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Medical Dictionary Terms Beginning with A
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Acupuncture
Acupuncture: The practice of inserting needles into the body with a therapeutic aim such as to reduce pain or induce anesthesia.more detail info...
Acute
Acute: Of short duration, rapid and abbreviated in onset, in reference to a disease. ôAcuteö is a measure of the time scale of a disease and is in contrast to ôsubacuteö and ôchronic.ö ôSubacuteö indicates longer duration or less rapid change. ôChmore detail info...
Acute abdomen
Acute abdomen: The abrupt (acute) onset of abdominal pain. A potential medical emergency, an acute abdomen may reflect a major problem with one of the organs in the abdomen such as the appendix (being inflammed = appendicitis), the gallbladder (more detail info...
Acute angle-closure glaucoma
Acute angle-closure glaucoma: Increased pressure in the front chamber (anterior chamber) of the eye due to sudden (acute) blockage of the normal circulation of fluid within the eye. The block takes place at the angle of the anterior chamber formemore detail info...
Acute idiopathic polyneuritis
Acute idiopathic polyneuritis: Also known as the Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder characterized by progressive symmetrical paralysis and loss of reflexes, usually beginning in the leg, with in most cases nearly complete or complete recovery. The Guillmore detail info...
Acute illness
Acute illness: A disease with an abrupt onset and usually a short course.more detail info...
Acute leukemia
Acute leukemia: Cancer of the blood cells (leukemia) that characteristically comes on abruptly and (if not treated) progresses rapidly.more detail info...
Acute membraneous gingivitis
Acute membraneous gingivitis: This is trench mouth, also known as VincentÆs angina, a progressive painful infection with ulceration, swelling and sloughing off of dead tissue from the mouth and throat due to the spread of infection from the gumore detail info...
Acute myocardial infarction
Acute myocardial infarction: An acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a heart attack. The term "myocardial infarction" focuses on the heart muscle (the myocardium) and the changes that occur in it due to sudden (acute) deprivation of circulating blmore detail info...
Acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis (ANUG)
Acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis (ANUG): This is trench mouth, also known as VincentÆs angina, a progressive painful infection with ulceration, swelling and sloughing off of dead tissue from the mouth and throat due to the spread of infmore detail info...
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS): Respiratory failure of sudden onset due to fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema) following an abrupt increase in the permeability of the normal barrier between the capillaries in the lungs and the air sacs. ARDmore detail info...
Acute thrombocytopenic purpura (ATP)
Acute thrombocytopenic purpura (ATP): Sudden onset of low blood platelet levels with bleeding into the skin and elsewhere. ATP is due to many causes. It may, for example, constitute a potentially serious complication during the acute phase ofmore detail info...
Ad- (prefix)
Ad- (prefix): Latin prefix meaning ôtowardö and ôin the direction ofö (among other things) as, for example, in adduction (movement of a limb toward the midline of the body), adrenal (toward the kidney).more detail info...
Ad lib
Ad lib: Abbreviation for the Latin "ad libitum" meaning "at pleasure" and "at one's pleasure, as much as one desires, to the full extent of one's wishes." Sometimes seen on a prescription or doctor's order. For example, during an overnight fast wmore detail info...
ADA
ADA: American Dental Association (and the American Diabetes Association).more detail info...
Adam's apple
Adam's apple: This familiar feature in front of the neck is due to the forward protrusion of the largest cartilage of the larynx. It is usually said to take its name from the story that a piece of the forbidden fruit stuck in AdamÆs throat. The pmore detail info...
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder): An inability to control behavior due to difficulty in processing neural stimuli. In November, 1998 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a consensus report developed by a panel of experts. The panel concludemore detail info...
AddisonÆs disease
Addison’s disease: Long-term underfunction of the outer portion of the adrenal gland. In medical terms, chronic insufficiency of the adrenal cortex. This may be due to a number of different insults to the adrenal including physical trauma, hmore detail info...
Addisonian anemia
Addisonian anemia: A blood disorder caused by a lack of vitamin B12. Patients who have this disorder do not produce the substance in the stomach that allows the body to absorb vitamin B12. This substance is called intrinsic factor (IF). Addisonimore detail info...
Addison's anemia
Addison's anemia: A blood disorder caused by a lack of vitamin B12. Patients who have this disorder do not produce the substance in the stomach that allows the body to absorb vitamin B12. This substance is called intrinsic factor (IF). Addison'smore detail info...