Category: C

The ability of the brain to process, retrieve, and store information. Impairment of these brain functions is common in patients with dementia, drug intoxication, or head injury.  

Unequal refraction of different wavelengths of light through a lens, producing a colored image.  

The final cause of death is usually the failure of the vital centres in the brain that control the beating of the heart and the act of breathing. The important practical question, however, is what disease, injury or other agent has led to this failure. Sometimes the cause may be obvious for example, pneumonia, coronary…

Hollow tumours, containing fluid or soft material. They are almost always simple in nature. A closed sac or pouch with a definite wall that contains fluid, semifluid, or solid material. It is usually an abnormal structure resulting from developmental anomalies, obstruction of ducts, or parasitic infection. A sac or capsule in the body. It may…

A prolapse of the base of the urinary bladder in a woman. The pelvic floor muscles may be weakened after childbirth and, when the woman strains, the front wall of the vagina bulges. Stress incontinence often accompanies a cystocoele and surgical repair is then advisable.  

An antiandrogen. It inhibits the effects of androgens at receptor level and is therefore useful in the treatment of prostate cancer, acne, hirsutism in women and in the treatment of severe hypersexuality and sexual deviation in men. The drug can have serious side-effects. An agent that effectively inhibits the activity of androgen hormones is employed in…

A drug group which inhibits the enzyme cyclo-oxygenase and is more selective than its predecessor group, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), and so is claimed to be less likely to cause gastrointestinal side-effects. The national institute for clinical excellence (NICE) recommended in 2001 that these drugs (which include celecoxib, etodolac and meloxicam) should not be…

An antihistamine drug which is mainly used for the prevention of sickness, including sea-sickness.  

This is a syndrome in women, characterised by irregular intermittent bouts of generalised swelling. Sometimes the fluid retention is more pronounced before the menstrual period. The eyelids are puffy and the face and fingers feel stiff and bloated. The breasts may feel swollen and the abdomen distended, and ankles may swell. The diurnal weight gain…

The method of finding the concentration of blood, urine, etc., by observing their freezing-point.