Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Traditionally, doctors have been trained to treat a patient on the basis of his or her personal clinical needs. Increasingly, however, the practice of medicine has been influenced by patients social circumstances and more recently by community- and government driven national priorities. One critical aspect of these widening influences has been the cost of medical…

A genus of aerobic and anaerobic gram-positive bacteria, widely distributed and best known as parasites and pathogens in humans. C. diphtheria, a prime example, causes diphtheria.  

Corticotropin is the British Pharmacopoeia name for the adrenocorticotrophic hormone of the pituitary gland, also known as ACTH. It is so-called because it stimulates the functions of the cortex of the suprarenal glands. This results, among other things, in an increased output of cortisone.  

Coronaviruses — so-called because in electron micrographs the spikes projecting from the virus resemble a crown — are a group of viruses which have been isolated from people with common colds and have also been shown to produce common colds under experimental conditions. Their precise significance in the causation of the common cold is still…

When coronary arteries, narrowed by disease, cannot supply the heart muscle with sufficient blood, the cardiac circulation may be improved by grafting a section of vein from the leg to bypass the obstruction. Around 10,000 people in the United Kingdom have this operation annually and the results are usually good. It is a major procedure…

A technique of dilating atheromatous obstructions in coronary arteries by inserting a catheter with a balloon on the end into the affected artery. It is passed through the blockage (guided by Xray fluoroscopy) and inflated. The procedure can be carried out through a percutaneous route.  

A corn is a localised thickening of the cuticle or epidermis affecting the foot. The thickening is of a conical shape; the point of the cone is directed inwards and is known as the ‘eye’ of the corn. A general thickening over a wider area is called a callosity. Bunion is a condition found over…

Continued fevers are typhus, typhoid and relapsing fevers, so called because of their continuing over a more or less definite space of time. A fever where the temperature remains within a one or two-degree range over a 24-hour period.  

A charity which helps families with disabled children to obtain good-quality information, support and —most of all — contact with other families with children who have the same disorder. This includes children with specific and rare conditions and those with special educational needs. The charity has many local parent groups throughout the UK and publishes…

A relationship by blood: siblings are closely consanguinous, cousins, and grandparents and grandchildren less so.