General Medical Terms

Dividing the total dose of radiation therapy into several smaller, equal doses delivered over a period of several days.

Fragrance is a pleasant scent, often from added compounds in personal care products, that can act as an irritant for sensitive individuals.

A highly reactive chemical that often contains oxygen and is produced when molecules are split to give products that have unpaired electrons (a process called oxidation).

Freeze-dried describes a substance preserved by freezing it and then removing its moisture through vacuum drying.

One of a group of substances that are found in several types of fruit and in milk.

An abbreviation for a chemotherapy combination used with other types of therapy to treat colorectal cancer.

The fundus is the rounded base of a hollow organ farthest from its opening, a landmark used to describe findings in organs from the stomach to the eye.

A type of skin lesion that is marked by ulcerations (breaks on the skin or surface of an organ) and necrosis (death of living tissue) and that usually has a bad smell.

Any substance used to kill fungi (plant-like organisms that do not make chlorophyll), such as yeast and molds.

Because gadolinium can pose risks for people with significantly reduced kidney function, its use during imaging is weighed carefully in that group.

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

Solid material that forms in the gallbladder or common bile duct.

A change in the heat and electricity passed through the skin by nerves and sweat.

A type of radiation therapy that uses gamma radiation.

Gamma rays are high energy electromagnetic radiation released from atomic nuclei, differing from x-rays mainly in their point of origin.

Ganglion describes both a cluster of nerve cell bodies outside the brain and spinal cord and an unrelated fluid filled cyst near a joint.

Gastric structures and conditions involve the stomach, including its lining, secretions, and the disorders that can affect its function.

Acid that is released into the stomach from glands in the stomach wall.

A tube that is inserted through the nose, down the throat and esophagus, and into the stomach.

The backward flow of stomach acid contents into the esophagus (the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach).