Medicine Terms
Medicine is the science and practice of diagnosing, treating and preventing disease. These terms cover common conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and stroke, how the body's systems fail, key drugs, and the methods used to test treatments.
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- AllergyImmunologyAn allergy is an immune overreaction to a normally harmless substance, such as pollen or peanuts, driven mainly by IgE antibodies and mast cells.
- Alzheimer's diseaseNeuroscienceAlzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disease that destroys neurons and their connections and is the leading cause of dementia in older adults.
- AmyloidosisPathologyAmyloidosis is a group of diseases in which misfolded proteins clump into insoluble amyloid fibrils that build up in organs and disrupt how they work.
- AnemiaPathologyAnemia is a condition in which the blood has fewer healthy red blood cells or less hemoglobin than normal, so less oxygen reaches the tissues.
- AntibioticMicrobiologyAn antibiotic is a drug that kills bacteria or stops them from growing, used to treat or prevent bacterial infections; it has no effect on viruses.
- AntibodyImmunologyAn antibody is a Y-shaped protein made by B cells and plasma cells that binds tightly to one specific antigen and helps the body destroy it.
- AnticoagulantPharmacologyAn anticoagulant is a substance that slows blood clotting by interfering with clotting factors, used to prevent and treat harmful blood clots.
- AntigenImmunologyAn antigen is any molecule the immune system can recognize as a target, especially one that prompts antibodies or T cells to respond against it.
- AppendicitisSurgeryAppendicitis is inflammation of the appendix, the small pouch off the large intestine, and the most common reason for emergency abdominal surgery.
- AsphyxiaForensic MedicineAsphyxia is a life-threatening state in which the body is starved of oxygen, usually as carbon dioxide builds up, because breathing or oxygen use fails.
- AsthmaMedicineAsthma is a long-term lung disease in which the airways become inflamed and narrowed, causing wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and breathlessness.
- AtherosclerosisPathologyAtherosclerosis is a disease in which fatty plaque builds up inside artery walls, stiffening and narrowing the arteries and reducing blood flow.
- AutoimmunityImmunologyAutoimmunity is an immune response wrongly directed at the body's own healthy cells and tissues, and it is the cause of autoimmune diseases.
- AutopsyForensic MedicineAn autopsy is a medical examination of a body after death, inside and out, to find the cause of death and study the effects of disease or injury.
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- Beta blockerPharmacologyA beta blocker is a drug that stops epinephrine and norepinephrine from acting on beta receptors, which slows the heart and lowers blood pressure.
- BiofilmMicrobiologyA biofilm is a community of microbes stuck to a surface and to each other inside a slimy matrix they produce, such as the plaque on teeth.
- Blood pressurePhysiologyBlood pressure is the force that circulating blood exerts on the walls of the arteries, recorded as systolic over diastolic pressure in mm Hg.
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- Cardiac outputPhysiologyCardiac output is the volume of blood each ventricle of the heart pumps in one minute, equal to heart rate multiplied by stroke volume.
- Case–control studyEpidemiologyA case–control study is an observational study that compares people with a disease and people without it to find past exposures linked to it.
- CholecystectomySurgeryA cholecystectomy is an operation to remove the gallbladder, most often because gallstones are causing pain, inflammation or blocked bile flow.
- CholesterolBiochemistryCholesterol is a waxy steroid lipid found in animal cell membranes and used to make steroid hormones, vitamin D and the bile salts that digest fat.
- Chronic kidney diseaseMedicineChronic kidney disease is a gradual, lasting loss of kidney function in which the kidneys filter blood less well, so wastes and fluid build up in the body.
- Cohort studyEpidemiologyA cohort study is an observational study that follows groups differing in an exposure over time to compare how often they develop an outcome.
- COPDMedicineCOPD is a long-term lung disease, usually caused by smoke or polluted air, in which damaged airways and air sacs limit the flow of air out of the lungs.
- CoronavirusVirologyA coronavirus is an enveloped RNA virus with club-shaped surface spikes; members cause illnesses ranging from colds to SARS, MERS and COVID-19.
- CortisolPhysiologyCortisol is a steroid hormone made by the adrenal cortex that helps the body cope with stress, raises blood glucose and dampens inflammation.
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- Diabetes mellitusMedicineDiabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in which blood glucose stays too high because the body makes too little insulin or cannot use it well.
- Dominant alleleGeneticsA dominant allele is a version of a gene whose effect shows in the phenotype even when only one copy is present, masking a recessive allele.
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- EdemaPathologyEdema is swelling caused by excess fluid collecting in the spaces between the cells of a tissue, most often seen in the feet, ankles and legs.
- EmbolismPathologyAn embolism is a blocked blood vessel caused by an embolus, a clot or other mass carried in the bloodstream from elsewhere in the body.
- Endocrine systemPhysiologyThe endocrine system is the set of glands and cells that release hormones into the blood to regulate growth, metabolism, reproduction and more.
- EndosporeMicrobiologyAn endospore is a tough, dormant structure formed inside some bacteria, such as Bacillus and Clostridium, that survives heat, drying and chemicals.
- EpilepsyMedicineEpilepsy is a long-term brain disorder in which a person has repeated unprovoked seizures caused by bursts of abnormal electrical activity in neurons.
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- Gene therapyBiotechnologyGene therapy is a treatment that changes the genes inside a patient's cells, by adding, replacing, silencing or editing DNA, to treat or prevent disease.
- Glomerular filtration ratePhysiologyGlomerular filtration rate is the volume of fluid both kidneys filter out of the blood each minute, the standard measure of kidney function.
- Glycemic indexFood NutritionThe glycemic index is a scale up to 100 ranking carbohydrate foods by how much they raise blood glucose after eating, compared with the same amount of glucose.
- Gram stainMicrobiologyThe Gram stain is a lab staining method that sorts bacteria into Gram-positive (purple) and Gram-negative (pink) groups based on their cell walls.
- Gram-negative bacteriaMicrobiologyGram-negative bacteria have a thin peptidoglycan wall wrapped in an outer membrane, so they lose the purple dye in a Gram stain and look pink.
- Gram-positive bacteriaMicrobiologyGram-positive bacteria have a thick peptidoglycan cell wall and no outer membrane, so they keep the purple crystal violet dye in a Gram stain.
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- HeartHuman AnatomyThe heart is the hollow, muscular organ in the chest whose four chambers pump blood through the lungs and then around the rest of the body.
- Heart failureMedicineHeart failure is a long-term condition in which the heart fails to pump as much blood as the body needs, even though it has not stopped beating.
- HemoglobinPhysiologyHemoglobin is the iron-containing protein in red blood cells that picks up oxygen in the lungs and releases it to the body's tissues.
- HemorrhagePathologyA hemorrhage is an escape of blood from a ruptured or damaged blood vessel, either out of the body or into its tissues and cavities.
- HepatitisMedicineHepatitis is liver inflammation, most often caused by a hepatitis virus but also by alcohol, toxins, some medicines or autoimmune disease.
- HerniaSurgeryA hernia is a bulge of an organ or tissue, often fat or a loop of bowel, through a weak spot in the wall that normally holds it in place.
- HIVVirologyHIV is a retrovirus that infects and destroys CD4 helper T cells, weakening the immune system and, without treatment, leading to AIDS.
- HomeostasisPhysiologyHomeostasis is the body's ability to keep internal conditions, such as temperature, blood glucose and pH, steady while conditions around it change.
- HypertensionMedicineHypertension is a long-term condition in which the pressure of blood against artery walls stays higher than normal, straining the heart and vessels.
- HyperthyroidismMedicineHyperthyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland releases more hormone than the body needs, speeding up metabolism and many body functions.
- HypothyroidismMedicineHypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone, so metabolism and many body functions slow down.
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- Induced pluripotent stem cellStem Cell BiologyAn induced pluripotent stem cell is an adult body cell, such as a skin cell, reprogrammed in the lab to be pluripotent, much like an embryonic stem cell.
- InfarctionPathologyInfarction is the death of an area of tissue, called an infarct, caused by a sudden loss of its blood supply, as in a heart attack or a stroke.
- InfluenzaVirologyInfluenza, or flu, is a contagious infection of the nose, throat and lungs caused by influenza viruses that brings sudden fever, cough and aches.
- InsulinPhysiologyInsulin is a peptide hormone made by beta cells in the pancreas that lowers blood glucose by helping body cells take up and store sugar.
- IschemiaPathologyIschemia is a shortage of blood supply to an organ or tissue, usually from a narrowed or blocked artery, that starves its cells of oxygen and nutrients.
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- LaparoscopySurgeryLaparoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure that passes a thin camera, the laparoscope, through a small cut to view and operate inside the abdomen or pelvis.
- LeukemiaOncologyLeukemia is a cancer of the blood-forming tissue, usually the bone marrow, that fills the marrow and blood with abnormal white blood cells.
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- MalariaParasitologyMalaria is a life-threatening infection caused by Plasmodium parasites, which infected female Anopheles mosquitoes pass to people when they bite.
- Mendelian inheritanceGeneticsMendelian inheritance is the pattern by which single genes pass from parents to offspring, following the laws of segregation and independent assortment.
- Metabolic syndromeMedicineMetabolic syndrome is a cluster of linked risk factors, including a large waist, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and abnormal blood fats.
- MRSAMicrobiologyMRSA is any strain of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus that resists methicillin and nearly all other beta-lactam antibiotics, including penicillins.
- MycosisMycologyA mycosis is a disease caused by fungi infecting the body, from mild skin infections like athlete's foot to life-threatening lung or blood infections.
- Myocardial infarctionMedicineA myocardial infarction, or heart attack, is the death of part of the heart muscle after its blood supply through a coronary artery is suddenly cut off.
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- Noncommunicable diseasePublic HealthA noncommunicable disease is a long-lasting illness, such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes, that does not pass from one person to another.
- NSAIDPharmacologyAn NSAID is a non-steroid medicine, such as ibuprofen or aspirin, that relieves pain, fever and inflammation by blocking cyclooxygenase enzymes.
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- ObesityMedicineObesity is a chronic disease in which excess body fat builds up enough to harm health, defined in adults as a body mass index of 30 or more.
- Odds ratioEpidemiologyAn odds ratio is a measure of association that compares the odds of an outcome or exposure in one group with the odds in another group.
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- ParasiteParasitologyA parasite is a living thing that makes its home on or inside a host organism and feeds from it, usually causing the host harm.
- Parkinson's diseaseNeuroscienceParkinson's disease is a progressive brain disorder in which dopamine-producing neurons die, causing tremor, stiffness, slow movement and poor balance.
- PathogenMicrobiologyA pathogen is a microbe or other agent, such as a virus, bacterium, fungus, parasite or prion, that can cause disease in a host.
- PedigreeGeneticsA pedigree is a family tree chart that shows how a trait or genetic condition is passed down through the generations of a family.
- PneumoniaMedicinePneumonia is an infection of one or both lungs in which the tiny air sacs fill with fluid and pus, making it harder to take in oxygen.
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- Randomized controlled trialEpidemiologyA randomized controlled trial is an experiment that assigns people by chance to a treatment or a comparison group to test whether the treatment works.
- Recessive alleleGeneticsA recessive allele is a version of a gene whose effect appears only when an organism has two copies, because a single dominant allele masks it.
- Regenerative medicineStem Cell BiologyRegenerative medicine is the field that aims to repair or replace damaged cells, tissues and organs using cells, biomaterials and genes.
- Rheumatoid arthritisMedicineRheumatoid arthritis is a long-lasting autoimmune disease in which immune cells attack the lining of the joints, leaving them painful, swollen and stiff.
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- SchistosomiasisParasitologySchistosomiasis is an infection with Schistosoma blood flukes, whose larvae burrow through skin in fresh water and whose eggs damage organs.
- SensitivityEpidemiologySensitivity is the proportion of people who truly have a condition whom a diagnostic or screening test correctly identifies as positive.
- SepsisPathologySepsis is a life-threatening emergency in which the body's reaction to infection runs out of control and damages its own tissues and organs.
- ShockPathologyShock is a life-threatening state in which the circulation fails to bring tissues the oxygen and nutrients their cells need.
- Sickle cell diseaseMedicineSickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder in which abnormal hemoglobin bends red blood cells into stiff crescents that block small blood vessels.
- SpecificityEpidemiologySpecificity is the proportion of people who do not have a condition whom a diagnostic or screening test correctly identifies as negative.
- Staphylococcus aureusMicrobiologyStaphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive bacterium, carried in the nose by about a third of people, that causes skin and invasive infections.
- StatinPharmacologyA statin is a cholesterol-lowering drug that blocks HMG-CoA reductase, the liver enzyme that controls how fast the body makes its own cholesterol.
- StrokeMedicineA stroke is a sudden loss of brain function that happens when an artery supplying the brain is blocked or bursts and bleeds.
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- ThrombosisPathologyThrombosis is the formation of a blood clot, called a thrombus, inside a blood vessel or the heart, where it can narrow or block the flow of blood.
- ToxoplasmosisParasitologyToxoplasmosis is an infection with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, usually mild but dangerous in pregnancy and for people with weakened immunity.
- TuberculosisMedicineTuberculosis is a contagious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that most often attacks the lungs and spreads through the air.
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