Category: S
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Steatoma
A cyst in a blocked sebaceous gland. Lipoma, fatty tumor. The term is also used for any tumor of a sebaceous gland. A growth of fatty tissue; a glandular cyst.
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Steapsin
An enzyme produced by the pancreas, which breaks down fats in the intestine. Lipase is an enzyme found in the pancreatic juice.
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Steam inhalation
A treatment for respiratory disease in which someone breathes in steam with medicinal substances in it. A technique for alleviating certain symptoms associated with colds, sinusitis, and laryngitis involves inhaling vapor emanating from a container of hot water. The moisture helps to loosen nasal and throat secretions, facilitating their easier clearance.
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Stay
The time which someone spends in a place. A postponement of an administrative or a judicial ruling.
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Statutory bodies
Organisations set up by Acts of Parliament to carry out specific functions, e.g. the Nursing and Midwifery Council, set up to regulate the nursing and midwifery professions.
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Status lymphaticus
A condition in which the glands in the lymphatic system are enlarged. Enlargement of the thymus and other parts of the lymphatic system, formerly believed to be a predisposing cause to sudden death in infancy and childhood associated with hypersensitivity to drugs or vaccines. A state where the body’s lymphoid tissues, particularly the thymus gland…
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State of mind
A general feeling.
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State
The condition of something or of a person. A particular circumstance of a living being that exhibits variations either in its structure or in its physiological processes or sometimes both, during different intervals of its existence. Situations that necessitate a predetermined sequence of events are called stages.
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Starvation diet
A diet which contains little nourishment, and is not enough to keep a person healthy.
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Starvation
The fact of having had very little or no food. Involuntary absence of feeding. Condition resulting from lack of essential nutrients over a prolonged period and characterized by weight loss, widespread physiologic and metabolic disturbances, and increased susceptibility to infection. Suffering extremely or dying of a lack of food. Starvation occurs primarily during famine conditions…