Key Terms & Definitions Flashcards
An inflamed area of pus walled off by a membrane
Abscess
A condition that presents itself after birth
Acquired
Hyperfunction of the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland after ossification has been completed
Acromegaly
A disease with more of less rapid onset and short duration
Acute
A rare endocrine disorder, occurring when the adrenal glands fail to produce enough of the hormones cortisol or aldosterone
Addison’s disease
A fibrous band holding parts together that are normally separated, resulting during the healing process after wounds
Adhesion
Having a hypersensitivity to a substance that does not normally cause a reaction
Allergies
Congenital absence of one or more limbs
Amelia
A waxy, translucent, complex protein that resembles starch.
Amyloid
A form of cellular degeneration present in diseases like Alzheimer’s disease
Amyloid degeneration
Generalized massive edema in subcutaneous tissue
Anasarca
A decrease in the number of erythrocytes, hemoglobin, or both
Anemia
A localized dilation (abnormal enlargement or bulging) of a blood vessel
Aneurysm
Chest pain due to lack of oxygenation of the heart muscle resulting from inadequate blood flow
Angina
Mutual opposition or contrary action. The inhibition of one bacterium by another
Antagonism
Glycoprotein substances developed in response to and interacting specifically with an antigen
Antibodies
Immunoglobulins are also called
Antibodies
A foreign substance that stimulates the formation of antibodies that intersect specifically with it
Antigen
Preventing or inhibiting the growth of pathogenic microorganisms
Antisepsis
Failure of a tissue or an organ to develop normally due to an absence of cells
Aplasia
Loss of the normal beating rhythm of the heart
Arrhythmia
Disease of the arteries resulting in thickening and the loss of elasticity
Arteriosclerosis
Accumulation of free serous fluid in the abdominal cavity
Ascites
The inability to take in necessary amounts of oxygen
Asphyxia
A sometimes chronic condition in which the bronchi are hypersensitive to stimuli
Asthma
A collapsed lung or the failure of the lung of a fetus to expand fully at birth. Technically it is the loss of lung volume due to inadequate expansion of airspaces, which results in inadequate oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange with the lungs
Atelectasis
The most common form of arteriosclerosis, marked by cholesterol, lipid, and calcium deposits in the walls of arteries
Atherosclerosis
A wasting, decrease in size of an organ or tissue
Atrophy
Dilution or weakening of the virulence of a microorganism, reducing or abolishing its pathogenicity
Attenuation
The process by which an organism digests its own cells through enzymes that are naturally present in the cell or in surrounding tissues; this normally occurs after the cell or tissue has died
Autolysis
Self-nourishing, capable of growing in the absence of organic compounds. Organisms that obtain carbon from carbon dioxide.
Autotrophic
Any rod-shaped microorganism
Bacillus (pl. bacilli)
A prokaryotic one-celled microorganism of the kingdom Monera, existing as free-living organisms or as parasites, multiplying by binary fission, and having a large range of biochemical properties
Bacteria
A visible group of bacteria growing on a solid medium, presumably arising from a single microorganism
Bacterial colony
Agents that destroy bacteria but not necessarily their spores
Bactericides
Science that studies bacteria
Bacteriology
Not recurrent or progressive; nonmalignant
Benign
A method of asexual reproduction in bacteria in which cells split into two parts, each of which develops into a complete individual
Binary fission
An animal vector in which the disease-causing organism multiplies or develops within the animal prior to becoming infective for a susceptible individual
Biological vector
An inflammation of the bronchi, which are the main air passages to the lungs
Bronchitis
Infected lymph nodes associated with bubonic plague or other diseases
Buboes
Inflammation of the bursae in certain joints of the body
Bursitis
A state of ill health, malnutrition, and wasting of the body. It may occur in many chronic diseases, malignancies, and infections
Cachexia
The depositing of calcium salts, magnesium, iron, and other minerals within the cells
Calcification
Several communicating boils of the skin and subcutaneous tissues with the production and discharge of pus and dead tissue
Carbuncle
Cheese-like
Caseous
________ __________ is characterized by pink areas of necrotic tissue surrounded by inflammatory granules
Caseous necrosis
Any injury or disease that produces a physiological derangement in the body that results in the death of the individual. Examples include gunshot wounds, stab wounds, lung cancer, or blood clots
Cause of death
Formation of cavities in an organ or tissue, frequently seen in some forms of tuberculosis
Cavitation
A hard, primary ulcer due to syphilis infection appearing approximately two to three weeks after infection
Chancre
The movement of white blood cells to an area of inflammation in response to the release of chemical mediators by neutrophils, monocytes, and injured tissues
Chemotaxis
A large group of nonmotile, gram-negative, intracellular parasites
Chlamydia
A disease with more ore less slow onset and long duration
Chronic
Congenitally malformed palate with a fissure along the midline
Cleft palate
Study of disease performed in the laboratory by means of body secretions, excretions, and other body fluids
Clinical pathology
A bacterial enzyme that causes blood to clot by converting fibrinogen into fibrin
Coagulase
A type of bacteria that is spherical or ovoid in form
Coccus (pl. cocci)
A surgical procedure to create an opening of a portion of the colon through the abdominal wall to its skin surface.
Colostomy
A _________ is established in cases of distal obstruction; inflammatory process, including perforation; and when the distal colon or rectum is surgically resected
colostomy
The symbiotic relationship of two organisms of different species in which one organism gains some benefit such as protection or nourishment
Commensalism
A disease that may be transmitted directly or indirectly from one individual to another
Communicable
Unfavorable conditions arising during the course of disease
Complications
A traumatic head injury of sufficient force to bruise the brain, which often involves the surface of the brain and can cause an extravasation of blood without rupture of the meninges. It can result in temporary loss of consciousness, paralysis, vomiting, and seizures
Concussion
Condition existing at the time of birth or shortly thereafter
Congenital
Accumulation of an excess of blood or tissue fluid in a body part
Congestion
The act of introducing disease germs or infectious material into an area or substance
Contamination
A bruise, often accompanied by swelling
Contusion
Abnormal, violent, and involuntary contraction or series of contractions of the muscles
Convulsions
A hypothyroid condition of infants and children in which the thyroid gland does not secrete sufficient quantities of thyroid hormones
Cretinism
Believed to be caused by a prion, a progressive disease that causes spongiform- porous, like a sponge- degeneration of the brain
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Failure of the testis to descend from its intra-abdominal location into the scrotum
Cryptorchism (or cryptorchidism)
An iatrogenic disorder of the adrenal glands due to chronic glucocorticoid hormone therapy
Cushing’s syndrome
Bluish discoloration of the skin or mucous membrane due to lack of oxygen
Cyanosis
A sac within or on the body surface containing air or fluid
Cyst
A pressure sore, or bedsore
Decubitus ulcer
A lack of dietary or metabolic substance that can lead to disease
Deficiency
The deterioration of tissues with corresponding functional impairment as a result of disease or injury
Degeneration
Loss of moisture from body tissue that may occur antemortem or postmortem
Dehydration
A progressive, irreversible decline in mental function, marked by memory impairment and, often, deficits in reasoning, judgment, abstract thought, registration, comprehension, learning, task execution, and use of language
Dementia
A wide variety of fungi that can infect the integumentary system
Dermatrophytes
Term denoting the naming of the disease or syndrome; the recognition of the nature of a disease
Diagnosis
A process of diffusing blood across a semipermeable membrane to remove toxic materials and to maintain fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base balance in cases of impaired kidney function or absence of the kidneys
Dialysis
The pathological condition of the heart being enlarged due to a stretching of the muscle fibers, occurring normally, artificially, or as a result of disease
Dilatation
A double bacillus, two being linked end to end to each other
Diplobacilli
Any of various spherical bacteria appearing in pairs
Diplococci
A chemical or physical agent that kills disease-causing microorganisms; generally used on inanimate objects
Disinfectant
Resistant, as in bacteria, to the action of a drug or drugs
Drug-fast
Condition that results when the body part that dies had little blood and remains aseptic; occurs when the arteries but not the veins are obstructed
Dry gangrene (ischemic necrosis)
Abnormal development of tissue
Dysplasia
Shortness of breath
Dyspnea
Small, nonelevated hemorrhagic patch; extravasation of blood into a tissue. Scientific name for a common bruise
Ecchymosis
The occurrence of seizures during pregnancy, which cannot be attributed to another cause, after the 20th week of gestation
Eclampsia
The implantation of the fertilized ovum in a site other than the normal one in the uterine cavity
Ectopic pregnancy
A general term for a variety of inflammatory skin conditions. It is characterized by dry, red, extremely itchy patches on the skin that may ooze an inflammatory exudate
Eczema
Abnormal accumulation of fluids in tissue or body cavities
Edema
The state of being extremely lean
Emaciation
Sudden obstruction of a blood vessel by debris. Blood clots, cholesterol-containing plaques, masses of bacteria, cancer cells, amniotic fluid, fat from the marrow of broken bones, and injected substances (e.g., air bubbles or particulate matter) all may lodge in blood vessels and obstruct circulation
Embolism
A mass of undissolved matter present in the bloodstream
Embolus
___________ may be solid, liquid, or gaseous. Occlusions of the vessels from _________ usually result in the development of infarcts
Emboli
A chronic inflammatory disease of the respiratory system, characterized by the presence of air pockets at the terminal ends of the the bronchioles
Emphysema
Pus in the pleural cavity
Empyema
Inflammation of the brain. When used clinically, the term refers to an infection of the brain caused by a virus
Encephalitis
A disease that is continuously present in a community
Endemic
Inflammation of the heart valves or the lining of the heart
Endocarditis
A condition, in which the tissue that normally lines the uterus, which is known as the endometrium, grows in other areas of the body, such as the pelvic area, the surface of the uterus, the ovaries, the intestines, the rectum, or the bladder
Endometriosis
Infection of the endometrium, which is the lining of the uterus
Endometritis
A thick-walled cell produced by a bacterium to enable it to survive unfavorable environmental conditions
Endospore
Bacterial toxin confined within the body of a bacterium freed only when the bacterium is broken down; found only in gram negative bacteria
Endotoxin
normal appearance of an infectious disease or condition within a given population
Epidemic
A disease caused by Rickettsia prowazekii, which grows in the intestinal tract of human body lice and flying squirrels in the eastern United States. It is transmitted when the human scratches the wound, rubbing the fecal material into the bite left by the human body louse
Epidemic typhus (louse-borne typhus)
A chronic neurogenic disease marked by sudden alterations in consciousness and frequently by convulsions. It is a recurrent degenerative disorder of the nervous system marked by repetitive abnormal electrical discharges within the brain known as seizures
Epilepsy
Bleeding from the nose
Epistaxis
