Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «D»:
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Disease, hemolytic, of the newborn
Disease, hemolytic, of the newborn: Abnormal
breakup of red blood cells in the fetus or newborn. ...
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Disease, Hirschsprung
Disease, Hirschsprung: A congenital abnormality (birth defect) of the bowel in which there is absence of the ganglia (nerves) in the wall of the bowel. Nerves are missing starting at the anus and extending a variable distance up the bowel. This results in megacolon (massive enlargement of the bowel)...
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Disease, His
Disease, His: Named for the Swiss physician Wilhelm
His, Jr. (who also described the bundle of His in the heart), this is
a louse-borne disease first recognized in the trenches of World War I
and so was called trench fever.
Trench fever is a disease is estimated to
have affected more than a milli...
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Disease, His-Werner
Disease, His-Werner: Named for the Swiss physician
Wilhelm His, Jr. (who also described the bundle of His in the heart)
and the German physician Heinrich Werner (who was not the Werner who
described Werner's syndrome).
This is a louse-borne disease that was first recognized in the
trenches of Wor...
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Disease, Hodgkin (adult)
Disease, Hodgkin (adult): A type of lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system). The most common symptom is painless swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck, underarm, or groin. Hodgkin disease is diagnosed when abnormal tissue is detected by a pathologist after a biopsy of an enlarged lymph node. Tre...
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Disease, Hodgkin (Hodgkin lymphoma)
Disease, Hodgkin's (Hodgkin's
lymphoma): A disease of the lymph nodes named after the English
physician Thomas
Hodgkin (1798-1866) who discovered it. ("Perfecting the
World" is an excellent
biography of Dr. Hodgkin by A. M. and E. H. Kass)....
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Disease, Huntington
Disease, Huntington:
An hereditary disorder with mental and physical deterioration leading to death.
Although characterized as an "adult-onset" disease (as is usually the case), we have seen children with full-blown Huntington disease.
Huntington disease describes an autosomal dominant p...
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Disease, hyaline membrane
Disease, hyaline membrane: Respiratory disease of the newborn, especially the premature infant, in which a membrane composed of proteins and dead cells lines the alveoli (the tiny air sacs in the lung), making gas exchange difficult or impossible.
The word "hyaline" comes from the Greek word "hyalo...
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Disease, hydroxyapatite crystal
Disease, hydroxyapatite crystal:The inflammation caused by hydroxyapatite crystals has been referred to as hydroxyapatite crystal disease.
Hydroxyapatite is a major component and an essential ingredient of normal bone and teeth, makes up bone mineral and the matrix of teeth, and gives bones and tee...
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Disease, inflammatory bowel
Disease, inflammatory bowel: A group of chronic intestinal diseases characterized by inflammation of the bowel -- the large or small intestine. The most common types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease.
Crohn disease favors the ileum (the lower part of th...
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Disease, Jakob's
Disease, Jakob's:
Better known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a dementing disease of the brain. It is believed due to an unconventional, transmissible agent (a prion). Symptoms of CJD include forgetfulness, nervousness, jerky trembling hand movements, unsteady gait, muscle spasms, chronic deme...
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Disease, Jakob-Creutzfeldt
Disease, Jakob-Creutzfeldt:
A transmissible degenerative brain disorder technically termed spongiform encephalopathy.
Eating "mad cow" meat or squirrel brain can lead to Jakob-Creutzfeldt-like
disease. Better known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). A dementing disease of the brain, belie...
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Disease, Kawasaki
Disease, Kawasaki: A syndrome of unknown origin,
mainly affecting young children, causing fever, reddening of the eyes
(conjunctivitis),
lips and mucous membranes of the mouth, ulcerative gum disease
(gingivitis), swollen
glands in the neck (cervical lymphadenopathy), and a rash that is
raised an...
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Disease, Keshan
Disease, Keshan: See Keshan disease....
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Disease, Kikuchi
Disease, Kikuchi: A disorder that typically causes "swollen glands" in the neck (cervical lymphadeniopathy) together with fever or flu-like symptoms. Laboratory test abnormalities include elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and white blood count abnormalities (low neutrophil count and el...
