Pediatrics and Child Health Terms

A rare form of childhood leukemia in which cancer cells often spread into tissues such as the skin, lung, and intestines.

A rare, fast-growing tumor of the nervous system or soft tissue that occurs in children and young adults.

Neuroblastoma is a cancer of immature nerve cells that develops mainly in infants and young children, often starting near the adrenal gland.

PediaSure is a brand of nutritional supplement drink marketed for children who need extra calories and nutrients beyond regular meals.

Children are not scaled-down adults, since organ maturity, body composition and the normal range for vital signs all shift with age.

A doctor who specializes in treating blood disorders in children.

A registered nurse with an advanced degree in nursing who specializes in the care of children.

A surgeon who specializes in the treatment of children.

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

A conclusion reached only by ruling everything else out, which is why the investigation is so thorough and so painful.

Periods of drowsiness, lethargy, loss of appetite, and irritability in children following radiation therapy treatments to the head.

A protein involved in making and repairing DNA (molecules inside cells that carry genetic information and pass it on from parent to child).

It has no bearing on medical care, a point obscured by the name living will, which is an advance directive rather than a will.

A substance being studied in the treatment of certain adult and childhood blood cancers and other types of cancer.