Author: Glossary

A test most frequently used to confirm cases of stroke, tumor, aneurysm (bulging of the artery walls), a clot, and a narrowing of the arteries and to evaluate the arteries of the head and neck before corrective surgery. It is used to obtain more exact information after an abnormality has been detected by a magnetic…

A neurological condition in which amyloid protein builds up on the walls of the arteries in the brain and increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. Because cerebral amyloid angiopathy can be caused by the same amyloid protein (amyloid precursor protein [APP]) that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease, such brain hemorrhages are more common in people…

A large part of the brain situated anterior to and above the medulla oblongata concerned with the coordination of muscles and the maintenance of bodily equilibrium. That division of the central nervous system postinferior to the cerebrum and above the pons is concerned with coordination of movements and equilibrium. A section of the hindbrain, located…

The “waxy flexibility” often present in catatonic schizophrenia in which the patient’s arm or leg remains in the position in which it is placed. A disorder of posture in which a patient’s limbs offer a continuous mild resistance to being moved passively the examiner and remain for long peril in the position into which the examiner…

Headache or head pain.  

A breathing-related sleep disorder that occurs when the brain does not send the signal to the muscles to take a breath, resulting in no muscular effort to take a breath.  

A breathing-related sleep disorder characterized by an impairment in ventilatory control that results in abnormally low arterial oxygen levels, leading to frequent arousals from sleep.  

Formerly called the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA); a federal agency within the U.S. department of health and human services (DHHS) that administers MEDICARE, MEDICAID, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA).  

A U.S. federal agency under the U.S. department of health and human service (DHHS) and based in Atlanta, Georgia, the CDC works to protect public health and safety by providing information to enhance health decisions. It focuses national attention on developing and applying disease prevention and control (especially infectious diseases), environmental health, occupational safety and…

A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) type of antidepressant medication approved to treat depression and also used by clinicians to treat selective anxiety disorders. The brand name for citalopram.