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 |
|---|---|
| Hemoglobinopathy | A group of single gene disorders including structural hemoglobin variants (e.g., sickle cell hemoglobin) and the thalassemias |
| Hemodialysis | A disorder similar to diabetes mellitus in that it causes symptoms such as increased thirst and increased urine production, but differing in cause, frequency, treatment, and associated complications; diabetes insipidus results from a lack of production of arginine vasopressin (also called antidiuretic hormone or ADH) by the pituitary or a lack of response of the kidneys to ADH, causing an inability of the kidneys to conserve water. It can lead to severe dehydration and high serum sodium if inadequately treated. Diabetes inspididus is a much more rare condition than diabetes mellitus.Also known as: Dialysis |
| Hemodialysis | Also known as: Dialysis |
| Heinz Bodies | Precipitated hemoglobin that can be seen inside red blood cells under the microscope |
| Half-life | The amount of time it takes for the body to inactivate or metabolize half of a substance; a second half-life would decrease the remainder by half again, and so on. |
| Gynecomastia | Enlargement of breast tissue in the male |
| Granuloma | Special form of chronic inflammation; often forms one or more nodules that can involve the skin, lymph nodes, lung, liver, spleen, or other organs. Granulomas often form in response to certain types of infection (especially to mycobacteria such as in tuberculosis and to fungi) or to foreign bodies, but sometimes have no known cause, as in sarcoidosis. |
| Goiter | An enlarged thyroid gland |
| Glycogen | The principal storage form of glucose found primarily in the liver and the muscles. |
| Glomerulus | Plural: glomeruli; one of a number of specialized structures in the kidney, composed of loops of specialized capillaries that filter blood, allowing small substances to pass through towards the urine but preventing loss of larger proteins and blood cells. |
| Globulin | Collective term for most blood proteins other than albumin |
| Gigantism | A condition in children resulting from excess growth hormone characterized by an abnormal growth of the long bones and increased size of feet and hands |
| Gestation | Period of development of a fetus between the time an egg is fertilized and birth |
| Germ cell | Reproductive cell that develops into a sperm in males and an egg in females; germ cells contain one-half of the normal complement of the 46 chromosomes from each parent. |
| Genotype | Specific combination of genes within a cell or cells |
