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 |
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Dermatophyte | Any one of the group of fungi that cause infection of the skin, hair, or nails |
Dermatitis | Acute or chronic inflammation of the skin |
Dementia | Progressive state of mental decline, especially of memory function and judgment |
Dehydration | Excessive loss of water from the body tissues, often accompanied by imbalance of sodium, potassium, chloride, and other electrolytes |
Cytoplasm | |
Cytology | The microscopic assessment of individual cells or groups of cells that are either shed in body fluids or collected by smears and scrapings (e.g., the Pap smear) or by aspiration from deeper tissues through a very fine needle |
Cytokine | one of a group of proteins released by cells of the immune system that carry signals to neighboring cells to regulate and/or promote an immune response |
Cyst | 1) a hollow space or fluid-filled cavity surrounded by a distinct lining that develops abnormally in tissue or in an organ in the body, such as "ovarian cyst" |
Culture | Deliberate growing of cells, especially microorganisms, in a solid or liquid medium (e.g. agar, gelatin), as of bacteria in a Petri dish |
CSF | Also known as: Cerebrospinal Fluid |
Cryoprecipitate | A component prepared from donated blood; after freezing plasma and thawing, a precipitate that remains solid. It is rich in fibrinogen and Factor VIII. |
Croup | Also known as: bronchiolitis |
Corpus Luteum | Literally, yellow body in the ovary; the progesterone-producing tissue that remains after an egg is releaed from the ovary |
Convalescent Sample | In the clinical laboratory, pertaining to samples taken at a time when a patient is recovering from a disease or condition |
Connective tissue |