| A | B |
|---|
| Acute | Means of severe, sudden, but short duration - opposed to chronic |
| Acute Myocardial Infarction | Onset of sudden damage to part of the heart muscle, usually due to blockage of the coronary arteries. Synonymus of a Heart Attack |
| Ambulant | Able to walk |
| Angina | Cardiac pain due to poor blood supply to the heart |
| Antibiotic | Drug that destroys bacteria |
| Aperient | A laxative |
| Ataxia | A jerky unsteadiness of limbs and body due to disease in a particular part of the brain |
| Bacteria | Microscopic organisims that cause infection and which can reproduce themselves |
| BCG | The "Bacille Calmett-Guerin" or TB (tuberculosis) vaccination |
| Carotid | The large artery beside the larynx which is ideal for emergency checking of the pulse |
| Chronic | Long term - opposed to Acute |
| Cirrhosis | Condition of the liver where it becomes shrunken, hardened and fails to function normally |
| Cognition | The area of the more sophisticated mental functioning (intelligence, judgement, insight, memory and so on) |
| CVD | Cardio Vascular Disease |
| Dementia | Partial or total loss of personality and other significant functions due to mental deterioration, but without psychosis |
| Dermatitis | Inflamation of the skin |
| Diabetes | A disease with abnormally high blood sugar, due to a lack of insulin |
| Diabetic | Person with Diabetes |
| Dyspnoea | Difficulty in breathing |
| ECG | Electrocardiogram, an electrical recording of activity of the heart |
| EEG | Electro-encephalogram, an electrical recording of brain activity |
| Emphysema | A lung disease with loss of lung tissue. Occurs in smokers |
| Epistaxis | Bleeding of the nose |
| Fistula | A site where ones bodily organ has formed an abnormal opening into another |
| Gastro-enteritis | inflamation of the stomach and intestine |
| Haematemesis | Vomiting of pure blood or blood mixed with stomach contents |
| Haematoma | Medical name for a well demacated "bruise" |
| Haematuria | Blood in the urine |
| Haemoglobin | A complicated iron-containing protein and found in red blood cells. It carries oxygen to the tissues |
| Haemoptysis | Coughing up of blood |
| Haemorrhage | Loss of blood from the body, either internally or externally |
| Hernia | The abnormal protrusion of the contents of one part of the body into another |
| Hospice | A small hospital for the terminally ill |
| Hyperglycaemia | A blood sugar above normal, which is indicative of diabetes |
| Hypoglycaemia | A low blood sugar level, usually due to an excessive insulin dose |
| Incontinence | Loss of bladder control and or bowel |
| Inflamation | The body's reaction to injury, signs are redness, heat, swelling and tenderness |
| Intravenous | Within the vein, as with injections into a vein |
| Ischaemia | Lack of blood supply to an area of the body |
| Jaundice | Yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes due to liver disease |
| Mantoux Test | A skin test given to assist in diagnois of tuberculosis |
| Meningitis | Inflamation of the meninges, a collection of 3 protective membranes surrounding the brain |
| Morbidity | Description of the outcome of a disease and or the relative incidence of a particular disease in a specific locality |
| Nebulizer | A device powered by an air pump which converts a liquid in to a fine spray for inhalation, often used by asthma sufferers |
| Neuritis | Inflammation of nerual tissue |
| Oedema | Fluid in the tissues |
| Peptic | Related to stomach acid, as in "peptic ulcer" |
| Phlebitis | Inflammation of a vein |
| Sepsis | Infection |
| Sputum | Phlegm, secretions coughed up from the lungs |
| Urolgolical | Of the bladder, kidneys or urinary system |
| Virus | An infective particle much smaller than bacteria, requires "host" cells - for example human cells to reproduce. Not destroyed by antibiotics |
