυləυƠplsti/ noun a surgical operation to repair or rebuild the acetabulum

acetabulum

acetaminophen

4

acetaminophen

acetaminophen /əƠsitəƠ mnəfən/ noun US same as paracetamol

acetazolamide

acetazolamide /əƠsitəƠ zɒləmad/ noun a drug which helps a person to produce more urine, used in the treatment of oedema, glauco-ma and epilepsy

acetonaemia

acetonaemia /əƠsitəυƠ nimiə/ same as

ket-onaemia

acetone

acetone /Ơ stəυn/ noun a colourless volatile substance formed in the body after vomiting or during diabetes. 쒁 ketone

acetonuria

acetonuria /əƠsitəυƠ njuriə/ noun the pres-ence of acetone in the urine, shown by the fact that the urine gives off a sweet smell acetylcholine

acetylcholine /ƠstalƠ kəυlin/ noun a sub-stance released from nerve endings, which al-lows nerve impulses to move from one nerve to another or from a nerve to the organ it con-trols

COMMENT: Acetylcholine receptors are of two types, muscarinic, found in parasympathetic post-ganglionic nerve junctions, and nicotinic, found at neuromuscular junctions and in auto-nomic ganglia. Acetylcholine acts on both types of receptors, but other drugs act on one or the other.

acetylcoenzyme A

acetylcoenzyme A /ƠstalkəυƠenzam e/ noun a compound produced in the metab-olism of carbohydrates, fatty acids and amino acids

acetylsalicylic acid

acetylsalicylic acid /ƠstalƠsləslk sd/ noun쏡 aspirin

achalasia

achalasia /ƠkəƠ leziə/ noun the condition of being unable to relax the muscles

ache

ache /ek/ noun a pain which goes on for a time, but is not very severe쑗 He complained of various aches and pains. 쐽 verb to have a pain in part of the body쑗 His tooth ached so much he went to the dentist.

Achilles tendon

Achilles tendon /əƠkliz tendən/ noun a tendon at the back of the ankle which connects the calf muscles to the heel and which acts to pull up the heel when the calf muscle is con-tracted

achillorrhaphy

achillorrhaphy /ƠkƠ lɔrəfi/ noun a surgi-cal operation to stitch a torn Achilles tendon achillotomy

achillotomy /ƠkƠ lɒtəmi/ noun a surgical operation to divide the Achilles tendon aching

aching /Ơ ekŋ/ adjective causing someone a continuous mild pain쑗 aching legs

achlorhydria

achlorhydria /ƠeklɔƠ hadriə/ noun a condi-tion in which the gastric juices do not contain hydrochloric acid, a symptom of stomach can-cer or pernicious anaemia

acholia

acholia /eƠ kəυliə/ noun the absence or fail-ure of the secretion of bile

acholuria

acholuria /ƠekɒƠ luriə/ noun the absence of bile colouring in the urine

acholuric jaundice

acholuric jaundice /Ơekəlurk dȢɔnds/ noun a disease where unusually round red blood cells form, leading to anaemia, an

en-larged spleen and the formation of gallstones. Also called hereditary spherocytosis

achondroplasia

achondroplasia /ƠekɒndrəƠ pleziə/ noun an inherited condition in which the long bones in the arms and legs do not grow fully while the rest of the bones in the body grow as usual, resulting in dwarfism

achromatopsia

achromatopsia /ƠekrəυməƠ tɒpsiə/ noun a rare condition in which a person cannot see any colours, but only black, white and shades of grey

achy

achy /Ơ eki/ adjective feeling aches all over the body (informal)

aciclovir

aciclovir /eƠ sakləυvə/ noun a drug that is effective against herpesviruses. Also called

acyclovir

acid

acid /Ơ sd/ noun a chemical compound con-taining hydrogen, which reacts with an alkali to form a salt and water

acidaemia

acidaemia /ƠsƠ dimiə/ noun a state in which the blood has too much acid in it. It is a feature of untreated severe diabetes. acid–base balance

acid–base balance /Ơsd bes bləns/ noun the balance between acid and base, i.e. the pH level, in plasma

acidity

acidity /əƠ sdti/ noun 1. the level of acid in a liquid쑗 The alkaline solution may help to re-duce acidity. 2. same as hyperacidity

acidosis

acidosis /ƠsƠ dəυss/ noun 1. a condition when there are more acid waste products such as urea than usual in the blood because of a lack of alkali 2. same as acidity

acidotic

acidotic /ƠsƠ dɒtk/ adjective relating to ac-idosis

acid reflux

acid reflux /Ơsd rifl"ks/ noun a condition caused by a faulty muscle in the oesophagus allowing the acid in the stomach to pass into the oesophagus

acid stomach

acid stomach /Ơsd st"mək/ noun same as hyperacidity

aciduria

aciduria /ƠsƠ djυəriə/ noun a condition in which there is a higher level of acidity of the urine than is desirable

acinus

acinus /Ơ snəs/ noun 1. a tiny sac which forms part of a gland 2. part of a lobule in the lung (NOTE: The plural is acini.)

acne

acne /Ơ kni/ noun an inflammation of the se-baceous glands during puberty which makes blackheads appear on the skin, usually on the face, neck and shoulders. These blackheads often then become infected.쑗 She is using a cream to clear up her acne.

acne rosacea

acne rosacea /Ơkni rəυƠ zeʃə/ noun same as rosacea

acne vulgaris

acne vulgaris /Ơkni vυlƠ DZɑrs/ noun same as acne

acoustic

acoustic /əƠ kustk/ adjective relating to sound or hearing

acoustic nerve

5

acuity

acoustic neurofibroma

acoustic neurofibroma /əƠkustk njυərəυfaƠ brəυmə/, acoustic neuroma /əƠ kustk njυəƠ rəυmə/ noun a tumour in the sheath of the auditory nerve, causing deafness acoustic trauma

acoustic trauma /əƠkustk trɔmə/ noun physical damage caused by sound waves, e.g. hearing loss, disorientation, motion sickness or dizziness

acquired

acquired /əƠ kwaəd/ adjective referring to a condition which is neither congenital nor he-reditary and which a person develops after birth in reaction to his or her environment acquired immunity

acquired immunity /əƠkwaəd Ơ mjunti/ noun an immunity which a body acquires from having caught a disease or from immunisation, not one which is congenital

acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

acquired immunodeficiency syndrome /əƠkwaəd mjυnəυdƠ fʃ(ə)nsi sndrəυm/,

acquired immune deficiency syndrome /əƠ kwaəd mƠjun dƠ fʃ(ə)nsi sndrəυm/ noun a viral infection which breaks down the body’s immune system. Abbr AIDS

acrivastine

acrivastine /əƠ krvə stin/ noun a drug which reduces the amount of histamine pro-duced by the body. It is used in the treatment of rhinitis, urticaria and eczema.

acro-acro- /krəυ/ prefix referring to a point or tip acrocephalia

acrocephalia /ƠkrəυsəƠ feliə/ noun same as oxycephaly

acrocephaly

acrocephaly /ƠkrəυƠ sefəli/ noun same as

oxycephaly

acrocyanosis

acrocyanosis /ƠkrəυsaəƠ nəυss/ noun a blue coloration of the extremities, i.e. the fin-gers, toes, ears and nose, which is due to poor circulation

acrodynia

acrodynia /ƠkrəυƠ dniə/ noun a children’s disease, caused by an allergy to mercury, where the child’s hands, feet and face swell and become pink, and the child is also affected with fever and loss of appetite. Also called

erythroedema, pink disease

acromegaly

acromegaly /ƠkrəυƠ meDZəli/ noun a disease caused by excessive quantities of growth hor-mone produced by the pituitary gland, causing a slow enlargement of the hands, feet and jaws in adults

acromial

acromial /əƠ krəυmiəl/ adjective referring to the acromion

acromioclavicular

acromioclavicular /ƠkrəυmaəυkləƠ vkjυlə/ adjective relating to the acromion and the clavicle

acromion

acromion /əƠ krəυmiən/ noun the pointed top of the scapula, which forms the tip of the shoulder

acronyx

acronyx /Ơ krɒnks, Ơ ekrɒnks/ noun a condition in which a nail grows into the flesh acroparaesthesia

acroparaesthesia /ƠkrəυprsƠ θiziə/ noun a condition in which the patient experi-ences sharp pains in the arms and numbness in the fingers after sleep

acrophobia

acrophobia /ƠkrəƠ fəυbiə/ noun a fear of heights

acrosclerosis

acrosclerosis /ƠkrəυskləƠ rəυss/ noun sclerosis which affects the extremities ACTH

ACTH abbr adrenocorticotrophic hormone actinomycin

actinomycin /ƠktnəυƠ masn/ noun an an-tibiotic used in the treatment of children with cancer

actinomycosis

actinomycosis /ƠktnəυmaƠ kəυss/ noun a fungal disease transmitted to humans from cattle, causing abscesses in the mouth and lungs (pulmonary actinomycosis) or in the ile-um (intestinal actinomycosis)

action potential

action potential /Ơ kʃən pəƠtenʃəl/ noun a temporary change in electrical potential which occurs between the inside and the outside of a nerve or muscle fibre when a nerve impulse is sent

active

active /Ơ ktv/ adjective 1. (of a person) lively and energetic쑗 Although she is over eighty she is still very active. Opposite passive 2. (of a disease) having an effect on a patient쑗 ex-perienced two years of active rheumatoid dis-ease Compare dormant 3. (of a drug) having medicinal effect

active immunity

active immunity /Ơktv Ơ mjunti/ noun immunity which is acquired by catching and surviving an infectious disease or by vaccina-tion with a weakened form of the disease, which makes the body form antibodies active ingredient

active ingredient /Ơktv nƠ DZridiənt/ noun the main medicinal ingredient of an oint-ment or lotion, as opposed to the base active movement

active movement /Ơktv muvmənt/ noun movement made by a person using his or her own willpower and muscles

active principle

active principle /Ơktv prnsp(ə)l/ noun the main medicinal ingredient of a drug which makes it have the required effect on a person activities of daily living

activities of daily living /kƠtvtiz əv deli lvŋ/ noun a scale used by geriatricians and occupational therapists to assess the ca-pacity of elderly or disabled people to live in-dependently. Abbr ADLs

activity

activity /kƠ tvti/ noun 1. what someone does쑗 difficulty with activities such as walk-ing and dresswalk-ing 2. the characteristic behav-iour of a chemical쑗 The drug’s activity only lasts a few hours.

왍

antibacterial activity ef-fective action against bacteria

act on

act on /Ơ kt ɒn/, act upon /Ơ kt əƠpɒn/ verb

1. to do something as the result of something which has been said쑗 He acted on his doc-tor’s advice and gave up smoking. 2. to have an effect on someone or something쑗 The antibi-otic acted quickly on the infection.

act out

act out /Ơkt aυt/ verb to express negative feelings by behaving in a socially unaccepta-ble way

acuity

acupressure

6

acupressure

acupressure /Ơ kjυpreʃə/ noun a treatment which is based on the same principle as acu-puncture in which, instead of needles, fingers are used on specific points on the body, called pressure points

acupuncture

acupuncture /Ơ kjυp"ŋktʃə/ noun a treat-ment based on needles being inserted through the skin into nerve centres in order to relieve pain or treat a disorder

acupuncturist

acupuncturist /Ơ kjυƠp"ŋktʃərst/ noun a person who practises acupuncture

acute

acute /əƠ kjut/ adjective 1. referring to a dis-ease or condition which develops rapidly and can be dangerous쑗 an acute abscess Opposite

chronic 2. referring to pain which is sharp and intense (informal) 쑗 He felt acute chest pains.

acute abdomen

acute abdomen /əƠkjut bdəmən/ noun any serious condition of the abdomen which requires surgery

acute bed

acute bed /əƠ kjut bed/ noun a hospital bed reserved for people requiring immediate treat-ment

‘…the survey shows a reduction in acute beds in the last six years. The bed losses forced one hospital to send acutely ill patients to hospitals up to sixteen miles away.’ [Nursing Times]

acute care

acute care /əƠ kjut keə/ noun medical or surgical treatment in a hospital, usually for a short period, for a patient with a sudden severe illness or injury

acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

acute disseminated encephalomyelitis /əƠkjut dƠsemnetd enƠkefələυmaəƠ lats/ noun an encephalomyelitis or myelitis believed to result from an autoimmune attack on the myelin of the central nervous system acute glaucoma

acute glaucoma /əƠkjut DZlɔƠ kəυmə/ noun same as angle-closure glaucoma

acute hospital

acute hospital /əƠ kjut hɒspt(ə)l/ noun a hospital where people go for major surgery or intensive care of medical or surgical condi-tions

acutely

acutely /əƠ kjutli/ adverb 1. having or caus-ing a suddenly developcaus-ing medical condition

쑗 acutely ill patients 쑗 acutely toxic chemicals

2. extremely (informal)

acute lymphocytic leukaemia

acute lymphocytic leukaemia /əƠkjut lmfəstk luƠ kimiə/ noun a form of leukae-mia that is the commonest cancer affecting children

acute nonlymphocytic leukaemia

acute nonlymphocytic leukaemia /əƠ kjut nɒnlmfəstk luƠ kimiə/ noun a form of leukaemia that affects adults and chil-dren and is usually treated with chemotherapy acute pancreatitis

acute pancreatitis /əƠkut pŋkriəƠ tats/ noun inflammation after pancreatic enzymes have escaped into the pancreas, causing symp-toms of acute abdominal pain

acute respiratory distress syndrome

acute respiratory distress syndrome /əƠ kjut rƠsprət(ə)ri dƠ stres sndrəυm/ noun an infection of the lungs, often following injury, which prevents them functioning prop-erly. Abbr ARDS

acute rheumatism

acute rheumatism noun same as rheumatic fever

acute rhinitis

acute rhinitis /əƠkjut raƠ nats/ noun a vi-rus infection which causes inflammation of the mucous membrane in the nose and throat acute suppurative arthritis

acute suppurative arthritis /əƠkjut s" pjυrətv ɑθƠ rats/ noun same as pyarthrosis

acute toxicity

acute toxicity /əƠkjut tɒkƠ ssti/ noun a level of concentration of a toxic substance which makes people seriously ill or can cause death

acute yellow atrophy

acute yellow atrophy /əƠkjut jeləυ trəfi/쏡 yellow atrophy

acyclovir

acyclovir /eƠ sakləυvə/ noun same as

aci-clovir

acystia

acystia /eƠ sstiə/ noun a condition in which a baby is born without a bladder

AD

AD abbr Alzheimer’s disease Adam’s apple

Adam’s apple /Ơdəmz p(ə)l/ noun a part of the thyroid cartilage which projects from the neck below the chin in a man. Also called

laryngeal prominence

adapt

adapt /əƠ dpt/ verb 1. to change one’s ideas or behaviour to fit into a new situation쑗 She has adapted very well to her new job in the children’s hospital. 2. to change something to make it more useful쑗 The brace has to be adapted to fit the patient.

adaptation

adaptation /ƠdpƠ teʃ(ə)n/ noun 1. a change which has been or can be made to something 2. the act of changing something so that it fits a new situation 3. the process by which sensory receptors become accustomed to a sensation which is repeated

ADD

ADD abbr attention deficit disorder addicted

addicted /əƠ dktd/ adjective physically or mentally dependent on a harmful substance

왍

addicted to alcohol or drugs needing to take alcohol or a harmful drug regularly

addictive

addictive /əƠ dktv/ adjective referring to a drug which is habit-forming and which people can become addicted to

Addison’s anaemia

Addison’s anaemia /Ơds(ə)nz əƠ nimiə/ same as pernicious anaemia [Described 1849. After Thomas Addison (1793–1860), from Northumberland, founder of the science of en-docrinology.]

Addison’s disease

Addison’s disease /Ơ ds(ə)nz dƠziz/ noun a disease of the adrenal glands, causing a change in skin colour to yellow and then to dark brown and resulting in general weakness, anaemia, low blood pressure and wasting away. Treatment is with corticosteroid injec-tions. [Described 1849. After Thomas Addison (1793–1860), from Northumberland, founder of the science of endocrinology.]

adducent

7

adiposuria

adduct

adduct /əƠ d"kt/ verb (of a muscle) to pull a leg or arm towards the central line of the body, or to pull a toe or finger towards the central line of a leg or arm. Opposite abduct

adducted

adducted /əƠ d"ktd/ adjective referring to a body part brought towards the middle of the body

adduction

adduction /əƠ d"kʃən/ noun the movement of a part of the body towards the midline or to-wards a neighbouring part. Compare abduc-tion. See illustration at ANATOMICAL TERMS in Supplement

adductor

adductor /əƠ d"ktə/, adductor muscle /əƠ d"ktə m"s(ə)l/ noun a muscle which pulls a part of the body towards the central line of the body. Opposite abductor

aden-aden- /dn/ prefix same as adeno- (used be-fore vowels)

adenectomy

adenectomy /ƠdƠ nektəmi/ noun the surgi-cal removal of a gland

adenine

adenine /Ơ dənin/ noun one of the four ba-sic chemicals in DNA

adenitis

adenitis /ƠdƠ nats/ noun inflammation of a gland or lymph node. 쒁 lymphadenitis

adeno-adeno- /dnəυ/ prefix referring to glands adenocarcinoma

adenocarcinoma /ƠdnəυƠkɑsƠ nəυmə/ noun a malignant tumour of a gland adenohypophysis

adenohypophysis /ƠdnəυƠhaƠ pɒfss/ noun the front lobe of the pituitary gland which secretes most of the pituitary hormones adenoid

adenoid /Ơ dnɔd/ adjective like a gland

adenoidal

adenoidal /ƠdƠ nɔd(ə)l/ adjective referring to the adenoids

adenoidal expression

adenoidal expression /Ơdnɔd(ə)l kƠ spreʃ(ə)n/ noun a common symptom of a child suffering from adenoids, where his or her mouth is always open, the nose is narrow and the top teeth appear to project forward adenoidal tissue

adenoidal tissue /Ơdnɔd(ə)l tʃu/ noun same as adenoids

adenoidectomy

adenoidectomy /ƠdnɔƠ dektəmi/ noun the surgical removal of the adenoids adenoidism

adenoidism /Ơ dnɔdz(ə)m/ noun the con-dition of a person with adenoids

adenoids

adenoids /Ơ dnɔdz/ plural noun a mass of tissue at the back of the nose and throat that can restrict breathing if enlarged. Also called

pharyngeal tonsils

adenoid vegetation

adenoid vegetation /Ơdnɔd vedȢəƠ teʃ(ə)n/ noun a condition in children where the adenoidal tissue is covered with growths and can block the nasal passages or the Eus-tachian tubes

adenolymphoma

adenolymphoma /ƠdnəυlmƠ fəυmə/ noun a benign tumour of the salivary glands adenoma

adenoma /ƠdƠ nəυmə/ noun a benign tu-mour of a gland

adenoma sebaceum

adenoma sebaceum /Ơdnəυmə səƠ beʃəm/ noun a skin condition of the face shown by raised red vascular bumps appearing in late childhood or early adolescence

adenomyoma

adenomyoma /ƠdnəυmaƠ əυmə/ noun a benign tumour made up of glands and muscle adenopathy

adenopathy /ƠdƠ nɒpəθi/ noun a disease of a gland

adenosclerosis

adenosclerosis /ƠdnəυskləƠ rəυss/ noun the hardening of a gland

adenosine

adenosine /əƠ denəυsin/ noun a drug used to treat an irregular heartbeat

adenosine diphosphate

adenosine diphosphate /əƠdenəυsin daƠ fɒsfet/ noun a chemical compound which provides energy for processes to take place within living cells, formed when adenosine tri-phosphate reacts with water. Abbr ADP

adenosine triphosphate

adenosine triphosphate /əƠdenəυsin traƠ fɒsfet/ noun a chemical which occurs in all cells, but mainly in muscle, where it forms the energy reserve. Abbr ATP

adenosis

adenosis /ƠdƠ nəυss/ noun any disease or disorder of the glands

adenovirus

adenovirus /Ơ dnəυƠvarəs/ noun a virus which produces upper respiratory infections and sore throats and can cause fatal pneumonia in infants

ADH

ADH abbr antidiuretic hormone ADHD

ADHD noun full form attention deficit hyper-activity disorder. 쏡 hyperactivity

adhesion

adhesion /ədƠ hiȢ(ə)n/ noun a stable connec-tion between two parts in the body, either in a healing process or between parts which are not usually connected

adhesive dressing

adhesive dressing /ədƠhisv dresŋ/ noun a dressing with a sticky substance on the back so that it can stick to the skin

adhesive strapping

adhesive strapping /ədƠhisv strpŋ/ noun overlapping strips of adhesive plaster used to protect a lesion

adipo-adipo- /dpəυ/ prefix referring to fat adipose

adipose /Ơ dpəυs/ adjective containing fat, or made of fat

COMMENT: Fibrous tissue is replaced by adi-pose tissue when more food is eaten than is necessary.

adipose degeneration

adipose degeneration /Ơdpəυs dƠ dȢenəƠ reʃ(ə)n/ noun an accumulation of fat in the cells of an organ such as the heart or liv-er, which makes the organ less able to perform its proper function. Also called fatty degener-ation

adipose tissue

adipose tissue /Ơdpəυs tʃu/ noun a tis-sue where the cells contain fat

adiposis

adiposis /ƠdƠ pəυss/ noun a state where too much fat is accumulated in the body adiposis dolorosa

adiposis dolorosa /dƠpəυss dɒləƠ rəυsə/ noun a disease of middle-aged women in which painful lumps of fatty substance form in the body. Also called Dercum’s disease

adiposogenitalis

adiposogenitalis /dƠpəυsəυƠdȢenƠ tels/ noun same as Fröhlich’s syndrome

adiposuria

adiposus

8

adiposus

adiposus /ƠdƠ pəυsəs/ 쏡 panniculus

adi-posus

aditus

aditus /Ơ dtəs/ noun an opening or entrance to a passage

adjustment

adjustment /əƠ dȢ"stmənt/ noun a specific directional high-speed movement of a joint performed by a chiropractor

adjuvant

adjuvant /Ơ dȢυvənt/ adjective referring to treatment by drugs or radiation therapy after surgery for cancer쐽 noun a substance added to a drug to enhance the effect of the main ingre-dient

adjuvant therapy

adjuvant therapy /Ơ dȢυvənt θerəpi/ noun therapy using drugs or radiation after cancer surgery

ADLs

ADLs abbr activities of daily living administer

administer /ədƠ mnstə/ verb to give some-one medicine or a treatment

왍

to administer orally to give a medicine by mouth

admission

admission /ədƠ mʃ(ə)n/ noun the act of be-ing registered as a hospital patient

admit

admit /ədƠ mt/ verb to register a patient in a hospital쑗 _{He was admitted to hospital this}

morning.

‘80% of elderly patients admitted to geriatric units are on medication’ [Nursing Times]

‘…ten patients were admitted to the ICU before op-eration, the main indications being the need for eval-uation of patients with a history of severe heart dis-ease’ [Southern Medical Journal]

adnexa

adnexa /dƠ neksə/ plural noun structures at-tached to an organ

adolescence

adolescence /ƠdəƠ les(ə)ns/ noun the peri-od of life when a child is developing into an adult

adolescent

adolescent /ƠdəƠ les(ə)nt/ noun a person who is at the stage of life when he or she is de-veloping into an adult쐽 adjective developing into an adult, or occurring at that stage of life

쑗 adolescent boys and girls 쑗 adolescent fan-tasies

adopt

adopt /əƠ dɒpt/ verb 1. to decide to use a par-ticular plan or idea or way of doing something

쑗 _{The hospital has adopted a new policy on}

visiting. 2. to become the legal parent of a child who was born to other parents

adoptive

adoptive /əƠ dɒptv/ adjective 1. taking over the role of something else 2. referring to peo-ple who have adopted a child or a child that has been adopted쑗 adoptive parents

adoptive immunotherapy

adoptive immunotherapy /əƠdɒptv m jυnəƠ θerəpi/ noun a treatment for cancer in which the patient’s own white blood cells are used to attack cancer cells

COMMENT: This technique can halt the growth of cancer cells in the body but it can have dis-tressing toxic side-effects.

ADP

ADP abbr adenosine diphosphate adrenal

adrenal /əƠ drin(ə)l/ adjective situated near the kidney쐽 noun same as adrenal gland

adrenal body

adrenal body /əƠ drin(ə)l bɒdi/ noun same as adrenal gland

adrenal cortex

adrenal cortex /əƠdrin(ə)l kɔteks/ noun the firm outside layer of an adrenal gland, which secretes a series of hormones affecting the metabolism of carbohydrates and water adrenalectomy

adrenalectomy /əƠdrinəƠ lektəmi/ noun the surgical removal of one of the adrenal glands adrenal gland

adrenal gland /əƠ drin(ə)l DZlnd/ noun one of two endocrine glands at the top of the kid-neys which secrete cortisone, adrenaline and other hormones. Also called adrenal body, ad-renal. See illustration at KIDNEY in Supplement adrenaline

adrenaline /əƠ drenəln/ noun a hormone se-creted by the medulla of the adrenal glands which has an effect similar to stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system (NOTE: The US term is epinephrine.)

COMMENT: Adrenaline is produced when a person experiences surprise, shock, fear or excitement and it speeds up the heartbeat and raises blood pressure. It is administered as an emergency treatment of acute anaphy-laxis and in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

adrenal medulla

adrenal medulla /əƠdrin(ə)l meƠ d"lə/ noun the inner part of the adrenal gland which se-cretes adrenaline and noradrenaline. Also called suprarenal medulla

adrenergic

adrenergic /ƠdrəƠ n!dȢk/ adjective refer-ring to a neurone or receptor which is stimulat-ed by adrenaline. 쒁 beta blocker

adrenergic receptor

adrenergic receptor /Ơdrən!dȢk rƠ septə/ noun same as adrenoceptor

COMMENT: Three types of adrenergic receptor act in different ways when stimulated by adrenaline. Alpha receptors constrict the bronchi, beta 1 receptors speed up the heart-beat and beta 2 receptors dilate the bronchi.

adrenoceptor

adrenoceptor /əƠdrenəυƠ septə/ noun a cell or neurone which is stimulated by adrenaline. Also called adrenoreceptor, adrenergic re-ceptor

adrenocortical

adrenocortical /əƠdrinəυƠ kɔtk(ə)l/ ad-jective relating to the cortex of the adrenal glands

adrenocorticotrophic hormone

adrenocorticotrophic hormone /əƠ drinəυƠkɔtəkəυtrɒfk hɔməυn/ noun a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland, which makes the cortex of the adrenal glands produce corticosteroids. Abbr ACTH. Also called corticotrophin

adrenogenital syndrome

adrenogenital syndrome /əƠdrinəυƠ dȢent(ə)l sndrəυm/ noun a condition caused by overproduction of male sex hor-mones, where boys show rapid sexual devel-opment and females develop male characteris-tics

adrenoleukodystrophy

adrenoleukodystrophy /əƠdrinəυƠlukəυƠ dstrəfi/ noun an inherited disorder of the ad-renal glands in boys

adrenolytic

adrenolytic /ədrinəυƠ ltk/ adjective acting against the secretion of adrenaline

adrenoreceptor

9

aflatoxin

adsorbent

adsorbent /dƠ sɔbənt/ adjective being ca-pable of adsorption

adsorption

adsorption /dƠ sɔpʃ(ə)n/ noun the attach-ment of one substance to another, often the bonding of a liquid with a gas or vapour which touches its surface

adult

adult /Ơ d"lt, əƠ d"lt/ adjective grown-up쑗 Adolescents reach the adult stage about the age of eighteen or twenty. 쐽 noun someone who is no longer a child

adult coeliac disease

adult coeliac disease /Ơd"lt silik dƠ ziz/ noun a condition in adults where the villi in the intestine become smaller and so reduce the surface which can absorb nutrients adult dentition

adult dentition /Ơd"lt denƠ tʃ(ə)n/ noun the 32 teeth which an adult has

adulteration

adulteration /əƠd"ltəƠ reʃ(ə)n/ noun the act of making something less pure by adding an-other substance

adult-onset diabetes

adult-onset diabetes /Ơd"lt ɒnset daəƠ bitiz/ noun a form of diabetes mellitus that develops slowly in older people as the body becomes less able to use insulin effectively adult respiratory distress syndrome

adult respiratory distress syndrome /Ơ d"lt rƠsprət(ə)ri dƠ stres sndrəυm/ noun a description of various lung infections which reduce the lungs’ efficiency. Abbr

ARDS

advanced trauma life support

advanced trauma life support /ədƠvɑnst trɔma laf səƠpɔt/ noun the management of a trauma patient during the critical first hour after injury. Abbr ATLS

adventitia

adventitia /ƠdvenƠ tʃə/ noun same as

tuni-ca adventitia

adventitious

adventitious /ƠdvənƠ tʃəs/ adjective on the outside or in an unusual place

adventitious bursa

adventitious bursa /Ơdvəntʃəs b!sə/ noun a bursa which develops as a result of con-tinued pressure or rubbing

adverse

adverse /Ơ dv!s/ adjective harmful or unfa-vourable

왍

the treatment had an adverse ef-fect on his dermatitis the treatment made the dermatitis worse

adverse occurrence

adverse occurrence /Ơdv!s əƠ k"rəns/ noun a harmful event which occurs during treatment

adverse reaction

adverse reaction /Ơdv!s riƠ kʃən/ noun a situation where someone experiences harm-ful effects from the application of a drug advocacy

advocacy /Ơ dvəkəsi/ noun active support for something, especially in order to help peo-ple who would have difficulty in gaining atten-tion without your help

adynamic ileus

adynamic ileus /eƠdanmk liəs/ noun same as paralytic ileus

aegophony

aegophony /iƠ DZɒfəni/ noun a high sound of the voice heard through a stethoscope, where there is fluid in the pleural cavity

aer-aer- /eə/ prefix same as aero- (used before vow-els)

aeration

aeration /eəƠ reʃ(ə)n/ noun the adding of air or oxygen to a liquid

aero-aero- /eərəυ/ prefix referring to air aeroba

aeroba /eəƠ rəυbə/, aerobe /Ơ eərəυb/ noun a tiny organism which needs oxygen to survive aerobic

aerobic /eəƠ rəυbk/ adjective needing oxy-gen to live, or taking place in the presence of oxygen

aerobic respiration

aerobic respiration /eəƠrəυbk respəƠ reʃ(ə)n/ noun the process where the oxygen which is breathed in is used to conserve energy as ATP aeroembolism

aeroembolism /ƠeərəυƠ embəlz(ə)m/ noun same as air embolism

aerogenous

aerogenous /eəƠ rɒdȢənəs/ adjective refer-ring to a bacterium which produces gas aerophagia

aerophagia /ƠeərəƠ fedȢə/, aerophagy /eəƠ rɒfədȢi/ noun the habit of swallowing air when suffering from indigestion, so making the stomach pains worse

aerosol

aerosol /Ơ eərəsɒl/ noun tiny particles of a liq-uid such as a drug or disinfectant suspended in a gas under pressure in a container and used as a spray

aetiological agent

aetiological agent /ƠitiəlɒdȢik(ə)l edȢ(ə)nt/ noun an agent which causes a disease aetiology

aetiology /ƠitiƠ ɒlədȢi/ noun 1. the cause or origin of a disease 2. the study of the causes and origins of diseases (NOTE: [all senses] The US spelling is etiology.)

‘…a wide variety of organs or tissues may be infect-ed by the Salmonella group of organisms, presenting symptoms which are not immediately recognised as being of Salmonella aetiology’ [Indian Journal of Medical Sciences]

afebrile

afebrile /eƠ fibral/ adjective with no fever

affect

affect /əƠ fekt/ verb to make something or someone change, especially to have a bad ef-fect on something or someone쑗 Some organs are rapidly affected if the patient lacks oxygen for even a short time. 쐽 noun same as affection

affection

affection /əƠ fekʃən/, affect /əƠ fekt/ noun the general state of a person’s emotions

‘Depression has degrees of severity, ranging from sadness, through flatness of affection or feeling, to suicide and psychosis’ [British Journal of Nursing] affective

affective /əƠ fektv/ adjective relating to a person’s moods or feelings

affective disorder

affective disorder /əƠ fektv dsƠɔdə/ noun a condition which changes someone’s mood, making him or her depressed or excited afferent

afferent /Ơ f(ə)rənt/ adjective conducting liquid or electrical impulses towards the in-side. Opposite efferent

afferent nerve

afferent nerve noun same as sensory nerve

afferent vessel

afferent vessel /Ơ f(ə)rənt ves(ə)l/ noun a tube which brings lymph to a gland

affinity

affinity /əƠ fnti/ noun an attraction between two substances

aflatoxin

African trypanosomiasis

10

African trypanosomiasis

African trypanosomiasis /Ơfrkən trpənəυsəυƠ maəss/ noun same as

sleep-ing sickness

afterbirth

afterbirth /Ơ ɑftəb!θ/ noun the tissues, in-cluding the placenta and umbilical cord, which are present in the uterus during pregnancy and are expelled after the birth of a baby aftercare

aftercare /Ơ ɑftəkeə/ noun 1. the care of a person who has had an operation. Aftercare treatment involves changing dressings and helping people to look after themselves again.

2. the care of a mother who has just given birth after-effect

after-effect /Ơ ɑftər Ơfekt/ noun a change which appears only some time after the cause

쑗 The operation had some unpleasant after-ef-fects.

after-image

after-image /Ơ ɑftər mdȢ/ noun an image of an object which remains in a person’s sight after the object itself has gone

afterpains

afterpains /Ơ ɑftəpenz/ plural noun regular pains in the uterus which are sometimes expe-rienced after childbirth

afunctional

afunctional /e f"ŋkʃən(ə)l/ adjective which does not function properly

agalactia

agalactia /ƠeDZəƠ lkʃə/ noun a condition in which a mother is unable to produce milk after childbirth

agammaglobulinaemia

agammaglobulinaemia /eƠDZməƠDZlɒbjυlƠ nimiə/ noun a deficiency or absence of im-munoglobulins in the blood, which results in a reduced ability to provide immune responses agar

agar /Ơ eDZɑ/, agar agar /ƠeDZɑr eDZɑ/ noun a culture medium based on an extract of sea-weed used for growing microorganisms in lab-oratories

age

age /edȢ/ noun the number of years which a person has lived쑗 What’s your age on your next birthday? 쑗 He was sixty years of age. 쑗

The size varies according to age. 쐽 verb to grow old

age group

age group /Ơ edȢ DZrup/ noun all the people of a particular age or within a particular set of ages쑗 the age group 20–25

ageing

ageing /Ơ edȢŋ/, aging noun the fact of growing old

COMMENT: Changes take place in almost eve-ry part of the body as the person ages. Bones become more brittle and skin becomes less elastic. The most important changes affect the blood vessels which are less elastic, making thrombosis more likely. This also reduces the supply of blood to the brain, which in turn re-duces the mental faculties.

ageing process

ageing process /Ơ edȢŋ prəυses/ noun the physical changes which take place in a person as he or she grows older

agency

agency /Ơ edȢənsi/ noun 1. an organisation which carries out work on behalf of another or-ganisation, e.g. one which recruits and em-ploys nurses and supplies them to hospitals temporarily when full-time nursing staff are unavailable 2. the act of causing something to

happen쑗 The disease develops through the agency of bacteria present in the bloodstream. ‘The cost of employing agency nurses should be no higher than the equivalent full-time staff.’ [Nursing Times]

‘Growing numbers of nurses are choosing agency careers, which pay more and provide more flexible schedules than hospitals.’ [American Journal of Nursing]

agenesis

agenesis /eƠ dȢenəss/ noun the absence of an organ, resulting from a failure in embryonic development

agent

agent /Ơ edȢənt/ noun 1. a chemical sub-stance which makes another subsub-stance react 2.

a substance or organism which causes a dis-ease or condition 3. a person who acts as a rep-resentative of another person or carries out some kinds of work on his or her behalf agglutinate

agglutinate /əƠ DZlutnet/ verb to form into groups or clusters, or to cause things to form into groups or clusters

agglutination

agglutination /əƠDZlutƠ neʃ(ə)n/ noun the act of coming together or sticking to one an-other to form a clump, as of bacteria cells in the presence of serum, or blood cells when blood of different types is mixed 앳 agglutina-tion test 1. a test to identify bacteria 2. a test to identify if a woman is pregnant

agglutinin

agglutinin /əƠ DZlutnn/ noun a factor in a se-rum which makes cells stick together in clumps

agglutinogen

agglutinogen /ƠDZluƠ tnədȢən/ noun a fac-tor in red blood cells which reacts with a spe-cific agglutinin in serum

aggravate

aggravate /Ơ DZrəvet/ verb to make some-thing worse 쑗 Playing football only aggra-vates his knee injury. 쑗 The treatment seems to aggravate the disease.

aggression

aggression /əƠ DZreʃ(ə)n/ noun the state of feeling violently angry towards someone or something

aggressive

aggressive /əƠ DZresv/ adjective referring to treatment which involves frequent high doses of medication

aging

aging /Ơ edȢŋ/ noun another spelling of

age-ing

agitated

agitated /Ơ dȢtetd/ adjective moving about or twitching nervously because of worry or another psychological state쑗 The person became agitated and had to be given a seda-tive.

agitation

agitation /ƠdȢƠ teʃ(ə)n/ noun a state of be-ing very nervous and anxious

aglossia

aglossia /eƠ DZlɒsiə/ noun the condition of not having a tongue from birth

agnosia

agnosia /DZƠ nəυziə/ noun a brain disorder in which a person fails to recognise places, peo-ple, tastes or smells which they used to know well

agonist

11

Albee’s operation

prime mover 2. a substance which produces an observable physiological effect by acting through specific receptors. 쒁 antagonist

agony

agony /Ơ DZəni/ noun a very severe physical or emotional pain쑗 He lay in agony on the floor.

쑗 She suffered the agony of waiting for weeks until her condition was diagnosed.

agoraphobia

agoraphobia /ƠDZ(ə)rəƠ fəυbiə/ noun a fear of being in open spaces. Compare claustro-phobia

agoraphobic

agoraphobic /ƠDZ(ə)rəƠ fəυbk/ adjective afraid of being in open spaces. Compare

claustrophobic

agranulocytosis

agranulocytosis /əƠDZrnjυləυƠsaƠ təυss/ noun a usually fatal disease where the number of granulocytes, a type of white blood cell, falls sharply because of a bone marrow condi-tion

agraphia

agraphia /eƠ DZrfiə/ noun the condition of being unable to put ideas into writing AHF

AHF abbr antihaemophilic factor aid

aid /ed/ noun 1. help 2. a machine, tool or drug which helps someone do something쑗 He uses a walking frame as an aid to exercising his legs. 쐽 verb to help someone or something

쑗 The procedure is designed to aid the repair of tissues after surgery.

AID

AID /Ơe a di/ noun full form artificial in-semination by donor. now called DI

AIDS

AIDS /edz/, Aids noun a viral infection which breaks down the body’s immune system. Full form acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, acquired immune deficiency syndrome

COMMENT: AIDS is a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It is spread mostly by sexual intercourse and can affect anyone. It is also transmitted through in-fected blood and plasma transfusions, through using unsterilised needles for injec-tions, and can be passed from a mother to a fetus. The disease takes a long time, usually years, to show symptoms, and many people with HIV are unaware that they are infected. It causes a breakdown of the body’s immune system, making the patient susceptible to any infection and often results in the development of rare skin cancers. It is not curable.

AIDS dementia

AIDS dementia /Ơedz dƠ menʃə/ noun a form of mental degeneration resulting from in-fection with HIV

AIDS-related complex

AIDS-related complex /Ơedz rƠletd kɒmpleks/, AIDS-related condition /Ơedz rƠ letd kənƠ dʃ(ə)n/ noun early symptoms shown by someone infected with the HIV vi-rus, e.g. weight loss, fever and herpes zoster. Abbr ARC

AIH

AIH abbr artificial insemination by husband ailment

ailment /Ơ elmənt/ noun an illness, though not generally a very serious one쑗 Chickenpox is one of the common childhood ailments.

ailurophobia

ailurophobia /ƠalυərəƠ fəυbiə/ noun a fear of cats

air

air /eə/ noun a mixture of gases, mainly oxy-gen and nitrooxy-gen, which cannot be seen, but which exists all around us and which is breathed 쑗 _{Open the window and let some}

fresh air into the room. 쑗 _{He breathed the}

pol-luted air into his lungs.

air bed

air bed /Ơ eə bed/ noun a mattress which is filled with air, used to prevent the formation of bedsores. 쒁 conduction

airborne infection

airborne infection /Ơeəbɔn nƠ fekʃən/ noun an infection which is carried in the air air conduction

air conduction /Ơ eə kənƠd"kʃən/ noun the process by which sounds pass from the outside to the inner ear through the auditory meatus air embolism

air embolism /eər embəlz(ə)m/ noun a blockage caused by bubbles of air, that stops the flow of blood in vessels

air hunger

air hunger /Ơ eə h"ŋDZə/ noun a condition in which the patient needs air because of lack of oxygen in the tissues

air passage

air passage /Ơ eə psdȢ/ noun any tube which takes air to the lungs, e.g. the nostrils, pharynx, larynx, trachea and bronchi air sac

air sac /Ơ eə sk/ noun a small sac in the lungs which contains air. 쒁 alveolus

airsick

airsick /Ơ eəsk/ adjective feeling sick because of the movement of an aircraft

airsickness

airsickness /Ơ eəsknəs/ noun a queasy feel-ing, usually leading to vomitfeel-ing, caused by the movement of an aircraft

airway

airway /Ơ eəwe/ noun a passage through which air passes, especially the trachea airway clearing

airway clearing /Ơ eəwe klərŋ/ noun making sure that the airways in a newborn baby or an unconscious person are free of any obstruction

airway obstruction

airway obstruction /Ơeəwe əbƠ str"kʃ(ə)n/ noun something which blocks the air passages akathisia

akathisia /ƠekəƠ θsiə/ noun restlessness

akinesia

akinesia /ƠekƠ niziə/ noun a lack of volun-tary movement, as in Parkinson’s disease akinetic

akinetic /ƠekƠ netk/ adjective without movement

alacrima

alacrima /eƠ lkrmə/ noun same as xerosis

alactasia

alactasia /ƠelkƠ teziə/ noun a condition in which there is a deficiency of lactase in the in-testine, making the patient incapable of digest-ing lactose, the sugar in milk

alalia

alalia /eƠ leliə/ noun a condition in which a person completely loses the ability to speak alanine

alanine /Ơ lənin/ noun an amino acid alanine aminotransferase

alanine aminotransferase /Ơlənin əƠ minəυƠ trnsfərez/ noun an enzyme which is found in the liver and can be monitored as an indicator of liver damage. Abbr ALT

alar cartilage

alar cartilage /Ơelə kɑtldȢ/ noun carti-lage in the nose

alba

alba /Ơ lbə/쏡 linea alba

Albee’s operation

albicans

12

the femur to the pelvis [After Frederick Houdlett Albee (1876–1945), US surgeon]

albicans

albicans /Ơ lbknz/쏡 corpus albicans

albinism

albinism /Ơ lbnz(ə)m/ noun a condition in which a person lacks the pigment melanin and so has pink skin and eyes and white hair. It is hereditary and cannot be treated. 쒁 vitiligo

albino

albino /lƠ binəυ/ noun a person who is defi-cient in melanin and has little or no pigmenta-tion in the skin, hair or eyes

albuginea

albuginea /ƠlbjυƠ dȢniə/ noun a layer of white tissue covering a part of the body albuginea oculi

albuginea oculi /ƠlbjυdȢniə ɒkjυla/ noun same as sclera

albuminometer

albuminometer /ƠlbjυmƠ nɒmtə/ noun an instrument for measuring the level of albu-min in the urine

albuminuria

albuminuria /ƠlbjυmƠ njυəriə/ noun a con-dition in which albumin is found in the urine, usually a sign of kidney disease, but also sometimes of heart failure

albumose

albumose /Ơ lbjυməυz/ noun an intermedi-ate product in the digestion of protein alcohol

alcohol /Ơ lkəhɒl/ noun a pure colourless liquid which is formed by the action of yeast on sugar solutions and forms part of drinks such as wine and whisky

COMMENT: Alcohol is used medicinally to dry wounds or harden the skin. When drunk, alco-hol is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. It is a source of energy, so any carbohydrates taken at the same time are not used by the body and are stored as fat. Alcohol is a de-pressant, not a stimulant, and affects the way the brain works.

alcohol abuse

alcohol abuse /Ơ lkəhɒl əƠbjus/ noun the excessive use of alcohol adversely affecting a person’s health

alcohol addiction

alcohol addiction /Ơ lkəhɒl əƠdkʃən/ noun a condition in which a person is depend-ent on the use of alcohol

alcohol-fast

alcohol-fast /Ơ lkəhɒl fɑst/ adjective refer-ring to an organ stained for testing which is not discoloured by alcohol

alcoholic

alcoholic /ƠlkəƠ hɒlk/ adjective 1. contain-ing alcohol 2. caused by alcoholism쑗 alcohol-ic poisoning 쐽 noun a person who is addicted to drinking alcohol and shows changes in be-haviour and personality

alcoholic cardiomyopathy

alcoholic cardiomyopathy /Ơlkəhɒlk kɑdiəυmaƠ ɒpəθi/ noun a disease of the heart muscle arising as a result of long-term heavy alcohol consumption

alcoholic cirrhosis

alcoholic cirrhosis /Ơlkəhɒlk sƠ rəυss/ noun cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcohol-ism

alcoholic hepatitis

alcoholic hepatitis /Ơlkəhɒlk hepəƠ tats/ noun inflammation of the liver as a re-sult of long-term heavy alcohol consumption, often leading to cirrhosis

Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous /Ơlkəhɒlks əƠ nɒnməs/ noun an organisation of former

al-coholics which helps people to overcome their dependence on alcohol by encouraging them to talk about their problems in group therapy. Abbr AA

alcoholicum

alcoholicum /ƠlkəƠ hɒlkəm/쏡 delirium

al-coholicum

alcoholism

alcoholism /Ơ lkəhɒlz(ə)m/ noun exces-sive drinking of alcohol which becomes addic-tive

alcohol poisoning

alcohol poisoning /Ơ lkəhɒl pɔz(ə)nŋ/ noun