Medical terms A–Z

Sorafenib works through two separate mechanisms, directly slowing cancer cell growth while also limiting the blood supply a tumor depends on.

A drug used to treat advanced kidney cancer and a type of liver cancer that cannot be removed by surgery.

An antiviral drug that is being studied as a treatment for herpesvirus.

One name covering several sour tasting plants, which is why a recipe, a herbal label and a botany text can each mean something different.

A bean whose plant compounds resemble estrogen closely enough to be interesting and loosely enough to behave quite differently.

A product from a plant of Asian origin that produces beans used in many food products.

A legume unusual for supplying complete protein, and unusual again for containing plant compounds shaped like a human hormone.

A spasm is a sudden, involuntary muscle contraction that can affect a single muscle, a group of muscles, or the wall of an organ.

Depth in one area is bought at the cost of breadth, which is why general care usually continues alongside.

An immune cell such as a T or B lymphocyte that responds to a single, specific antigen.

When referring to a medical test, specificity refers to the percentage of people who test negative for a specific disease among a group of people who do not have the disease.

Often described as a type of CT scan, which it is not: the radiation comes from inside the patient, not from a tube.

Reading what a substance is made of by seeing which wavelengths it absorbs, emits or bends, since every material has a signature.

An instrument used to widen an opening of the body to make it easier to look inside.

A specialist who evaluates and treats people with communication and swallowing problems.

A specialist who evaluates and treats people with communication and swallowing problems.

The male reproductive cell, formed in the testicle.

Freezing sperm for use in the future.

A count of the number of sperm in a sample of semen.

Removal of sperm from a man's testis or epididymis by a doctor using a fine needle or other instrument.