Category: C

Treatment aimed at preventing a condition from becoming worse, in the expectation that either natural healing will occur or progress of the disease will be so slow that no drastic treatment will be justified. Compare radical treatment. Medical treatment which involves the minimum of active interference by the practitioner. For example, a disc lesion in…

An extremely poisonous alkaloid, found in hemlock (Conium maculatum), that paralyzes the nerves, mainly the motor nerves. Coniine has been included in drug preparations for the treatment of asthma and whooping cough.  

A dark-red or reddish-brown pigment that becomes blue in acidic conditions. It is used as a histological stain. Amyloidosis is indicated if over 60% of the dye disappears from the blood within one hour of injection. An odorless red-brown powder used in testing for amyloid. In polarized light, amyloid treated with Congo red produces a…

A point of coalescence. The confluence of the sinuses is the meeting point of the superior sagittal, transverse, straight, and occipital venous sinuses in the dura mater in the occipital region of the skull.    

A sweet substance that is combined with a medicinal preparation to make it suitable for administration. A sugar-like soft solid in which one or more medicinal substances are incorporated so that they can be administered agreeably and preserved conveniently. The use of confections is rare in contemporary medicine.  

A form of diarthrosis (freely movable joint) in which an ovoid head fits into an elliptical cavity. Examples are the knee joint and the joint between the mandible (lower jaw) and the temporal bone of the skull.  

The group of mental activities (including drives, will, and ‘instincts) that leads to purposeful action. The initiative, impulse, and drive to act. All of these may he diminished in cerebral diseases, esp. those involving the medial orbital parts of the frontal lobes.  

A syndrome occurring in people working under high pressure in diving bells or at great depths or altitudes with breathing apparatus. On return to normal atmospheric pressure nitrogen dissolved in the bloodstream expands to form bubbles, causing pain (the bends) and blocking the circulation in small blood vessels in the brain and elsewhere (decompression sickness).…

Communicating or connecting. The term is applied particularly to blood vessels or nerve fibers connecting two similar structures. One of several communicating nerves or arteries.  

A medical facility that may be staffed jointly by representatives of a voluntary health agency and a government agency. A combined agency might provide nursing services contributed by a city health department and a local Visiting Nurses Association.