Medical terms beginning with B

Any measurable signal from the body that stands in for something harder to observe directly.

Biomedicine applies the methods and findings of biology and related natural sciences to human health, forming the scientific foundation of mainstream clinical practice.

Biometrics denotes the statistical study of health data in research, while in everyday technology the same word refers to fingerprint or facial identity verification.

Biometry refers to statistical analysis of health data in research, and separately, in ophthalmology and obstetrics, to direct physical measurement of body structures.

Removal of cells or tissue for microscopic examination.

Tissue removed from the body and examined under a microscope to determine whether disease is present.

A biorepository is a facility that collects and preserves biological samples for future research rather than for direct patient care.

Samples of material, such as urine, blood, tissue, cells, DNA, RNA, and protein from humans, animals, or plants.

Biostatistics applies statistical methods to biological and health data to answer questions about disease, risk, and treatment effectiveness.

Treatment to boost or restore the ability of the immune system to fight cancer, infections, and other diseases.

Biotin is a B vitamin that supports enzymes involved in energy metabolism, and high supplemental doses are recognized to interfere with certain laboratory blood tests.

An inherited trio of skin bumps, lung cysts and kidney tumors, most often noticed when a lung suddenly collapses.

The muscular canal extending from the uterus to the exterior of the body.

Two quite different pills share one everyday name, and they neither prevent pregnancy by the same route nor tolerate a late dose equally.

Two grips on one molecule, so an engineered antibody can hold a tumor cell and an immune cell face to face.

A monoclonal antibody that binds two different types of antigen.

Bisphosphonates slow bone breakdown and are used chiefly for osteoporosis, along with certain cancer related bone conditions and Paget disease.

The necrosis (death) of bone tissue caused by treatment with a bisphosphonate (a drug or substance used to treat osteoporosis, bone pain caused by some types of cancer, and high blood calcium).

An eastern North American perennial herb.

The bladder is a muscular, expandable organ that stores urine between the kidneys and the urethra until it is released from the body.

Bladder cancer usually begins in the cells lining the bladder's interior, most often developing as urothelial carcinoma rather than the other, less common types.

A blast is an immature precursor cell, most often found in the bone marrow, that has not yet developed into a mature blood cell type.

A phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia in which tiredness, fever, and an enlarged spleen occur during the blastic phase, when more than 30% of the cells in the blood or bone marrow are blast cells…

A phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia in which 20% or more of the cells in the blood or bone marrow are blast cells (immature blood cells).

A chemotherapy drug from soil bacteria that cuts DNA using iron and oxygen, and that spares the bone marrow while scarring the lungs.

A plant whose leaves, stems, and flowers have been used in some cultures to treat certain medical problems.

A trial designed so that expectation cannot shape the result, by hiding which treatment each person receives.

A blister is a fluid filled pocket that forms within the skin's outer layers, most often from friction, heat, or irritation.

A feeling of abdominal fullness or visible distension, bloating usually results from gas within the intestines but can arise from many different digestive causes.

Counted as a tissue rather than a fluid, because the cells suspended in it are as much a part of the body as any organ.

One of the most frequently ordered blood tests, counting three separate cell lines at once and pointing in many different directions.

A procedure in which a sample of blood is examined to measure the amounts of certain substances made in the body.

A mass of blood that forms when blood platelets, proteins, and cells stick together.

An everyday phrase covering two different medical problems, which is why careful writing has retired it in favor of precise terms.

Pressure is never a fixed number, moving through the day with activity, sleep, posture and stress, which is why single readings mislead.

In traditional Chinese medicine, a condition described as slowing or pooling of blood, which may cause pain or other symptoms.

Blood sugar level shifts throughout the day depending on food intake, physical activity, and hormones that raise or lower it.

A nickname that misleads twice over: nothing is thinned, and the phrase covers two drug families that work in different ways.

A blood transfusion delivers donated blood or a specific blood component into the bloodstream to treat blood loss, anemia, or a clotting disorder.

Wall thickness tracks the pressure a vessel must contain, which is why an artery and a vein of equal width behave nothing alike.

A seal built into the brain's blood vessels that keeps most of what circulates in the blood from reaching brain tissue.

Blood-brain barrier disruption is a technique that temporarily increases the barrier's permeability to allow greater passage of therapeutic substances into brain tissue.

Bloom syndrome is a rare inherited disorder causing short stature and a sun sensitive facial rash, with a markedly increased cancer risk.

Bloom-Torre-Machacek syndrome is the full clinical name for Bloom syndrome, a rare inherited disorder marked by short stature and elevated cancer risk.

The number a bone scan produces, describing how much mineral is packed into a measured slice of the skeleton.

An imaging test that measures bone density (the amount of bone mineral contained in a certain volume of bone) by passing x-rays with two different energy levels through the bone.

A population statistic borrowed for individual use, which is the root of most complaints about it, including where the category lines fall.

A substance being studied in the treatment of prostate and other types of cancer.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A drug used to treat metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer that has not improved after treatment with certain other anticancer drugs.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A drug used to treat certain types of chronic myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of cancer.

The private picture a person carries of their own body, which can sit a long way from what a mirror shows.

A single dose of drug usually injected into a blood vessel over a short period of time.

A single dose of drug usually injected into a blood vessel over a short period of time.

A peptide (small protein) found in the brain, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs.

An abbreviation from older drug references for jaw bone that dies and stays exposed during treatment with bone strengthening medicines.

Bone cancer includes primary tumors that arise directly within bone tissue and secondary tumors that spread there from cancer elsewhere in the body.

A measure of the amount of minerals (mostly calcium and phosphorous) contained in a certain volume of bone.

A medical condition in which there is a break in the continuity of the bone.

Bone marrow exists in two forms, one actively producing blood cells and another composed mostly of fat, and the balance shifts with age.

The destruction of bone marrow using radiation or drugs.

This procedure obtains a liquid marrow sample and is frequently performed together with a separate technique that removes a small solid core.

A procedure in which a small sample of bone with bone marrow inside it is removed, usually from the hip bone.

This umbrella term spans several distinct diseases with different outlooks, so identifying the specific type is essential to understanding what it means.

Cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to the bone marrow.

Less a transplant than an infusion, and with a donor graft the immune attack the new cells mount is part of the point.

A measure of the amount of minerals (mostly calcium and phosphorous) contained in a certain volume of bone.

Cancer that has settled in bone, where it keeps the name of the organ it started in rather than the bone it now occupies.

An imaging test that measures bone density (the amount of bone mineral contained in a certain volume of bone) by passing x-rays with two different energy levels through the bone.

An imaging test that maps repair activity across the whole skeleton in one pass, often long before an x-ray shows anything.

A radioactive substance that is given through a vein, and collects in bone cells and in tumor cells that have spread to the bone.

A repeat dose that reminds the immune system of a threat it already knows, restoring protection that has quietly faded.

Emotions run hotter and settle more slowly, and because the triggers are usually other people, relationships carry most of the strain.

A type of radiation therapy.

Plant origin says nothing about strength or safety, since many potent drugs began as plant extracts and some plants are outright poisonous.

A toxin made by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.

Nearly all nutrition is taken up in the first section, while the second exists largely to reclaim water before waste is passed.

The way the intestines work in terms of how often there are bowel movements, the ability to control when to have a bowel movement, and whether the stools are hard and dry as in constipation or…

A bowel movement is the elimination of solid waste from the digestive tract, and its frequency, consistency, and color vary widely among healthy people.

Bowen disease is an early, noninvasive skin cancer confined to the epidermis, most often linked to sun exposure rather than a single cause.

A substance used in a type of radiation therapy called boron neutron capture therapy.

A benign (not cancer) condition in which an overgrowth of prostate tissue pushes against the urethra and the bladder, blocking the flow of urine.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

The pattern of what is weak and what is numb points to where along the nerve network the trouble actually sits.

Everything the arm can do or feel passes through one braided tangle behind the collarbone, which is why damage there spreads so widely.

Brachytherapy delivers radiation from a sealed source placed directly inside or next to a tumor, concentrating the dose while sparing nearby tissue.

A slow pulse is a problem only when it fails to deliver enough blood; in a trained athlete the same reading is fitness.

A gene that makes a protein called B-RAF, which is involved in sending signals in cells and in cell growth.

Cancer in the brain has far more often arrived from elsewhere than started there, and that origin decides how it is treated.

The brain stem connects the brain to the spinal cord and controls fundamental automatic functions including breathing, heart rate, and consciousness.

A tumor located in the part of the brain that connects to the spinal cord (the brain stem).

A tumor in the part of the brain that connects to the spinal cord (the brain stem).

Inside a closed skull, even a growth that never spreads anywhere can do harm simply by taking up room.

A gene on chromosome 17 that normally helps to suppress cell growth.

A gene on chromosome 13 that normally helps to suppress cell growth.

A computer program that uses statistics to predict whether a person has an inherited mutation (change) in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

Intense increases in pain that occur with rapid onset even when pain-control medication is being used.