Medical terms A–Z

The three-ring chemical skeleton that gave psychiatry its first effective antipsychotics and medicine several reliable anti-sickness drugs.

A synthetic flavonoid derivative.

The mesylate salt of a synthetic imidazoline with alpha-adrenergic antagonist activity.

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

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

Phenylketonuria is an inherited disorder that impairs breakdown of the amino acid phenylalanine, which then accumulates and can impair development if untreated.

A long-serving seizure medicine with an unforgiving dose response, where a small increase can push blood levels far higher than expected.

Symptoms of this tumor often occur in sudden episodes rather than continuously, reflecting bursts of hormone release rather than a steady excess.

A procedure in which blood is collected, part of the blood such as platelets or white blood cells is taken out, and the rest of the blood is returned to the donor.

The first chromosome fault ever tied to a specific cancer, and now the target of drugs that switch off the protein it creates.

Redness, warmth, swelling, and tenderness along a vein, most often in the leg, are the hallmark signs of phlebitis.

A phlebolith is a small local, usually rounded, calcification within a vein.

The person many patients meet first each hospital morning, whose few minutes of work decide whether the laboratory result means anything.

Routine enough to be invisible, yet most laboratory results and every unit of donated blood begin with this one procedure.

Phlegm is thick mucus produced by the airways, often increasing during infection or irritation and distinct from saliva or nasal discharge.

Fear becomes a phobia when avoiding the thing feared starts shaping ordinary life, not simply when the fear is strong.

Phosphate is a phosphorus-containing ion essential to bone, cell membranes, and the energy molecule ATP, with levels regulated mainly by the kidneys and parathyroid hormone.

An oral preparation of the flavonoid silybin with potential antioxidant and chemopreventive activities.

A type of enzyme that transmits signals in cells and that helps control cell growth.

A phospholipid is a fat containing phosphorus that forms the structural framework of nearly every cell membrane in the body.

A chemical or drug that is attached to a lipid (fat) that contains phosphorus.

A drug used to treat infections with herpesviruses in people whose immune systems are weakened by AIDS.

Having to do with or containing the element phosphorus.

The tartness in a cola, the etching gel at a dental appointment, and part of the backbone holding every DNA strand together.

Phosphorus is an essential mineral present in bones, teeth, and cell energy molecules, with blood levels regulated closely alongside calcium.

A radioactive isotope of phosphorus with beta particle-emitting radiocytotoxic activity.

A radioactive form of phosphorus used in the treatment of cancer.

A process in which a phosphate group is added to a molecule, such as a sugar or a protein.

The effect produced when certain substances are exposed to light.

(Other name for: HPPH)

The use of an intense beam of light, such as a laser, to seal off blood vessels or destroy tissue.

Three ingredients are required and none does anything alone: the light-sensitive drug, the light itself, and oxygen already present in the tissue.

(Other name for: porfimer sodium)

A type of radiation therapy that uses x-rays or gamma rays that come from a special machine called a linear accelerator (linac).

Only the white cell layer is treated, and the cells sent back work by retraining the immune system rather than by being destroyed.

Photophobia is unusual discomfort or sensitivity to light, a symptom of many different eye and neurological conditions rather than a fear of light.

A drug used in photodynamic therapy.

A drug used in photodynamic therapy.

Special tests used to measure the reaction of the skin to ultraviolet radiation.

Phototherapy uses specific wavelengths of light to treat conditions ranging from newborn jaundice to psoriasis and certain mood disorders.

A condition in which the skin or eyes become very sensitive to sunlight or other forms of light.

An uncommon breast growth known for coming back in the same place, which is why the rim of tissue taken around it matters.

A doctor who specializes in physical medicine (the prevention and treatment of disease or injury with physical methods, such as exercise and machines).

A condition in which a person takes a drug over time, and unpleasant physical symptoms occur if the drug is suddenly stopped or taken in smaller doses.

A physical examination is a hands on assessment of the body performed to detect signs of disease and evaluate overall health.

A doctor who specializes in physical medicine (the prevention and treatment of disease or injury with physical methods, such as exercise and machines).

A health professional who teaches exercises and physical activities that help condition muscles and restore strength and movement.

Most of the work is the exercise done between appointments, with the session spent assessing progress and adjusting the program.

Doctor is a courtesy title held across many professions, while physician names a specific license with a legally defined scope.

One license covers every specialty, so a physician assistant can move from emergency medicine to dermatology without training again from scratch.

Two versions of every summary, one technical and one plain, drawn from the same reviewed evidence rather than written independently.

The word that marks a finding as normal working rather than illness, which is often the whole question a test is asked to settle.

physical therapy: therapy that uses physical agents: exercise and massage and other modalities Total of all natural (non-chirurgical) therapies applied to re-establish, to maintain or to improve the…

A substance found in many foods that come from plants, including corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans, and in large amounts in cereals and legumes.

A neutral word for plant chemistry, covering pigments and flavors that may help, others that do nothing, and a few that are poisons.

Whether they act like estrogen or against it depends on how much of the real hormone is already in circulation.

A substance found in plants that causes red blood cells to clump together and certain white blood cells to divide.

A chemical substance that comes from plants and is used to make vitamins E and K.

A plant-based compound that can compete with dietary cholesterol to be absorbed by the intestines, resulting in lower blood cholesterol levels.

A mixture of highly sulfated, monophosphorylated mannose oligosaccharides, derived from the extracellular phosphomannan of the yeast Pichia (Hansenula) holstii, with potential antiangiogenic activity.

A type of enzyme that transmits signals in cells and that helps control cell growth.

A type of enzyme that transmits signals in cells and that helps control cell growth.

A fluorescent dye of benzimidazole derivative.

A lyophilized formulation containing cultures of a low-virulent strain of Streptococcus pyogenes, treated and killed with pencillin G, with potential sclerosing, immunostimulating and antineoplastic…

A new generation organic platinum analog with an extended spectrum of antineoplastic activity.

Damage to the tubes can accumulate quietly, so the first sign is sometimes difficulty conceiving rather than pain or fever.

A pigment is any substance that gives color to tissue, with melanin, hemoglobin, and bile pigments among the ones most relevant to the body's appearance.

Pigmentation describes both the deposition of pigment in tissue and the resulting degree of coloring, most often referring to melanin's role in skin, hair, and eye color.

A drug used to increase salivation in people who have dry mouth caused by opioids or radiation therapy.

The hydrochloride salt of a natural alkaloid extracted from plants of the genus Pilocarpus with cholinergic agonist activity.

Pilocytic describes tissue made of long, hair like cells under the microscope, a pattern most associated with a specific type of brain tumor.

A small rehearsal run to find out whether the real study could be done at all, not whether the treatment works.

Visible only under a microscope, it produces no lump, no symptom and no change in a blood test result.

A tiny organ in the cerebrum that produces melatonin.

A type of germ cell tumor that is found in the pineal gland in the brain.

Its hormone announces that night has arrived rather than causing sleep, which is why light at the wrong hour shifts the whole clock.

Three names for one structure: the shift from gland to organ signals a different field talking, not a different piece of anatomy.

A type of brain tumor that occurs in or around the pineal gland, a tiny organ near the center of the brain.

A tumor sitting exactly where it can dam the brain's drainage, so the first sign is pressure rather than anything local.

A slow growing type of brain tumor that occurs in or around the pineal gland, a tiny organ near the center of the brain.

Not every red eye is pinkeye, and the causes that are not conjunctivitis at all are the ones that matter.

Pioglitazone is an oral diabetes medication that improves the body's sensitivity to insulin rather than increasing the amount of insulin the pancreas releases.

A diabetes tablet that works by reprogramming fat cells, which is why it takes weeks to act and adds weight while lowering sugar.

The sodium salt of piperacillin, a broad-spectrum semisynthetic, ampicillin-derived ureidopenicillin antibiotic with bactericidal activity.

Piperacillin-tazobactam is a broad-spectrum antibiotic combination used to treat serious bacterial infections, including in people whose immune systems are weakened.

A crystalline antibiotic fermentation product isolated from the bacterium Streptomyces griseoluteus with antineoplastic activity.

A standardized extract containing the active alkaloid piperine, derived from the fruit of the plant Piper nigrum (black pepper) and/or the plant Piper longum L.

(Other name for: piperacillin sodium)

An analogue of the anthracycline antineoplastic antibiotic doxorubicin.

An orally active synthetic antifibrotic agent structurally similar to pyridine 2,4-dicarboxylate.

A synthetic antifolate agent with antiparasitic, antipsoriatic and antitumor properties.

An anthrapyrazole antineoplastic antibiotic.

A long acting anti-inflammatory taken once a day, which is also why its effects on the stomach accumulate.

Called the master gland, it takes its own orders from the hypothalamus directly above, which makes the title only half deserved.

A tumor that forms in the pituitary gland.

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

The dimaleate salt of a synthetic, noncardiotoxic aza-anthracenedione analogue with potential antineoplastic activity.

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

An inherited disorder that causes a build-up of phenylalanine (an amino acid) in the blood.

A placebo is an inactive substance or sham treatment used in research to distinguish a therapy's true effect from expectation and natural change.