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Glossary Of Terms
- Arteriosclerosis
- Imprecise term for various disorders of arteries, particularly hardening due to fibrosis or calcium deposition, often used as a synonym for atherosclerosis.
- Bile
- Bile is a yellow-green fluid that is made by the liver, stored in the gallbladder and passes through the common bile duct into the duodenum where it helps digest fat. The principal components of bile are cholesterol, bile salts, and the pigment bilirubin.
- Cardiac
- Pertaining to the heart.
- Cardiovascular
- Pertaining to the heart and blood vessels.
- Constipation
- Infrequent (and frequently incomplete) bowel movements. The opposite of diarrhea, constipation is commonly caused by irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulosis, and medications (constipation can paradoxically be caused by overuse of laxatives). Colon cancer can narrow the colon and thereby cause constipation. The large bowel (colon) can be visualized by barium enema x-rays, sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy. Barring a condition such as cancer, high-fiber diets can frequently relieve the constipation.
- Decongestant
- A drug that shrinks the swollen membranes in the nose and makes it easier to breath. Decongestants can be taken orally or by nasal spray. Decongestant nasal sprays should not be used for more than five days without the doctor's advice, and if so, usually only when accompanied by a nasal steroid. Many decongestant nasal sprays often cause a rebound effect if taken too long. A rebound effect is the worsening of symptoms when a drug is discontinued. This is a result of a tissue dependence on the medication. Decongestants should not be used by patients with high blood pressure (hypertension) unless under doctor’s supervision.
- Enzymes
- Proteins that act as a catalysts in mediating and speeding a specific chemical reaction.
- Gastrointestinal
- Pertaining to or communicating with the stomach and intestine.
- Glaucoma
- A common eye condition in which the fluid pressure inside the eyes rises because of slowed fluid drainage from the eye. If untreated, it may damage the optic nerve and other parts of the eye, causing the loss of vision or even blindness.
- Insomnia
- The perception or complaint of inadequate or poor-quality sleep because of one or more of the following: difficulty falling asleep; waking up frequently during the night with difficulty returning to sleep; waking up too early in the morning; or unrefreshing sleep. Insomnia is not defined by the number of hours of sleep a person gets or how long it takes to fall asleep. Individuals vary normally in their need for, and their satisfaction with, sleep. Insomnia may cause problems during the day, such as tiredness, a lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, and irritability.
- Hypertension
- Persistently high arterial blood pressure. Hypertension may have no known cause (essential or idiopathic hypertension) or be associated with other primary diseases (secondary hypertension).
- Libido
- Sexual desire.
- Lumen
- A luminous term referring to the channel within a tube such as a blood vessel or to the cavity within a hollow organ such as the intestine. Lumen is a luminous term because it is Latin for light, including the light that comes through a window. When a hollow organ is cut across, you can see light through the space that has been opened. So the word "lumen" came to mean this space.
- Metabolism
- The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within us (or any living organism). Metabolism consists both of anabolism and catabolism (the buildup and breakdown of substances, respectively). The term is commonly used to refer specifically to the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy.
- Obesity
- An increase in body weight beyond the limitation of skeletal and physical requirement, as the result of an excessive accumulation of fat in the body.
- Pulmonary
- Pertaining to the lungs.
- Serotonin
- A hormone, also called 5-hydroxytryptamine, in the pineal gland, blood platelets, the digestive tract, and the brain. Serotonin acts both as a chemical messenger that transmits nerve signals between nerve cells and that causes blood vessels to narrow.
- Triglycerides
- The major form of fat. A triglyceride consists of three molecules of fatty acid combined with a molecule of the alcohol glycerol. Triglycerides serve as the backbone of many types of lipids (fats). Triglycerides come from the food we eat as well as from being produced by the body.
- Valvular
- Of or pertaining to a valve or valves; specifically, of or pertaining to the valves of the heart; as, valvular disease.
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