Glossary
BioScience.com.pk try the best to avoid the use of medical terms that could make it more difficult to understand the information on this website. Still, there are a number of terms that can’t be avoided and that are useful to know because they are so often used by the doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals with whom you might speak. The list below includes the terms used on BioScience.com.pk for which we have provided definitions.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Broad-spectrum Antibiotic Therapy | Treatment with one or more drugs that is effective against a wide variety of bacteria |
| Brittle diabetes | Describes diabetes that is difficult to control, with frequent swings in blood glucose levels between very high and very low |
| Breakpoint | In genetics, the particular sites of disruption when chromosomes break (and recombine) |
| Bone Marrow | Specialized soft tissue found within bone. Red bone marrow, widespread in the bones of children and found in some adult bones (e.g., pelvis, spine, ribs), is essential for the formation of mature red blood cells. Fat-laden yellow bone marrow, more common in adults, is found primarily at the ends of long bones. |
| Boil | Also known as: Furuncle
|
| Blister | Also known as: Vesicle
|
| Blepharoplast | A basal body especially of a flagellated cell. |
| Bite cells | Abnormally-shaped red blood cells with one or more semicircular portions removed from the cell margin, appearing as though the cells have had 'bite' or 'bites.' The 'bites' result from the removal of hemoglobin with an altered structure (denatured) by special cells (macrophages) in the spleen. G6PD deficiency is a common disorder that leads to the formation of bite cells, which can be seen in a stained blood smear. |
| Biopsy | Removal of a small amount of tissue and/or fluid; the specimen is usually obtained by cutting or by suction through a needle. |
| Biomarker | A substance produced by the body, often detectable in body fluids such as blood or urine, that indicates a specific process, condition or disease |
| Biliary | Pertaining to bile or the ducts of the liver and gall blader |
| Bile | Thick, yellow-green-brown fluid made by the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and discharged into the upper part of the digestive tract (duodenum), where it dissolves fats, preparing them for further digestion. |
| Beta Cells | Specialized cells in the pancreas that produce and secrete insulin |
| Beta Blockers | Beta Blockers |
| Benign | 1. Mild, non-cancerous, and/or not spreading (compare Malignant), as of a disease or growth, esp. a benign tumor. |