Category: P

The area on the centre and towards the left side of the chest, lying in front of the heart. The region on the chest that lies in front of the heart.  

An effective drug against all human schistosomes, it has a broad spectrum of activity and low toxicity. An anthelmintic medication employed in the treatment of tapeworm infection and schistosomiasis. Possible side effects encompass sensations of dizziness, drowsiness, and abdominal discomfort.  

Also known as the inguinal ligament, it is the strong ligament lying in the boundary between the anterior abdominal wall and the front of the thigh.  

A rare chronic inflammatory disease in the ileal pouch, which remains after a patient has had intestinal resection because of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Metronidazole and oral probiotics are effective treatments. Acute or chronic inflammation of the surgically produced pouch used in restorative proctocolectomy.  

Drugs that have the ability to dilate arteries and veins and are used to relieve pain in angina of the heart. Nicorandil is the main example. A category of medications employed for the prevention and extended-term management of angina (chest pain resulting from insufficient blood flow to the heart). Nicorandil, classified as a potassium channel…

The technical term used to describe the quite common habit of healthy babies to regurgitate, or bring up, small amounts of the meal they have just taken. Its name derives from possett, an 18th-century drink made from porridge and sherry.  

The name given to the region behind the knee. The muscles attached to the bones immediately above and below the knee bound a diamond shaped space through which pass the main artery and vein of the limb (known in this part of their course as the popliteal artery and vein); the tibial and common peroneal…

Polypus, or polyp (plural: polypi), is a general name applied to tumours which are attached by a stalk to the surface from which they spring. The term refers only to the shape of the growth and has nothing to do with its structure or nature. Most polypi are harmless, although malignant polypi are also found.…

A suggestion by two epidemiologists, made in the British Medical Journal in 2003, that many lives could be saved if all persons aged over 55 took a daily combination pill they termed the polypill. Its components would be aspirin, a cholesterol-lowering agent, folic acid and two blood-pressure-lowering agents. The suggestion caused a massive correspondence as…

A name applied to certain white corpuscles of the blood which have a nucleus of irregular and varied shape. These form between 70 and 75 per cent of all the white corpuscles. A polymorphonuclear leukocyte. A white blood cell that targets and consumes bacteria. Pus consists of these white cells combined with dead bacteria.