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A to Z guide of confusing medical terms: From what an epidemiologist does to how cryotherapy works - Daily Mail

A to Z guide of confusing medical terms: From what an epidemiologist does to how cryotherapy works - Daily Mail

A to Z guide of confusing medical terms: From what an epidemiologist does to how cryotherapy works - Daily Mail
Nov 25, 2022 12 mins, 32 secs

The word has origins from the mid 16th century: from Latin abscessus (from the verb abscedere), referring to the separation or elimination of infected matter via the pus.

The word amyloid means 'starch-like' an amyloid is an abnormal protein made in the bone marrow. .

Smoking, high blood pressure and old age can increase the risk.

'Anterior' can also be used to refer to the location within a part of the body, for example a common knee injury is a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament.

Most antigens come from micro-organisms and toxins in the environment — another source is donor tissue used in transplants.

The body also produces antigens — for example, prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is produced by cells in the prostate gland.

Apnoea derives from the Ancient Greek word 'apnoos', meaning 'want of breath'.

Some cancer cells are resistant to apoptosis signals, so they can continue to replicate.

Apoptosis comes from the Greek for falling off or away from.

It comes from the Greek prefix 'a', meaning 'without' or 'not', and 'taxis', meaning 'order'.

When this happens, due to plaque accumulation, oxygen-rich blood that flows through the arteries cannot reach the rest of the body efficiently.

The term is a conjugation of the Greek words 'athere' meaning 'groats' and sclerosis', meaning 'hardening'.

Atopy is the term for a genetic tendency to develop allergic reactions — the word comes from the Greek word atopos, meaning out of place or extraordinary.

Atrophy comes from the Greek prefix 'a-' meaning 'without' and 'trophe' meaning 'food'.

The exact cause of a benign growth is unknown, but results from cells dividing and growing at a faster rate than they are dying off.

A biopsy is when a tissue sample is taken for closer examination: cells are looked at under a microscope. .

Most commonly, biopsies are used to check a lump or swelling for cancer.

Biopsies are when a tissue sample is taken for closer examination, most commonly to check if lumps or swellings for cancer.

The term is used to describe asthma and type 1 diabetes when it's become difficult to control and unpredictable, despite the patient taking the right medication. .

The word chromosome comes from Greek — 'chromo' means colour, 'soma' means body.

The DNA in chromosomes contains our genes, which are basically instructions to our body that we have inherited from our parents.

The word comes from the Latin circa, meaning around, and dies, meaning day.

The affected skin is 'frozen' with a liquid nitrogen spray for five to ten seconds, which kills off the rogue cells.

In prostate cancer, for example, a needle inserts 'freezing' gas (in this case, argon) into the prostate to kill cancer cells.

The word comes from the Greek words 'dia', meaning through, and 'ouron', meaning urine.

In medicine, diuretics are often prescribed to people with high blood pressure, heart failure or certain types of liver or kidney problems because they tend to have a build-up of excess body fluid, which contributes to their problem.

So-called 'water pills' are used mainly to reduce blood pressure, as getting rid of water and salt from the blood reduces the amount of work the heart has to do to pump it round the body.

If researchers also don't know which participants have received the real treatment, this prevents bias when it comes to recording the results, especially as these aren't always objective measures such as blood pressure, but could be an assessment of how much pain someone is in.

The term derives from the Ancient Greek dys, meaning bad and plasis, meaning formation.

This may be carried out in the form of a biopsy, which involves taking a small sample of body tissue, or a colposcopy, when a microscope is used to examine the cervix.

Cervical dysplasia can be treated by freezing abnormal cells, laser therapy, removing the affected tissue using electricity or removing a small part of the cervix.

The word is thought to come from the Greek ektopos, meaning 'out of place'.

It is used in a medical context to describe a body structure found in an abnormal position, or a function that occurs at the wrong time.

This refers to a layer of cells that acts as a lining for blood vessels, the heart, and the lymphatic ducts — which drain lymph fluid, an important part of the immune system, from the tissues and back into the bloodstream.

The cells of the endothelium are thin and flat, giving a smooth surface which helps the flow of lymph and blood and helps prevent blood clots.

'Endo' comes from the Greek for 'within' or 'internal', while 'ium' simply means tissue or structure (similarly, the endometrium is the term for the lining of the womb).

The term epithelium refers to the outer layer of cells that covers the entire surface of the body, including the skin — 'epi' comes from the Greek for 'upon' — as well as the cells lining hollow organs and glands.

Enzymes are large proteins found naturally in the body that play a key role in speeding up chemical processes — for example, the enzyme pepsin is involved in the breakdown of proteins in the stomach into smaller pieces (known as peptides) that can then be more easily absorbed by the body.

There are approximately 75,000 types of enzyme found in the body, and most will only work under very precise conditions.

The test evaluates the rate at which red blood cells fall in a test tube.

The word 'erythrocyte' means red blood cells and 'sedimentation' describes their movement.

In a patient with little inflammation, the cells fall slowly, leaving plasma (the straw-coloured liquid in blood) at the top.

This odd number means they are very reactive and can bind to cells in the body.

Free radicals are produced in the body during normal metabolic processes, but can also come from external sources such as smoke, sunlight and food.

Every cell in a human body will have all their genes in it (in the form of our DNA, our genetic blueprint), but only a small fraction of these genes are ever turned on or 'expressed'.

The genome is the term for our entire set of genes.

The term was first used in 1920 by a German botanist called Hans Winkler.

The genome is the term for our entire set of genes.

The term was first used in a medical context in the Seventies.

The term may also be used to describe the best treatment, although here, doctors often use 'first-line' instead.

This is the protein needed to make red blood cells and is responsible for transporting oxygen around the body low levels can lead to tiredness and shortness of breath.

Levels of haemoglobin naturally vary between people, but men tend to have higher levels probably because of the differing effects of hormones onerythropoiesis, the process where the body creates red blood cells.

Haemoglobin is the protein needed to make red blood cells and is responsible for transporting oxygen around the body low levels can lead to tiredness and shortness of breath.

The term 'haemoglobin' is from the Greek 'haemato' meaning blood, and 'globulin' is from the Latin 'globus' for 'ball or sphere'.

Medically, it refers to the automatic processes the body uses to maintain its internal conditions, such as body temperature. .

For instance, a sign of homeostasis is sweating after a workout — your overheated body is trying to return to its normal temperature. .

Immunogloblins are also known as antibodies — these are molecules made by white blood cells in response to an infection caused by viruses or bacteria.

There are five types of immunoglobulin, each beginning with the abbreviation 'Ig' and found in different areas of the body.

The body's tissue, muscles and organs rely on a supply of oxygen-rich blood for essential nutrients.

The effect of this is an infarction: where the tissue dies.

This can occur anywhere in the body but 'infarction' is usually used in the context of a heart attack (myocardial infarction).

The body's tissue, muscles and organs rely on a supply of oxygen-rich blood for essential nutrients.

The word — from the Greek isos (equal) and tonos (tone) — means a liquid has a similar concentration of sugar, salt and minerals as our blood and cells.

These help the body rehydrate, but without the energy boost — they are helpful for exercise that doesn't necessarily burn a lot of calories.

A well-known but defunct example is lobotomy, used to treat a range of mental illnesses in the 20th century.

As it is an open surgical procedure, it tends to be used only when a less invasive keyhole procedure, known as a laparoscopy, is not possible.

The word comes from the Latin laesio, from laedere, which means to injure, hurt or damage.

The nodes, found all over the body but in clusters in certain areas, such as the groin and armpits, are in fact not glands. .

The word 'lymph' comes from the Latin lympha, which relates to water.

Commonly used to describe how quickly we digest food, metabolism actually covers a vast number of chemical reactions constantly occurring in the body.

Commonly used to describe how quickly we digest food, metabolism actually covers a vast number of chemical reactions constantly occurring in the body.

Metastatic refers to a disease spreading from its origin in the body.

It is generally used to describe cancer that has spread to another part of the body.

But it is also used for infections, including those caused by bacteria such as staphylococcus aureus, that have travelled from the area where the infection first started.

In metastatic cancer, the cancer cells break away from where they formed and travel elsewhere in the body, usually via the blood or lymph system.

So, if breast cancer cells spread to the lung, they are still breast cancer cells not lung cancer.

The word metatarsal comes from Medieval Latin: meta, meaning between; and tarsus from the Ancient Greek word tarsos, which described the sole of the foot.

They are used to treat a number of diseases including cancer, as well as severe allergic asthma.

In cancer, the monoclonal antibodies (or mAbs) work by attaching onto antigens on the cancer cells — these are the substances that normally trigger the immune system to produce antibodies.

Cells in the body are constantly dividing and copying themselves as part of normal growth and repair — replacing those which are dead or damaged.

The more this error repeats through further division, the more mutated cells mount up.

The word mutate comes from the Latin mutare meaning to change.

The word mutate comes from the Latin mutare meaning to change

Because almost every part of the body has muscle tissue, it can be felt anywhere

It's possible to develop myalgia throughout the body

Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers in the body that transmit signals from nerve cells to other cells, such as those in the muscles and glands, or to other nerves

The word is derived from a combination of the Greek term neura, meaning something that pertains to a nerve or 'sinew or bowstring', and the Latin transmittere, meaning 'send across'

The term palliative originates from the Latin palliativus, meaning 'under cloak' or 'covert'

The prefix 'peri', from Ancient Greek, means 'about', 'around' or 'near'

The peripheral nerves are the part of the nervous system not enclosed in bones, and include the sensory nerves (which send pain and touch messages), motor nerves (which control muscles) and autonomic nerves (which help regulate body functions such as blood pressure)

The word peristalsis comes from the Greek 'peristallein' — 'peri' means around, and 'stallein' means to place, and together it translates as 'to wrap around'

Polyps are small, abnormal growths of tissue that can occur in many parts of the body including the colon or bowel, nose, throat and stomach

This can be tested with a biopsy — where a small sample of the tissue is examined to identify cancerous cells

Polyps are small, abnormal growths of tissue that can occur in many parts of the body including the colon or bowel, nose, throat and stomach

From he Latin for 'to slip forward', in medicine, a prolapse is when a part of the body shifts, or falls out of its proper place — this is why your doctor may refer to a slipped disc as a 'prolapsed' disc

Rheumatoid is most commonly followed by the word 'arthritis', where it refers to inflammation in the joints, muscles or connective tissue around our body, causing symptoms such as pain and stiffness

The suffix 'oid' means it's derived from another word, in this case, rheumatism, which comes from the ancient Greek rheuma, meaning stream or flow

Muscle and joint aches and pains were thought to be the result of excessive 'watery' humours — liquids within the body

Now, of course, rheumatoid arthritis is understood to be an auto-immune disease, where the body attacks the lining of the joints which leads to inflammation, while rheumatism is used as a more general medical term for joint or muscle disorders

Rheumatoid is most commonly followed by the word 'arthritis', where it refers to inflammation in the joints, muscles or connective tissue around our body, causing symptoms such as pain and stiffness

Derived from the Greek word soma, meaning 'body', somatic cells are basically any cells that have a specific function or make up a particular tissue in the body, such as bone cells, blood cells or liver cells

Somatic cells are being used for therapeutic cloning, where new cells are created in a lab to treat degenerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (where cells in the eye have died)

They can also be used during reproductive cloning, as in the case of Dolly the sheep

The sympathetic side is responsible for our 'flight or fight' reactions — for example, it increases heart and breathing rates, blood pressure and pupil diameter at times of stress or exercise (the parasympathetic branch will exert opposite effects)

The term 'sympathetic' was first used by Danish anatomist Jacques-Benigne Winslow in the 1700s, who coined the term in reference to parts of the body 'subject to a common nervous influence'

The word sympathetic has origins in the Greek word sympathes, meaning to 'have a fellow feeling'

From the Greek for 'cutting short', syncope refers to the effect of a temporary drop in blood flow to a part of the body

It generally used to mean fainting, when there is a loss of consciousness due to reduced blood flow to the brain

Most commonly, it is down to a temporary malfunction in the autonomic nervous system, which regulates functions such as heart rate and blood pressure

When there is coldness or numbness in a small area of the body from diminished blood flow, particularly the fingers, it is known as 'local syncope'

Thrombolysis is often used as emergency treatment for stroke when it's caused by a clot in arteries in the brain — however, it must be given within four and a half hours of symptoms

It's also used to break up blood clots in arteries feeding the heart (the main cause of heart attacks)

The term means 'twisting' — most commonly affecting the intestines or testicles

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