Questions tagged [terminology]
This tag should be used for questions concerning meaning and usage of words as applied in medical science.
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1answer
50 views
What are “cryptic bacteria”?
I came across the term "cryptic bacteria" a few times in the context of biochemistry (Google search), but I couldn't find a definition. What does "cryptic" mean in that context?
3
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1answer
65 views
What is the difference between “comorbidity” and “multimorbidity”?
I am doing a search on how the number of conditions can cause disease burden. I came across the terms comorbidity and multimorbidty in my search and I wanted to know the difference between the two.
...
6
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1answer
164 views
Is adrenaline a coctail of hormones, rather than one hormone?
Although it has been called the "Fight or Flight Hormone" adrenaline
can be better described as 'Do it NOW!!! hormones." First things
first, notice the 's.' Adrenaline isn't just one thing, but a ...
2
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1answer
34 views
What is the name of term for series of studies for the same patient?
If we have a series of assessment of lesion for some patient, how is it called in English? Looks like the study term is used for every single assessment(visit). How the whole series is called?
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2answers
554 views
Is lipaemia the same as hyperlipidemia?
I'm translating a Russian text and one of the sentences goes like this:
Среди сывороток были образцы с гемолизом и липемией.
The serum samples contained samples with hemolysis and lipaemia.
I ...
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0answers
17 views
What is the difference between “clinician” and “therapist”?
I am reading the book Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, and at first I thought clinician and therapist are used interchangeably, but it seems not. So is there any difference between the two? If yes, is ...
4
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1answer
103 views
Abnormal shrinkage of the eyeball
Is there a condition which describes an abnormal shrinkage of the eyeball?
That is, a counterpart to buphthalmos (an abnormal enlargement of the eyeball).
4
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1answer
116 views
Is hydrothorax considered as edema?
In _Robbins Basic Pathology 9th ed., edema is defined as
[E]dema is an accumulation of interstitial fluid within tissues. Extravascular fluid can also
collect in body cavities such as the ...
2
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1answer
27 views
Diagnosing by ruling things out
What is the technical term for a condition that is diagnosed by ruling everything else out?
2
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0answers
28 views
What would a surgeon write about a non-complicated scar in a post-surgery inspection report?
I have a short post-surgery inspection report in Russian:
Осмотр после операции. Рубец спокойный.
Verbatim translation:
Post-surgery examination. The scar is calm.
This calm denotes that the ...
1
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1answer
17 views
Definition of “prospective birth cohort study”
From a news article:
“Prospective birth cohort studies suggest that childhood infections are associated with increased risk of schizophrenia in adulthood and with abnormal neurodevelopment in ...
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2answers
64 views
Meaning of “shared familial confounding” in a study
From a news report:
Using population-based, longitudinal cohort study data from Sweden, researchers examined the relationship of infection during childhood with IQ and adult nonaffective psychosis....
2
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1answer
33 views
Why was 'strabismus' chosen to mean 'any misalignment of the eyes'?
The AAO and AAPOS don't associate strabismus with squinting. So why was a word etymologically meaning 'squinting' adopted to describe this muscle condition?
"a squinting," 1680s, medical Latin,
...
3
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0answers
24 views
English-language term for “productive vasculitis”
I'm translating a Russian text that gives a description of necropsy results. It mentions "productive vasculitis":
Сосуды вокруг участка гранулематозного воспаления с признаками продуктивного ...
3
votes
1answer
118 views
What is the process called, when a doctor tries to figure out what is wrong with you?
I know that anamnesis is the process of asking potentially relevant questions for building a medical history of a patient. I think this involves:
Getting to know past illnesses of the patient
Getting ...
4
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0answers
38 views
What is sleep pressure?
What is sleep pressure?
I was reading an article on melatonin, and one of the commenters said something about 'sleep pressure'. I did a web search to see what it was, but web searches don't often ...
3
votes
2answers
30 views
What would you call the following type of injury?
Having fallen onto your hands and knees on asphalt, the top layer of skin is gone from your wrists, and you can see tiny amounts of blood that are not coming out of anywhere in particular (perhaps the ...
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0answers
37 views
Is there a service that translates medical reports into everyday language?
Medical reports can be quite long and may contain complicated vocabulary that is difficult or impossible for patients to understand.
In Germany, there’s a website called Was hab’ ich? (“What do I ...
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0answers
241 views
What is the meaning of “WES” “LEG” or “CAD” written next to a prescription?
I have 2 prescriptions of Predinisone, and on one of them it is written, "PredniSONE 5MG TAB WES" and on another one it is written, "PREDNISONE 10MG TAB CAD." Are they the same formula and only differ ...
5
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1answer
57 views
What is the definition of Suicidal Ideation?
Many resources on depression and suicide use the term "suicidal ideation" as an important sign/symptom. Some sources (e.g. Krahn, Miller, and Bergstrom, Rapid Resolution of Intense Suicidal Ideation ...
4
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0answers
40 views
What are the food behaviors of anorexic patients?
I'm a medical student reading a book about nutrition and Metabolism. In the description of Anorexia nervosa patients the writer states that
She has a preoccupation with, and often a considerable ...
0
votes
1answer
98 views
What is the name for an underdeveloped MCP joint in the thumb?
Lets say a person is born with both thumbs unable to "bend" more than 5 degrees at the MCP joint (center or middle joint).
This picture is of a thumb bending well over 45 degrees at the same joint.
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1answer
58 views
Reading radiology reports: What do two numbers separated by a slash mean?
The following is an excerpt from the "findings" section of an MRI radiology report. What do the instances of two numbers separated by a slash mean?
There is a lesion within the spinal canal at T2-3 ...
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0answers
37 views
Condition of mucus coated trachea, but clear lungs?
Is there a medical condition or illness (what's the terminology??) for when there is an acute incidence of when the trachea is coated with so much mucus and phlegm that it causes labored breathing and ...
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0answers
41 views
What is a Lymph Node Collection
I'm looking at my results from a C/T I had a year ago, because my doctor wants to get another since my lymph node is still enlarged. When I looked at the results I saw
The right axillary region ...
2
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0answers
220 views
What are “sunset additives”?
In relation to stories such as this one, with the (probably sensationalized?) headline of "Nigerians boycott Coca-Cola drinks after court rules them 'poisonous'":
Consumers of Sprite and Fanta have ...
4
votes
1answer
77 views
I'm scared of certain celestial objects
I have a huge fear of photos of certain things in space. Here's a list:
Nebula
Galaxies
Planets
I am not scared of photos of stars (like the sun or distant stars), galaxy or star clusters (far away ...
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vote
1answer
227 views
Do premiums count towards out of pocket maximum? [closed]
There are several terms to think about:
premium - the monthly cost of a plan
deductible - the amount you pay before your insurance kicks in
coinsurance - the amount you pay after your insurance kicks ...
3
votes
1answer
23 views
STarT Questionnaire Meaning
When referring to the STarT questionnaire. Why is "STarT" capitalised like that?
I can't seem to find a definition of it as an acronym.
The STarT questionnaire, also know as the STarT Back ...
2
votes
2answers
9k views
Why do I feel small stings all over my body in stress?
I've realized I'm expierencing stress (or rather embarassment) quite differently than I used to. Like a year ago (I was 16) I expierenced stress just as a short warming up of my shoulders. For the ...
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vote
0answers
34 views
Term for noisy non-vocal/non-“wheezy” breathing on inhalation
What is the medical term for abnormally noisy inhalation that contains no tonal noise, but rather is airy and "wet" (but no crackling or popping), originating in the upper respiratory tract -- similar ...
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vote
1answer
669 views
centric occlusion vs maximum intercuspation
I have found it very confusing that in the dental and orthodontic literature, it is often stated that "centric occlusion" (CO) and "maximum intercuspation" (MIC) are synonyms (for example), despite ...
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1answer
9k views
What is a T2 hyperintense focus in the subcortical white matter?
What is a T2 hyperintense focus? What does it mean, in English, for there to be a T2 hyperintense focus in the subcortical white matter of the right middle frontal gyrus?
0
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1answer
59 views
Hemeatology vs Hematology
Is there a difference between "Hemeatology" and "Hematology" as physician medical specialties? Or are these spelling variants, like "Haematology" vs "Hematology"?
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0answers
35 views
Conceptual differences between urgent, emergency, planned, unplanned, elective and acute care
I have a bunch of health care terms between which I would like to disambiguate the relationships. A concept map or diagram would be really appreciated since I think better that way. Terms are:
...
8
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1answer
29 views
Disease and Conditions
What is the medical definition that determines when something is a disease or a condition? Some definitions in medical terminology say that for example asthma is a chronic disease while some other ...
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1answer
82 views
Was “patient zero” a concept used in epidemiology before 1980s HIV investigation?
This question may possibly be a fit for English Language or History stackexchange.
Recently it was widely reported in the media about the results of new genetic testing of early HIV samples. The ...
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0answers
56 views
What are the differences between social anxiety and panic attacks in terms of symptoms?
What are the differences between social anxiety and panic attacks in terms of symptoms?
Does social anxiety lead to panic attacks?
2
votes
1answer
56 views
What is a “keep side” feature in a patient record?
I'm a bioinformatics guy working on a dataset related to the mesothelioma disease.
In this dataset:
each row represents a patient record
each column represents a health
feature
There are around 200 ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Medical term for headbanging inability post-car-crash condition
I would like to know the name of the brain (sub)condition whereby after a car accident, you are unable to shake your head in vigorous back and forth or side to side headbanging activity head movements ...
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0answers
10 views
Umbrella terms for field of vision unawareness blindness spectrum conditions?
I would like to know what the name is for the medical condition, whose severity could be categorized by a vision dexterity test possibly related to overall body / hand to object reaction time after ...
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vote
2answers
104 views
Musculoskeletal vs. muscular disorders
A musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is one that is associated with a musculoskeletal system (locomotor system).
Is MSD a subset of muscular disorders or a separate pathological category altogether?
If ...
2
votes
1answer
44 views
Is this description a tension headache?
Could this be describing a "tension headache"?
A throbbing, aching pain that starts at the back of the head and
finishes just below the shoulder line.
I thought tension headaches start and ...
1
vote
1answer
40 views
Is there a universal medical terms naming convention web resource?
I want to use proper conventional names for known diseases and cell and tissue types in my scientific research. Is there a web resource where I can look the terms up and make reference to this ...
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0answers
16 views
Does a treatment X vs. placebo study qualify as a “comparative study”?
I wonder whether a study comparing medical treatment with a placebo qualifies as a "comparative study".
Looking at PubMed's MeSH tags, I don't see much consistency:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...
3
votes
1answer
120 views
MR scanner versus MRI scanner
To designate a device that performs magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is the proper term MR scanner or MRI scanner?
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2answers
70k views
What is the difference between cal and Kcal?
When I started working out, I came across these two terms that are used interchangeably.
On edible products energy is written in terms of Kcal
While when running on a treadmill we lose calories.
...
3
votes
1answer
15k views
What does “2/2” mean in a patient note?
I am reading a few patient notes and see 2/2 used several times, e.g.:
Unclear if 2/2 to aspiration
Recurrent UTIs and hosp. for urosepsis - thought 2/2 to chronic indwelling Foley catheter ...
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0answers
54 views
Are 3D-DSA and 3DRA the same?
This question is to radiologists.
I'm a PhD student in medical image processing and (I thought that) I was working with 3D-DSA images obtained by subtraction of non-contrast enhanced CBCT from a ...
5
votes
2answers
126 views
Epidemic and outbreak of Disease
What are the differences between an epidemic and an outbreak? Both words mean unexpected or unusual occurrence of the disease. Can someone explain the difference between them?
