English dictionary of medical terms (03)

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No:40 - adverse: harmful.
No:41 - advice: the way in which one regards something : view, opinion; recommendation regarding a decision or course of conduct : counsel.
No:42 - aerobic: 1. having molecular oxygen present. 2. growing, living, or occurring in the presence of molecular oxygen. 3. requiring oxygen for respiration.
No:43 - aerophagy: (aero + Gr. phagein to eat) excessive swallowing of air, usually an unconscious process associated with anxiety, resulting in abdominal distention or belching, often interpreted by the patient as signs of a physical disorder.
No:44 - aerosol: a solution of a drug which can be atomized into a fine mist for inhalation therapy.
No:45 - aetiology: study of the causes of disease.
No:46 - affinity: (L. affinitas relationship) 1. inherent likeness or relationship. 2. a special attraction for a specific element, organ, or structure. 3. chemical affinity; the force that binds atoms in molecules; the tendency of substances to combine by chemical reaction. 4. the strength of noncovalent chemical binding between two substances as measured by the dissociation constant of the complex. 5. in immunology, a thermodynamic expression of the strength of interaction between a single antigen-binding site and a single antigenic determinant (and thus of the stereochemical compatibility between them), most accurately applied to interactions among simple, uniform antigenic determinants such as haptens. Expressed as the association constant (K litres mole -1), which, owing to the heterogeneity of affinities in a population of antibody molecules of a given specificity, actually represents an average value (mean intrinsic association constant). 6. the reciprocal of the dissociation constant.
No:47 - afterload: the tension produced by the heart muscle after contraction.
No:48 - agalactia: (a neg. + Gr. gala milk + ia) absence or failure of the secretion of milk; called also agalactosis.
No:49 - agammaglobulinaemia: (a neg. + gamma globulin + -emia) absence of all classes of immunoglobulins in the blood.
No:50 - agent: (L. agens acting) any power, principle, or substance capable of producing an effect, whether physical, chemical, or biological.
No:51 - aggravation: an increasing in seriousness or severity; an act or circumstance that intensifies, or makes worse.
No:52 - aggregation: massing of materials together as in clumping.
No:53 - aggressiveness: the quality of being aggressive (= characterized by aggression; militant; enterprising; spreading with vigour; chemically active; variable and adaptable).
No:54 - agitation: a state of anxiety accompanied by motor restlessness.
No:55 - agonist: in anatomy, a prime mover. In pharmacology, a drug that has affinity for and stimulates physiologic activity at cell receptors normally stimulated by naturally occurring substances.
No:56 - agranulocytosis: a symptom complex characterized by marked decrease in the number of granulocytes and by lesions of the throat and other mucous membranes, of the gastrointestinal tract, and of the skin; called also granulocytopenia and Schultz's disease.
No:57 - akathisia: (a- neg. + Gr. kathisis a sitting down + -ia) 1. a condition of motor restlessness in which there is a feeling of muscular quivering, an urge to move about constantly, and an inability to sit still, a common extrapyramidal side effect of neuroleptic drugs. 2. an inability to sit down because of intense anxiety at the thought of doing so.
No:58 - akinesia: (a neg. + Gr. kinsis motion + ia) 1. absence or poverty of movements. 2. the temporary paralysis of a muscle by the injection of procaine.
No:59 - albumin: (albumen + -in) 1. any protein that is soluble in water and moderately concentrated salt solutions and is coagulable by heat. 2. serum albumin; the major plasma protein (approximately 60 per cent of the total), which is responsible for much of the plasma colloidal osmotic pressure and serves as a transport protein carrying large organic anions, such as fatty acids, bilirubin, and many drugs, and also carrying certain hormones, such as cortisol and thyroxine, when their specific binding globulins are saturated. Albumin is synthesized in the liver. Low serum levels occur in protein malnutrition, active inflammation and serious hepatic and renal disease.

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