English dictionary of medical terms (04)

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No:60 - alcoholism: a disorder characterized by pathological pattern of alcohol use that causes a serious impairment in social or occupational functioning. In DSN III-R this is termed alcohol abuse or, if tolerance or withdrawal is present, alcohol dependence.
No:61 - alert: attentive and quick to think or act.
No:62 - alimentary: pertaining to food or nutritive material, or to the organs of digestion.
No:63 - alkaline: (L. alkalinus) having the reactions of an alkali.
No:64 - alkaloid: (alkali + -oid) one of a large group of nitrogenous basis substances found in plants. They are usually very bitter and many are pharmacologically active. Examples are atropine, caffeine, coniine, morphine, nicotine, quinine, strychnine. The term is also applied to synthetic substances (artificial a's) which have structures similar to plant alkaloids, such as procaine.
No:65 - alkalosis: a pathologic condition resulting from accumulation of base, or from loss of acid without comparable loss of base in the body fluids, and characterized by decrease in hydrogen ion concentration (increase in pH). Cf. acidosis.
No:66 - alkylate: to treat with an alkylating agent.
No:67 - allergen: (allergy + -gen) a antigenic substance capable of producing immediate-type hypersensitivity (allergy).
No:68 - allergic: pertaining to, caused by, affected with, or of the nature of allergy.
No:69 - allergy: (Gr. allos other + ergon work) 1. a state of hypersensitivity induced by exposure to a particular antigen (allergen) resulting in harmful immunologic reactions on subsequent exposures; the term is usually used to refer to hypersensitivity to an environmental antigen (atopic allergy or contact dermatitis) or to drug allergy; the original meaning, now obsolete, included all states of altered immunologic reactivity, immunity as well as hypersensitivity. Gell and Coombs used the term 'allergic reaction' to mean any harmful immunologic reaction causing tissue injury. 2. the medical specialty dealing with diagnosis and treatment of allergic disorders.
No:70 - alopecia: (Gr. alpekia a disease in which the hair falls out) baldness; absence of the hair from skin areas where it normally is present.
No:71 - alternate: cause to occur or appear one after the other.
No:72 - alternative: available in place of something else.
No:73 - alveolitis: inflammation of an alveolus. Called also odontobothritis.
No:74 - amblyopia: (ambly + -opia) impairment of vision without detectable organic lesion of the eye.
No:75 - ambulant: (L. ambulans walking) walking or able to walk.
No:76 - amenorrhea: (a neg. + Gr. mn month + rhoia flow) absence or abnormal stoppage of the menses; called also amenia.
No:77 - amine: an organic compound containing nitrogen; any member of a group of chemical compounds formed from ammonia by replacement of one or more of the hydrogen atoms by organic (hydrocarbon) radicals. The amines are distinguished as primary, secondary, and tertiary, according to whether one, two, or three hydrogen atoms are replaced. The amines include allylamine, amylamine, ethylamine, methylamine, phenylamine, propylamine, and many other compounds.
No:78 - amino acid: any organic compound containing an amino (-NH2 and a carboxyl (- COOH) group. The 20 a-amino acids listed in the accompanying table are the amino acids from which proteins are synthesized by formation of peptide bonds during ribosomal translation of messenger RNA; all except glycine, which is not optically active, have the L configuration. Other amino acids occurring in proteins, such as hydroxyproline in collagen, are formed by posttranslational enzymatic modification of amino acids residues in polypeptide chains. There are also several important amino acids, such as the neurotransmitter y-aminobutyric acid, that have no relation to proteins. Abbreviated AA.
No:79 - amnesia: (Gr. amnsia forgetfulness) lack or loss of memory; inability to remember past experiences.

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