Author: Glossary
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Lacrimation
Tearing; it may be a significant symptom in opioid withdrawal. The excessive secretion of tears. Secreting and discharging tears. The production of tears. Normal continuous secretion of tears by the lacrimal glands. The usual or heightened production of tears, leading to watery eyes.
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La belle indifference
Literally, “beautiful indifference.” Seen in certain patients with conversion disorder who show an inappropriate lack of concern about their disabilities. A disproportionate degree of indifference to, or complacency about, symptoms such as paralysis or loss of sensation in a part of the body. It is characteristic of conversion disorders.
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Krabbe’s disease
A rare genetic disorder (also known as leukodystrophy) consisting of a deficiency of the enzyme beta-galactosidase, which causes the myelin sheath surrounding nerves in the brain to degenerate. The disorder is characterized by progressive intellectual disability, paralysis, blindness, deafness, and pseudobulbar palsy. Krabbe disease is a rare, degenerative disorder of the central and peripheral nervous…
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Koro
A term, probably of malaysian origin, that refers to an episode of sudden and intense anxiety that the penis (or the vulva and nipples in females) will recede into the body and possibly cause death. This syndrome is reported in south and East Asia, where it is known also as shook yong, shuk yang, suk-yeong,…
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Klüver-Bucy syndrome
A syndrome following bilateral temporal lobe removal consisting of loss of recognition of people, loss of fear, unusually low aggression, hypersexuality, excessive oral behavior, memory deficits, and overreaction to visual stimuli. Behavioral syndrome usually following bilateral temporal lobe removal. It is characterized by loss of recognition of people, loss of fear, rage reactions, hypersexuality, uncontrolled…
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Klonopin
Brand name for the benzodiazepine anxiolytic drug clonazepam.
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Klismaphilia
One of the paraphilias, characterized by marked distress over, or acting on, sexual urges involving enemas. A sexual variance.
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Klinefelter’s syndrome
Chromosomal defect in males in which there is an extra x chromosome. Manifestations may include underdeveloped testes, physical feminization, sterility, and intellectual disability. An abnormality affecting males in which the sex-determining chromosomes are XXY instead of the normal XY. One gamete some-how contributes an extra X chromosome at the time of fertilization. Symptoms include small…
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Kleptomania
The impulsive, compulsive, addictive stealing of unneeded objects. The person feels an increased sense of tension before and gratification or relief after the theft. A neurosis characterized by compulsive stealing. A form of mental disorder in which someone has a compulsive desire to steal things, even things of little value. Compulsion to steal. The objects…
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Kleine-Levin syndrome
Periodic episodes of hypersomnia accompanied by excessive food intake and (in some cases) hypersexuality. The syndrome first appears in adolescence, usually in boys. It is not classified as either an eating disorder or a sleep disorder. It is considered a neurological syndrome and is believed to reflect a frontal lobe or hypothalamic disturbance. A condition…