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Common Medical Terms

Question	Answer
Hypotension	Low blood pressure
Hypertension	High blood pressure
Hypothermia	Core body temperature below 95 F. Can be mild, moderate or severe.
Hyperthermia	Body temperature elevated above the normal range. An unusually high fever.
Bradypnea	Abnormally slow breathing.
Tachypnea	Abnormally rapid respiration.
Tachycardia	Abrnomally rapid heart rate. Greater than 100 bpm in adults.
Bradycardia	A slow heartbeat marked by a pulse rate below 60 bpm in an adult.
Orthostatic or Postural Hypotension	Hypotension occuring when a person assumes and upright position after fetting up from a bed or chair.
Wheeze	A continuous musical sounds heard predominantly during expiration that is casued by narrowing of the lumen of a respiratory passageway.
Stridor	A high pitch harsh sound occuring during inspiration, often heard without the used of a stethescope.
Rhonchus	A low pitch wheezing, snoring, or squeaking sound heard during ausculation of the chest of a person with partial airway obstruction.
Anoxia	Absence of oxygen.
Orthopnea	Labored breatheing that occurs when lying flat and improves when standing or sitting up. Classic symptom of left ventricular heart failure, although it occasionally occurs in other cardiac or respiratory illnesses.
Inspection	Visual examinations of the external surface of the body as well as of its movements and posture.
Palpation	Examination by application of the hands or fingers to the external surface of the body to detect evidence of disease or abnormalities in the internal organs. In obstetrics, a technique used to evaluate fetal presentation and position.
Percussion	Striking the body surface to determine the position, size, or density of underlying structures.
Ausculation	Listening for sounds within the body, especially from the chest, neck or abdomen. A stethescope is typically used.
Syncope	Transient loss of consciousness, accompanied by an inability to maintain an upright posture.
Bruit	An adventitious sound of venous or arterial origin heard on ausculation.
Murmur	An abnormal sound heard when listening to the heart or neighboring large blood vessels.
Pulse deficit	A condition in which the speed of the pulse at the radial artery is less than the pulse of the heart. This is seen in artrial fibrillation.
Dysrhythmia or Arrhythmia	Abnormal heart rhythm casued by physiological or pathological disturbances in the discharge of cardiac impulses from the sinoatrial node or their transmission through conductive tissue of the heart.
Thrill	An abnormal tremor accompanying a vascular or cardiac murmur felt on palpation.
Atherosclerosis	the most common form of arteriosclerosis marked by cholesterol-lipid-calcium deposits in the walls of arteries that may restrict blood flow.
Clubbing	Excessive growth of the soft tissues of the ends of the fingers gives the fingers a sausage or drumstick appearance when viewed from above and a beaked appearance when viewed from the side.
Edema	A local or generalized condition in which body tissues contain an excessive amount of tissue fluid in the interstitial spaces.
Supine	Lying on back with the face upward. A position of the hand or foot with the palm or foot facing upward.
Prone	Horizontal with the face downward. Denoting the hand with the palm turned downward.
Dorsal Recumbent	Lying on one's back.
Lithotomy	The incision of a duct of organ, especially of the bladder, for a removal of a stone.
Sims	Semiprone position with the patient on the left side, right knee and thigh drawn well up, the left arm along the patient's back, and the chest inclined forward so that the patient rests on it.
Lateral Recumbent	Lying on one's side.
Fowler's Position	A semi-sitting position. The position is used to facilitate breathing and drainage and for the comfort of the bedridden patient while eating or talking.
High Fowlers	sitting upright in bed.
Flatus	Gas in the digestive tract. Expelling of gas from a body or orifice, especially the anus.
Distention	The state of being strethced out or inflated.
Hernia	The protrusion of an anatomical structure through the wall that normally contains it.
Peristalsis	A progressive wavelike movement that occurs involuntarily in hollow tubes of the body, especially the ailmentary canal.
Paralytic Ileus	Paralysis of the intestinal smooth muscles with disetention of the abdomen, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and inability to pass stool or gas.
Peritonitis	Inflammation of the serous membrane that lines the abdominal cavity and its viscera.
Borborygmi	A gurgling, splashing sound normally heard over the large intestine; it is caused by passage of gas through liquid contents of the intestine.
Cholecystitis	Inflammation of the gallbladder, usually caused by obstruction of the biliary ducts by gallstones.
Hypoxia	An oxygen deficiency in body tissues.
cyanosis	A blue, gray, slate, or dark purple discoloration of the skin or mucous membranes caused by deoxygenated or reduced hemoglobin in the blood.
Apnea	Temporary cessation of breathing and, therefore, of the body's intake of oxygen and release of carbon dioxide.
Hypoventilation	reduced rate and depth of breathing that causes an increase in carbon dioxide.
Hyperventilation	Increaded minute volume ventilation, which results in a lowered carbon dioxide level.
Cheyne-Stokes respirations	A breathing pattern marked by a period of apnea lasting 10 to 60 seconds followed by gradually increading depth and frequency of respirations.
Kussmaul's respirations	A very deep gasping type of respiration associated with sever diabetic ketoacidosis.
Crackles or Rales	An adventitious lung sound heard on ausculation of the chest, produced by air passing over retained airway secretions of the suddern opening of collapsed airways.
Dysuria	Painful or difficult urination, symptomatic of numberous conditions.
Cystitis	Bladder inflammation usually occuring as a result of a urinary tract infection.
Hematuria	Blood in the urine.
Anuric	Absence of urine formation.
Oliguria	Urniary output of less than 400 ml/day. Oliguria results in renal failure if it is not reversed.
Incontinence	Loss of self control, especially of urine, feces, or semen.
Neuralgia	Pain occuring along the course of a nerve.
Neuropathy	Disease of the nerves. There are many different kinds.
Paresthesia	An abnormal or unpleasant sensation that results from injury to one or more nervers, often described by patients as numbness or as a prickly, stinging, or burning feeling.
Delerium	An acute, reversible state of disorientation and confusion. Marked by disorientation without drowsiness.
Aphasia	Absence or impairment of the ability to communicate through speech, writing, or signs because of brain dysfunction. It is considered complete or total when both sensory and motor areas are involved.
Hemiplegia	Paralysis of one side of the body, usually resulting from damage to the corticospinal tracts of the CNS.
Hemiparesis	Same as hemiplegia?
Ataxia	Defective muscular coordination, especially that manifested when voluntary muscular movements are attempted.
Ptosis	Dropping or drooping of an organ or part, as the upper eyelid from paralysis, or the visceral organs from weakness of the abdominal muscles.
Exudate	Any fluid released from the body with a high concentration of protein, cells, or solid debris.
Dehiscence	A bursting open, as of a graafian follicle or a wound, esp. a surgical abdominal wound.
Evisceration	Removal of the viscera or of the contents of a cavity. Spilling out of abdominal contents resulting from wound dehiscence.
Erythema	Reddening of the skin. A common but nonspecific sign of skin irritation, injury, or inflammation.
Hirsutism	Condition characterized by the excessive growth of hair or the presence of hair in unusual places, especially in women.
Kyphosis	An exaggeration or angulation of the posterior curve of the thoracic spine, giving rise to the condition commonly known as humpback, hunchback, or pott's curvature.
Lordosis	Abnormal anteriror convexity of the lumbar spine.
Scoliosis	A lateral curvature of the spine. Usually consists of two curves, the original abnormal curve and compensatory curve in the opposite direction.
Osteoporosis	Loss of bone mass that occurs throughout the skeleton, predisposing patients to fractures.
Hypertonicity	An excess of muscular or arterial tone or intraocular pressure.
Flexion	The act of bending or condition of being bent in contrast to extension. Deacrease in the angle between the bones forming a joint.
Extension	The movement that pulls apart both ends of any part. A movement that brings the members of a limb into or toward a straight position.
Abduction	Lateral movement of the limbs away from the median plane of the body or lateral bending of the head or trunk.
Adduction	Movement of a limb or eye toward the median plane of the body or, in the case of digits, toward the axial line of a limb.
Circumduction	To revolve around an axis in such a way that the proximal end of a limb or organ is fixed, and the distal end traces a circle.
Dorsal Flexion	Movement of a part at a joint to bend the part toward the dorsum, or posterior aspect of the body.
Plantarflexion	Extension of the foot so that the forepart is depressed with respect to the position of the ankle.
Supination	The turing of the palm or the hand anteriorly or the foot inward and upward. The act of lying flat upon the back.
Pronation	The act of lying prone or face downward. The act of turning the hand so that the palm faces downward or backward.
Internal Rotation	Rotation towards the center of the body.
External Rotation	Rotation away from the center of the body.
Hypoglycemia	An abnormally low level of glucose in the blood, often associated with neurological side effects and arousal of the sympathetic nervous system.
Hyperglycemia	Abnormally high blood sugar levels.
Ketoscidosis	Acidosis due to an excess of ketone bodies. It occurs in individulas who do not produce adequate insulin to sustain normal fat metabolism.
Pancreatitis	Inflammation of the pancreas, sometimes accompanied by damage to neighboring organs such as the bowel, lungs, spleen, or stomach, or by systemic inflammatory response.
Hypothyroidism	he clinical consequences of inadequate levels of thyroid hormone in the body.
Hyperthyroidism	A disease caused by excessive levels of thyroid hormone in the body.
Goiter	Thyroid gland enlargement.
Senile Keratosis	Seborrheic Keratosis. A benign skin tumor that may be pigmented. It is composed of immature epithelial cells and is quite common in older adults.
Cherry Angiomas	A benign, dome-shaped cherry-red papule on the trunk, especially in persons over age 30, measuring about .5 to 6.0 mm. It consists of a compressible mass of blood cells.
Petechia	Small, purplish, hemorrhagic spots on the skin that appear in patients with platelet deficiencies and in many febrile illnesses.
Alopecia	Absence or loss of hair, especially of the head.
Jaundice	A condition marked by yellow staining of body tissues and fluids, as a result of excessive levels of bilirubin in the bloodstream. Janudice is not usually visible until the total bilirubin level rises above 3mg/dl.
Granulation Tissue	The newly formed vascular and connective tissue produced in the early stages of wound healing.
Slough	Dead matter or necrosed tissue separated from living tissue or an ulceration.
Eschar	Dead matter that is cast off from the surface of the skin, especially after a burn. The material is often crusty or scabbed.

Created by: chaceme123

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