Medical Topics
- Acclimatization
- The adjustments of a human body or other organism to a new environment.
- Acetaminophen
C8H9NO2
More commonly known as Paracetamol, a widely used over-the-counter analgesic.
- Acetyl-Salicyclic Acid
CH3COOC6H4COOH
Commonly known as Aspirin, a white solid. Used in medicine as an antipyretic and analgesic.
- Acidosis
- A condition in which blood pH decreases, either for metabolic or respiratory reasons.
- Acology
- The science of remedies.
- Acoustic Trauma
- Damage to the hearing mechanism caused by a sudden burst of intense noise, or by a blast.
- Alkalosis
- A metabolic condition in which blood pH decreases, usually the result of a metabolic condition or vomiting.
- Altitude Acclimatization
- Physiological adaptation to reduced atmospheric and oxygen pressure.
- Altitude Sickness
- Sickness brought on by exposure to reduced oxygen tension and barometric pressure.
- Ames Test
- A simple bacterial test for carcinogens.
- Anodyne
- A medicine or drug which alleviates pain.
- Anomia
- A neurological disorder which causes a marked inability to name otherwise familiar stimuli.
- Anoxia
- A complete lack of oxygen available for physiological use within the body.
- Antibiotic
- An organic compound secreted by many species of microorganisms and fungi which is toxic to other species.
- Apgar Scale
- Standardized scale that is used to determine the physical status of an infant at birth.
- Apgar, Virginia
- Professor of anesthesiology at the New York Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, devised the Apgar Scale in 1953.
- Apical Turn
- The final turn in the spiral of the cochlea furthest from the oval and round windows.
- Aspirin
- Common name for Acetyl-Salicyclic Acid.
- Audiogram
- Graph of hearing threshold level as a function of frequency.
- Audiometer
- An instrument for measuring hearing acuity.
- Auditory Anomia
- A neurological disorder which causes a marked inability to name otherwise familiar acoustic stimuli such as a door bell or motor vehicle.
- Auditory Cortex
- Region of the cortex devoted to the analysis of sound information.
- Auditory Nerve
- Bundle of nerve fibers that carry information from the cochlea to the higher stages of the auditory system.
- Basilar Membrane
- A membrane inside the cochlea that vibrates in response to sound, exciting the hair cells.
- BID
- This is an abbreviation for the latin phrase bis in die which translates to "twice a day".
- Biotin
- Commonly known as vitamin H.
- Blood
- A liquid that circulates inside the bodies of animals.
- BMI
- Abbreviation of Body Mass Index.
- Body Mass Index
- A measure of fatness used in medicine and health.
- Cancer
- A disease caused by mutations in the cells of an organism.
- Carcinogens
- Substances known to cause cancer.
- CH3COOC6H4COOH
- Chemical formula for Acetyl-Salicyclic Acid.
- Cochlea
- A snail shaped mechanism in the inner ear that contain hair cells of basilar membrane that vibrate to aid in frequency recognition.
- Computer Assisted Drug Design
- Using computational chemistry to discover, enhance, or study drugs and related biologically active molecules.
- Conductive Hearing Loss
- Hearing loss due to the impairment of sound transmission before it reaches the inner ear.
- Cyanocobolamin
- Commonly known as vitamin B12.
- Diaphoretic
- Any substance which induces perspiration when administered to a patient.
- diebus alternis
- Latin for every other day.
- diebus tertius
- Latin for every third day.
- Dose
- A measure of the energy deposited within a given mass of a patient.
- Dose Equivalent
- Parameter used to express the risk of the deleterious effects of ionization radiation upon living organisms.
- Dose Rate
- A measure of the dose delivered per unit time.
- Drug
- A biologically active compound or mixture used to cure, prevent, or detect disease, to control biological processes, or to alter mental state.
- Ear
- The human ear, as a sound receiver, has to operate under a wide range of conditions.
- Eardrum
- The tympanic membrane located at the end of the ear canal that is attached to the ossicles of the middle ear.
- Earmuff
- Hearing protector worn over the pinna of an ear.
- Earplug
- Hearing protector that is inserted into the ear canal.
- Enkephalin
- Molecules produced naturally by the central nervous system to numb pain.
- Epsom Salts
- Common name for Magnesium Sulphate.
- Excitotoxin
- An excitotoxin is a toxic molecule that stimulates nerve cells so much that they are damaged or killed.
- Explosive Decompression
- A very rapid reduction of air pressure inside a cabin, coming to a new static condition of balance with the external pressure.
- External Meatus
- The ear canal terminated by the eardrum.
- Genetic Engineering
- A man-made method of altering the genes to change the characteristics of an organism.
- Grain
- An individual crystal in a poly-crystalline metal or alloy.
- Hair Cell
- Sensory cells in the cochlea which transform the mechanical energy of sound into nerve impulses.
- Hearing
- The subjective human response to sound.
- Hearing Damage
- A person exposed to high noise levels can suffer hearing damage. The damage may be gradual or traumatic.
- Hearing Level
- A measured threshold of hearing at a specified frequency, expressed in decibels relative to a specified standard of normal hearing.
- Hearing Loss
- An impairment of auditory acuity.
- Hearing Protector
- Personal device worn to reduce harmful auditory or annoying subjective effects of sound.
- Hippocrates
- He believed that "the four fluids or humours of the body (blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile) are the primary seats of disease."
- Human Vibration
- The effect of mechanical vibration in the environment on the human body.
- Hyperbarism
- Disturbances in the body resulting from an excess of the ambient pressure over that within the body fluids, tissues, and cavities.
- Hyperoxia
- A condition in which the total oxygen content of the body is increased above that normally existing at sea level.
- Hypobarism
- Disturbances resulting from a decrease of ambient pressure to less than that within the body fluids, tissues, and cavities.
- in die
- Latin meaning daily.
- Ketosis
- A metabolic condition in which the concentration of ketone bodies in the blood, tissues, and urine is abnormally high.
- Kidney
- An organ in the body which is used for excretion.
- kilorad
- Common unit of radiation dose equal to 1000 rads.
- Laughing Gas
- Nitrous oxide, an anaesthetic.
- Lifetime Cancer Risk
- The probability of contracting cancer over the course of a lifetime.
- Magnesium Citrate
C6H6O7Mg
Used medicinally as a saline laxative and to empty the bowel prior to a surgery.
- Magnesium Stearate
C36H70MgO4
Widely regarded as harmless, it is often used as a diluent in the manufacture of medical tablets.
- Niacin
- Vitamin B3 is a crystalline acid found in meat and yeast and produced by the oxidation of nicotine.
- Nicotinic Acid
- Vitamin B3 is a crystalline acid found in meat and yeast and produced by the oxidation of nicotine.
- Nobel Prize
- Awarded annually as per Alfred Nobel′s last will and testament.
- Noise Induced Hearing Loss
- A sensor-neural loss attributed to the effects of noise.
- Objective Tinnitus
- This refers to abnormal or pathological sounds originating within the body, in the region of the ear, which are audible to others than the subject.
- Ossicles
- A linkage of three tiny bones providing the mechanical coupling between the eardrum and the oval window of the cochlea consisting of the hammer, anvil, and stirrup.
- Otologist
- A physician who specializes in the ear and its diseases.
- Oval Window
- A tiny membranous window on the cochlea to which the foot plate of the stirrup ossicle is attached.
- Pathogen
- Any microorganism or substance that causes disease.
- Physiological Acceleration
- The acceleration experienced by a human in an accelerating vehicle.
- Presbycusis
- Gradual and biologically normal loss of acute hearing with advancing age.
- Protein
- A very large, naturally occurring polyamide formed from a selection of the 20 or so naturally occurring amino acids.
- Rad
- The rad is a unit used to measure absorbed radiation dose.
- Radiation Absorbed Dose
- The rad is a unit used to measure absorbed radiation dose.
- Respiration
- The process of generating energy from the oxidation of organic compounds, with the electrons transferred to oxygen as the final electron acceptor.
- Riboflavin
- Commonly known as vitamin B2.
- Roentgen Equivalent Man (rem)
- This relates to the absorbed dose in human tissue to the effective biological damage of the radiation.
- Round Window
- The tiny membrane of the cochlea that opens in the middle ear that serves as a "pressure release" for the cochlear fluid.
- Schneider Index
- A composite weighted index of pulse and blood-pressure response to exercise, utilized as a test of physical efficiency.
- Semicircular Canals
- The three sensory organs for balance that are a part of the cochlear structure.
- Sensation Level
- The level of psychophysiologic stimulation above the threshold.
- Sensor-Neural Hearing Loss
- Hearing loss originating in the cochlea or the fibres of the auditory nerve.
- Significant Threshold Shift
- A shift in hearing threshold, outside the range of audiometric testing variability.
- Smell
- Human can detect around 1 trillion different smells.
- Synaesthesia
- A cross talk effect in the brain in which one sensory pathway links across to another, resulting in two outputs from one input.
- Temporary Threshold Shift
- A temporary impairment of hearing acuity as indicated by a change in the threshold of audibility.
- Teratogen
- A substance that can cause deformities in embryos. Dioxin is a teratogen.
- Tinnitus
- Persistent sensation of ringing noises in the ear.
- Tinnitus Aurium
- This refers a subjective sensation of noises in the ears.
- Toxic Vapours
- Vapors emitted by a substance that can do bodily harm.
- Vein
- A blood vessel that carries blood towards the heart.
- Virus
- A small microbe. Viruses cause diseases such as the common cold, flu, polio and smallpox.
