Nursing and Medicine

Items

• dominant

  Dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and the second recessive.
• donor

  A person who makes his own tissue or organs available for use by someone else. For example, a donor may provide blood transfusion, kidney transplantation, or sex cells for artificial insemination.
• drain

  A device, usually a tube or wick used to draw fluid from an internal body cavity to the surface.
• drainage

  The drawing off of fluid from a cavity in the body, usually fluid that has accumulated abnormally.
• drip

  Apparatus for the continuous injection (transfusion) of blood, plasma, saline, glucose solution, or other fluid into the vein.
• dysgeusia

  Changes to, or loss of, the sense of taste. There are a number of reasons why this can happen including as a side effect of certain medicines (e.g., chemotherapy), and as a result of viral infection.
• dysmenorrhoea

  Painful menstruation.
• dyspnea

  Dyspnea, also known as shortness of breath, is the subjective sensation of
• emergency room

  An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident & emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of patients who present without prior appointment; either by their own means or by that of an ambulance.
• endemic

  The constant presence of an agent or health condition within a given geographic area or population; can also refer to the usual prevalence of an agent or condition.
• enucleation

  The complete removal of an eye leaving surrounding structures intact.
• epilepsy

  A neurological disorder characterised by recurring seizures caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
• exposure

  Having come into contact with a cause of, or possessing a characteristic that is a determinant of, a particular health problem.
• fatigue

  Intense mental or physical tiredness.
• first aid

  Procedures used in an emergency to help a wounded or ill patient before the arrival of doctor or admission to hospital.
• generic drug

  The drug that contains the same chemical substance as the original drug although it has a different name.
• gene therapy

  Treatment directed to curing genetic disease by introducing normal genes into patients to overcome the effects of defective genes, using technique of genetic engineering.
• genetic code

  The code in which genetic information is carried by DNA and messenger RNA.
• genetic counseling

  The procedure by which patients and their families are given advice about the nature and consequences of inherited disorders, the possibility of becoming affected or having affected children, and the various options that are available to them for the prevention.
• genetic drift

  The tendency for variations to occur in the genetic composition of small, isolated inbreeding populations by chance.
• genetic engineering

  The techniques involved in altering the characteristics of an organism by inserting genes from another organism into its DNA.
• genetics

  The science of inheritance. It attempts to explain the difference and similarities between related organisms and the ways in which characteristics are passed from parents to offspring
• genetic screening

  Screening tests to discover individuals whose genotypes are associated with specific diseases.
• genome

  The total genetic material of an organism, comprising the genes contained in its chromosomes; sometimes the term is used for haploid set of chromosomes of an organism.
• genotype

  The genetic constitution of an individual or group, as determined by the set of genes it possesses.