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.

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Term Definition
Boil

Also known as: Furuncle


A painful, inflamed area of skin with a defined border, collection of pus and a hard central core usually caused by a bacterial infection of a hair follicle and surrounding tissue

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.

Breakpoint

In genetics, the particular sites of disruption when chromosomes break (and recombine)

Brittle diabetes

Describes diabetes that is difficult to control, with frequent swings in blood glucose levels between very high and very low

Broad-spectrum Antibiotic Therapy

Treatment with one or more drugs that is effective against a wide variety of bacteria

Bronchiectasis

A condition in which the airways are stretched and/or widened that can be caused by recurrent inflammation or infection of the airways and results in symptoms such as bluish skin, coughing and wheezing, and shortness of breath

Bronchioles

The smaller airway passages/branches of the lower respiratory tract

Bronchiolitis

Also known as: Croup


Inflamed bronchioles, the smaller airway passages/branches of the lower respiratory tract

Bronchus

Also known as: Bronchi (plural)


One of the two main branches of the windpipe (trachea) that lead directly to the lungs