Medical terms A–Z

Mind and body do not run in separate lanes, which is why an evaluation weighs the psychological account alongside the physical one.

A specialist who can talk with patients and their families about emotional and personal matters, and can help them make decisions.

Loss of insight is what makes psychosis distinctive, since the experiences feel entirely real from the inside rather than obviously mistaken.

Describes the psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of human activity, such as the care of people with a disease.

A drug class named for what it does to alertness, familiar from coffee at one end and controlled prescriptions at the other.

Treatment of mental, emotional, personality, and behavioral disorders using methods such as discussion, listening, and counseling.

Seed husks that soak up water and turn stool into a soft gel, working by physics rather than by prodding the bowel.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer, including certain types of lung, pancreas, and brain cancer.

PTC uses a needle placed through the liver to inject contrast and x-ray the bile ducts, most often to locate a blockage.

A procedure to drain bile to relieve pressure in the bile ducts caused by a blockage.

The letters record where it was found rather than what it does, and its real target is a fat, not a protein.

A protein that helps control many cell functions, including cell division and cell death.

PTH is a hormone that raises blood calcium by acting on bone, kidney, and the intestine, with abnormal levels signaling gland disease.

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

Epstein-Barr virus sits behind most cases, held in check by an immune system that transplant medication has deliberately turned down.

Ptosis is a drooping of the upper eyelid that can be present from birth or develop later from nerve, muscle, or structural causes.

An anxiety disorder that develops in reaction to physical injury or severe mental or emotional distress, such as military combat, violent assault, natural disaster, or other life-threatening events.

A cancer vaccine containing plasmid DNA encoding human prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) (pTVG-HP) with potential immunostimulatory and antineoplastic activities.

Puberty is the hormonally driven stage of physical development that transitions a child's body toward adult reproductive capability.

Pulmonary findings and conditions concern the lungs and their airways, spanning normal respiratory function to serious lung disease.

Breathlessness that worsens on lying flat is the classic clue, because fluid redistributes toward the lungs when a person lies down.

A test used to measure how well the lungs work.

Education about behavior and lifestyle changes to help patients with chronic lung disease decrease breathing problems, return to daily activities, and improve quality of life.

The doctor called in when breathlessness, a cough or an abnormal chest scan outlasts what general medicine can explain.

A type of lung cancer that begins in the upper part of a lung and spreads to nearby tissues such as the ribs and vertebrae.

A doctor who specializes in treating diseases of the lungs.

(Other name for: dornase alfa inhalation solution)

A pump is a device that delivers a controlled amount of fluid at a set rate, used for drugs, nutrients, or other body fluids.

Removal of a small disk-shaped sample of tissue using a sharp, hollow device.

Not a structure but an absence: a hole whose width two opposing muscles adjust, and one of the most watched signs in an unconscious person.

Half the alphabet of the genetic code, and the reason uric acid builds up and triggers a gout attack.

(Other name for: mercaptopurine)

(Other name for: tin ethyl etiopurpurin)

Trifolium pratense.

A prairie wildflower turned cold remedy, and a case study in why trials of an herb disagree when every preparation differs.

A type of photodynamic therapy used to treat skin conditions such as psoriasis, vitiligo, and skin nodules of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

An injectable ten percent solution of rose bengal disodium, an iodinated fluorescein derivative, with potential antineoplastic and radiosensitizing activities.

An attenuated, replication-competent, oncolytic strain of Newcastle disease virus.

An embolic material composed of microspheres of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymers.

A cancer vaccine containing xenogenic DNA from rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) that encodes prostate specific antigen (PSA) with potential immunostimulating and antineoplastic activities.

A topical formulation consisting of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer resin containing the macrolide sirolimus (rapamycin), produced by the organism Streptomyces hygroscopicus, with…

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A congener of pyridine 2-diazohydroxide.

A nucleoside analog.

A 9-methoxy acridine compound containing a reducible 5-nitro substituent.

Because pyridoxine is water soluble, the body does not store large reserves of it, making regular dietary intake necessary to prevent deficiency.

Pyridoxine hydrochloride is a stable salt form of vitamin B6, converted in the body into an active coenzyme needed for amino acid metabolism.

A synthetic derivative of ethyl-pyrimidine with potent antimalarial properties.

Pyrimidines are single-ring nitrogen-containing bases, including cytosine, thymine, and uracil, that pair with purines to form the rungs of DNA and RNA.

A synthetic derivative of hydroxamic acid with antineoplastic properties, Pyroxamide inhibits histone deacetylases involved in transcription; induces hyperacetylation of core histones, modulating…

A nutrient that the body needs in small amounts to function and stay healthy.

Qigong pairs slow, deliberate movement with controlled breathing and focused attention, and is practiced both as exercise and as a traditional health discipline.

A substance from plants that is being studied together with vaccine therapy for its ability to improve the way the immune system responds to disease.

A drug used to treat pain caused by bone cancer and other cancers that have spread to the bones.

Surgical removal of the region of the breast (approximately one quarter) containing cancer.

The point is to build a process that reliably produces good work, not to inspect finished work afterward and hope it passes.

R-CHOP is a five drug chemotherapy and immunotherapy combination that is the standard treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

A substance that is being studied as a treatment for cancer.

A substance that causes blood stem cells (cells from which other types of cells develop) to change into different types of blood cells and increases the number and actions of these cells in the blood.

A form of tissue plasminogen activator that is made in the laboratory.

A substance that is being studied for its ability to make cancer cells respond to drugs to which they have become resistant.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other types of cancer.

A human monoclonal antibody being studied in the treatment of several types of cancer.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer and certain other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Rabies is a viral infection transmitted through the saliva of an infected mammal, almost always fatal once neurological symptoms appear.

A substance that has been studied in the treatment of some types of cancer.

Everyday exposure is unavoidable and mostly natural; what medicine controls is the far smaller share delivered deliberately, aimed and measured.

A type of radiation therapy in which radioactive material sealed in needles, seeds, wires, or catheters is placed directly into or near a tumor.

A skin condition that is a common side effect of radiation therapy.

Inflammation of the small intestine caused by radiation therapy to the abdomen, pelvis, or rectum.

The formation of scar tissue as a result of radiation therapy.

The death of healthy tissue caused by radiation therapy.

A health professional who specializes in caring for people who are receiving radiation therapy.

A radiation oncologist plans and oversees radiation treatment for cancer, working alongside surgeons and medical oncologists as part of a coordinated care team.

Almost none of the work happens in front of a patient, yet no plan reaches the machine until the physics checks are done.

A type of external radiation therapy that uses special equipment to position the patient and precisely give a single large dose of radiation to a tumor.

Because treatment usually runs daily for weeks, this is often the team member a patient sees more than anyone else.

Treatment can come from a machine outside the body, from a source placed inside it, or from a radioactive drug carried in the blood.

An operation that removes the bladder entirely, along with neighboring organs, and requires a new route built for urine to leave.

Surgery to remove the uterus, cervix, and part of the vagina.

Surgery to remove a tumor and a large amount of normal tissue surrounding it.

A surgical procedure to remove most or all of the lymph nodes that drain lymph from the area around a tumor.

Surgery for breast cancer in which the breast, chest muscles, and all of the lymph nodes under the arm are removed.

Taking the whole kidney out inside its fatty envelope, an operation now kept for tumors too large or awkward to cut around.

Surgery to remove all of the prostate through an incision between the scrotum and the anus.

Removal of the whole prostate rather than part of it, performed to cure cancer that still appears confined to the gland.

Surgery to remove all of the prostate and nearby lymph nodes through an incision in the wall of the abdomen.

Surgery to remove the entire vulva (the external female genital organs, including the clitoris, vaginal lips, and the opening to the vagina) and nearby lymph nodes.

A type of wave made when an electric field and a magnetic field are combined.

Radioactive describes a substance whose unstable atomic nuclei give off energy as radiation while decaying into more stable forms.

A drug that contains a radioactive substance and is used to diagnose or treat disease, including cancer.

Debris lifted by a nuclear explosion and dropped downwind, dangerous largely through isotopes the body mistakes for nutrients and stores.

Iodine carrying a radioactive label, taken up by thyroid cells so that it can either photograph them or destroy them.

A radioactive form of palladium (a metallic element that resembles platinum).

A small, radioactive pellet that is placed in or near a tumor.

A type of radiation therapy used to treat liver cancer that is advanced or has come back.

A procedure that uses radio waves to heat and destroy abnormal cells.

A method that uses radioactive substances to make pictures of areas inside the body.

The use of radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies to help diagnose diseases, including cancer.

A procedure that uses radioactive substances to locate tumors so that they can be removed by surgery.