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Medical Dictionary Terms Beginning with D
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D & C
D & C: Dilatation and curettage, a minor operation in which the cervix is expanded enough (dilatation) to permit the cervical canal and uterine lining to be scraped with a spoon-shaped instrument called a curette (curettage).more detail info...
Da Vinci, Leonardo
Da Vinci, Leonardo: The father of anatomic art. The architect, scientist, engineer, inventor, poet, sculptor and painter, Leonardo da Vinci first became interested in anatomic art when he was asked by a Veronese anatomist named Marc Antonia Dellmore detail info...
Dactylitis
Dactylitis: Inflammation of a digit (either a finger or a toe). Dactyl comes from the Greek "daktylos" meaning "finger." It now refers not only to the fingers but also the toes. Dactyledema is edema (swelling) of the fingers or toes; dactylomegalymore detail info...
Daily Prayer of a Physician
Daily Prayer of a Physician: A prayer that is said to have been written by the 12th-century physician-philosopher Moses Maimonides. Like the famous oath of Hippocrates, the prayer of Maimonides is often recited by new medical graduates. This praymore detail info...
Daltonism
Daltonism: Daltonism refers to colorblindness of the red-green type (also known as deuteranopia or deuteranomaly). The term "Daltonism" comes from the name of the English chemist and physicist, John Dalton (1766-1844). Born in a village in Cumbemore detail info...
Danders
Danders: Tiny scales shed from human or animal skin or hair. Danders float in the air, settle on surfaces and make up much household dust. Cat danders are a classic cause of allergic reactions.more detail info...
Dandy fever
Dandy fever: An acute mosquito- borne viral illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course with headache, fever, prostration, severe joint and muscle pain, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy) and rash. The presence (the ôdengue triadö) omore detail info...
Danlos syndrome
Danlos syndrome: Better known today as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), this is an inherited disorder with easy bruising, joint hypermobility (loose joints), skin laxity, and weakness of tissues. There are a number of different Ehlers-Danlos syndrommore detail info...
Day sight
Day sight: Night blindness. Listed in medical dictionaries under ôNyctalopiaö from the Greek ônyctÆ (night) + ôaloasö (obscure or blind) + ôopsisö (vision), the condition involves impaired vision in dim light and in the dark (but normal sight inmore detail info...
Deafness
Deafness: Partial or complete hearing loss, due to genetic, accidental, environmental or acquired illness.more detail info...
Deafness-ichthyosis-keratitis syndrome
Deafness-ichthyosis-keratitis syndrome: An inherited disorder in which affected persons have deafness at birth, localized areas of disfiguring reddish thickened skin (ichthyosis), gradual destruction of the cornea (keratitis) of the eye sometimesmore detail info...
Death rate
Death rate: The number of deaths in the population divided by the average population (or the population at midyear) is the crude death rate. In 1994, for example, the crude death rate per 1,000 population was 8.8 in the United States, 7.1 in Australia,more detail info...
Death, black
Death, black: The black plague or the plague. In 14th century Europe, the victims of the &black plague& had bleeding below the skin (subcutaneous hemorrhage) which made darkened (&blackened&) their bodies. The black death swept recumore detail info...
Debilitate
Debilitate: To impair the strength or to enfeeble. A chronic progressive disease may debilitate a patient. So may, temporarily, a major surgical procedure. In both cases the weakness is pervasive. Weakness in an arm or leg following the removalmore detail info...
Decongestants
Decongestants: Drugs that shrink the swollen membranes in the nose and make it easier to breath. Decongestants can be taken orally or by nasal spray. Decongestant nasal spray should not be used for more than five days without the doctor&s advice,more detail info...
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT): Blood clotting in the veins of the inner thigh or leg. In air travel, DVT is the &economy-class syndrome.& Even in young, health travelers the long stretches immobilized in cramped seats in cabins with very low hummore detail info...
Defect, atrial septal (ASD)
Defect, atrial septal (ASD): A hole in the septum, the wall, between the atria, the upper chambers of the heart. Commonly called an ASD. ASDs are a major class of congenital cardiac malformation.more detail info...
Defect, enzyme
Defect, enzyme: An abnormality in the protein (enzyme) important in catalyzing a normal biochemical reaction in the body. Disorders result from a deficiency (or functional abnormality) of an enzyme. Archibald Garrod in 1902 was the first to attribute amore detail info...
Defect, ventricular septal (VSD)
Defect, ventricular septal (VSD): A ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a hole in the septum (the wall) between the two lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles). VSDs are the commonest class of heart malformation (congenital heart disease). Atmore detail info...
Defibrillator, implantable cardiac
Defibrillator, implantable cardiac: A device put within the body that is designed to recognize certain types of abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) and correct them. Defibrillators continuously monitor the heart rhythm in order to detect rapid arrhythmmore detail info...
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