Author: Glossary

The partly digested mass of food in the stomach. Nearly liquid mixture, composed of partially digested food and gastric secretions, that is found in the stomach and duodenum during digestion of a meal. A semifluid, thick mass consisting of food broken down by the digestive action of gastric juices in the stomach and passes into…

A term recently introduced to describe adult malnutrition. Commonly defined by wasting or a low body mass index.  

Drug used to treat hyperlip-idaemia by complexing bile salts in the intestinal lumen and increasing their excretion, so increasing their synthesis from cholesterol. An ion exchange resin that is used to adsorb cholesterol in the gastrointestinal tract. It also serves as a bile acid sequestrant. A cholesterol-lowering agent; a bile acid sequestrant; a lipid-lowering agent.…

Failure of normal amounts of bile to reach the intestine, resulting in obstructive jaundice. May be caused by bile stones or liver disease. Halt in production and secretion of bile by the liver. A condition in which all bile does not pass into the intestine but some remains in the liver and causes jaundice. Interruption…

A form of vitamin D found naturally in fish-liver oils and egg yolks. A metabolite of cholesterol formed in the pathway for vitamin D activation. Cholecalciferol is hydroxylated in the kidney to 1,25 dihydroxy-cholecalciferol, the active vitamin D.  

Drug used in the treatment of diabetes; it stimulates secretion of insulin. An oral hypoglycaemic agent. A drug which lowers blood sugar, used in the treatment of diabetes. A drug that reduces blood sugar levels and is used to treat diabetes in adults. It is administered by mouth and can cause such side-effects as skin…

Modified chitin, marketed as a fat binder to reduce fat absorption and aid weight reduction, with little evidence of efficacy. A polysaccharide made of glucosamine, naturally present in the exoskeleton of crustaceans. It resists digestion in the stomach but degrades in the colon. It is used to protect drugs and oral vaccines for controlled release…

Tire organic matrix of the exoskeleton of insects and crustaceans, and present in small amounts in mushrooms. It is an insoluble and indigestible non-starch polysaccharide, composed of N-acetylglucosamine. Partial deacetylation results in the formation of chitosans. A water-insoluble polysaccharide polymer composed of A’-acetyl-D-glucosamine units which forms the exoskeletons of arthropods (insects) and Crustacea. Shellac is…

Flushing, palpitations, numbness associated at one time with the consumption of monosodium glutamate, and then with histamine, but the cause of these symptoms after eating various foods is not known. An allergic condition which gives people severe headaches after eating food flavoured with monosodium glutamate (informal). Headache, feeling of tingling and burning, and sometimes of…

Cells in the stomach that secrete pepsinogen, the precursor of the digestive enzyme pepsin. One of the cells of the parathyroid gland that secrete the parathyroid hormone.