Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

The fact of having a strong will.  

A test to detect typhoid fever. A sample of the person’s blood is put into a solution containing typhoid bacilli, or anti-typhoid serum is added to a sample of bacilli from the person’s faeces. If the bacilli agglutinate, i.e. form into groups, this indicates that the person has typhoid fever. [Described 1896. After Georges Fernand…

A loud noise made when inhaling by a person who has whooping cough. A noisy convulsive drawing in of the breath following the spasmodic coughing attack characteristic of whooping cough. The sonorous and convulsive inspiratory crow following a paroxysm of whooping cough.  

A small electronic device worn in the ear. It combines sounds of many different frequencies. It is used to mask internal noise in the ear due to tinnitus.  

A condition which affects women after childbirth, in which a leg becomes pale and inflamed as a result of lymphatic obstruction. A condition that may affect women after childbirth in which there is clotting and inflammation in a vein in the leg. The leg becomes pale, swollen, and tense and is painful; the condition resolves…

A small white swelling formed when a sebaceous gland becomes blocked. A small, hard, painless, white blemish on the skin that results when a hair follicle becomes blocked with an oily substance called sebum. A closed comedo containing pale, dried sebum.  

A condition in which a finger has a mottled discoloured appearance because its blood vessels are damaged. The thumb is usually not affected. Very severe Cases can result in finger loss. It occurs most commonly in Raynaud’s disease. Spasm of the blood vessels in the finger resulting in a white appearance. The condition is common…

Part of the white matter in the spinal cord near the central canal.  

Of a colour like snow or milk. The achromatic color of maximum lightness that reflects all rays of the spectrum.  

A disease in which someone has difficulty in absorbing nutrients and passes fat in the faeces, the joints are inflamed and the lymph glands enlarged [Described 1907. After George Hoyt Whipple (1878-1976), US pathologist. Nobel prize for Pathology and Medicine 1934.] A rare disease, occurring only in males, in which absorption of digested food in…