Category: P

A disunion of mind of which the person is not aware (e.g., dual personality, fugue, somnambulism, selective amnesia).  

A dislocation in which the bones remain as originally displaced.  

The digestion of foreign substances by body cells as opposed to enteral digestion, which occurs in the alimentary canal.  

The digestion of proteins and fats by pancreatic enzymes released into the intestine.  

A diet in which nitrogen content is provided as simple amino acids (or small strings linked by amino acids) rather than as intact proteins.  

A meal regimen that mimics the food choices of modern hunter-gatherer societies or primitive human cultures. It includes nuts, fruits, vegetables, wild game, and fish and typically derives about 21% of its calories from fat.  

Diarrhea with pus, a result of intestinal ulceration.  

In assisted reproduction, the testing of a fertilized egg for heritable illnesses before the ovum is inserted into the female.  

The clinical classification by a physical therapist of a patient’s impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities.  

Identification of an illness or abnormality by looking at, listening to, percussing, or palpating the patient. In contemporary health care, amid much controversy diagnostic imaging (e.g., ultrasound, nuclear medicine, CT and MRI scans) has replaced many traditional physical diagnostic skills. Diagnosis reached through methods such as palpation, percussion, or auscultation during examination.