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anesthetic

Names ending in -caine mark the local anesthetics, a family descended from cocaine, the first substance found to numb living tissue.

angiogenesis

Angiogenesis is the normal process of forming new blood vessels from existing ones, a process tumors also exploit to secure their own blood supply.

anterior urethral cancer

A disease in which malignant (cancer) cells are found in the part of the urethra (the tube through which urine leaves the body) that is closest to the outside of the body.

antiangiogenic

A word for the brake on blood vessel growth, one the body applies by default and drugs press harder in eye disease and cancer.

antimicrotubule agent

A type of drug that blocks cell growth by stopping mitosis (cell division).

antineoplaston

A set of compounds promoted for decades as a cancer treatment, still without approval or an independent trial showing benefit.

antioxidant

Antioxidants are substances that neutralize unstable molecules called free radicals, though supplement studies have not consistently shown they prevent disease.

apheresis

Apheresis is a procedure that separates and collects a specific blood component while returning the remaining blood to the donor or patient.

apnea

/ AP-nee-uh /

A temporary cessation of breathing.

appetite

Appetite is the physiological drive to eat, regulated by hormones and the brain, and its loss or increase can signal an underlying medical condition.

areola

Its small bumps are working glands rather than blemishes, and they grow more prominent in pregnancy and breastfeeding.

arginine

Arginine is an amino acid the body can make on its own that also serves as a building block for nitric oxide.

argon beam coagulator ablation

A procedure that destroys tissue with an electrical current passed through a stream of argon gas to the tissue.

aromatherapist

An aromatherapist is a trained practitioner who selects and applies essential oils to support relaxation and well being, usually alongside conventional care.

assay

Behind almost every number on a laboratory report sits an assay, a method built to pick one substance out of a complicated mixture.

asthma

Two problems run together here: inflammation that smolders between attacks and muscle spasm that closes the airway during one.

ataxia

Ataxia is impaired coordination of voluntary movement, causing unsteady walking, clumsy limb motion, or imprecise gestures despite normal muscle strength.

atrasentan

Atrasentan is an endothelin receptor antagonist now approved to reduce protein loss in the urine caused by a form of kidney disease.

atypical hyperplasia

Not cancer, but not reassuring either, and what it means depends heavily on which organ the sample came from.

autologous

Autologous describes tissue, cells, or blood taken from a person and later used in that same person, rather than from another donor.