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Medical Dictionary Terms Beginning with A
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ACL (anterior cruciate ligament)
ACL (anterior cruciate ligament): One of the ligaments in the knee, the ACL crosses from the underside of the femur (the thigh bone) to the top of the tibia (the bigger bone in the lower leg). ACL injuries can occur in a number of situations inclumore detail info...
Acne
Acne: Localized skin inflammation as a result of overactivity of the oil glands at the base of hair follicles. When these oil glands become plugged up, the overactive oil glands become red and inflamed. Also called pimples.more detail info...
Acne rosacea
Acne rosacea: This term is actually a misnomer! The appropriate term is simply rosacea which is a chronic skin disease that affects the middle third of the face with persistent redness over the areas of the face and nose that normally blush: mainly the fmore detail info...
ACOG (Amer College of Ob & Gyn)
ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists): The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is an organization concerned with the quality of ob/gyn practice in the U.S. It is called "a cog." The members of ACOG are "Women'smore detail info...
Acquired
Acquired: In medicine, the word &acquired& means &new& or &added.& New in the sense that it is not genetic (inherited) and added in the sense that is was not congenital (present at birth) but came along later. For example,more detail info...
Acquired immunodeficiency disease
Acquired immunodeficiency disease: Acquired immunodeficiency disease: Disease caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).more detail info...
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: AIDS.more detail info...
Acquired mutation
Acquired mutation: A change in a gene or chromosome that occurs in a single cell after the conception of the individual. That change is then passed along to all cells descended from that cell. Acquired mutations are involved in the development of cancemore detail info...
Acrocentric chromosome
Acrocentric chromosome: A chromosome (one of the microscopically visible carriers of the genetic material DNA) with its centromere (the ôwaistö of the chromosome) located quite near one end of the chromosome. The ôacro-ô in acrocentric comes frommore detail info...
Acrocephalosyndactyly
Acrocephalosyndactyly: An inherited disorder causing abnormalities of the skull and face and the hands and feet. In acrocephalosyndactyly there is closure too-early of some of the sutures of the skull (craniosynostosis). This results in an abnmore detail info...
Acrochordon
Acrochordon: A small tag of skin that may have a stalk (a peduncle). An acrochordon may appear on skin anywhere although the favorite locales are the eyelids, neck, armpits (axillae), upper chest, and groin. Invariably benign, this tiny tumor of the smore detail info...
Acrocyanosis
Acrocyanosis: Blueness of the extremities (the hands and feet).more detail info...
Acrodermatitis enteropathica
Acrodermatitis enteropathica: An historic model for the therapy of genetic disease. In an era (the 1950s) when inherited disorders were usually seen as hopeless, this progressive hereditary (autosomal recessive) disease of children was found treamore detail info...
Acrodynia
Acrodynia: Pain in the extremities.more detail info...
Acromegaly
Acromegaly: Condition due to the production of too much growth hormone by the pituitary gland. Acromegaly is characterized by large structure of the tongue, forehead, hands, and feet.more detail info...
Actinic keratosis
Actinic keratosis: A precancerous condition of thick and scaly patches of skin, also called solar or senile keratosis.more detail info...
Active euthanasia
Active euthanasia:The active acceleration of a "good" death by use of drugs etc, whether by oneself or with the aid of a doctor. The word "euthanasia" comes from the Greek -- "eu", goodly or well + "thanatos", death = the good death -- and for 18th-cenmore detail info...
Active immunity
Active immunity: Immunity produced by the body in response to stimulation by a disease-causing organism or other agent.more detail info...
Activities of daily living (ADLs)
Activities of daily living (ADLs): The things we normally do in daily living including any daily activity we perform for self-care (such as feeding ourselves, bathing, dressing, grooming), work, homemaking, and leisure. The ability or inability to perfmore detail info...
Activity, drug
Activity, drug: A measure of the physiological response a drug produces in the body. A less active drug produces less response (and visa versa).more detail info...