Category: I

Ionization means the breaking up of a substance in solution into its constituent.  

A non-metallic element which is found largely in seaweed. The body contains about 30 mg, largely concentrated in the thyroid gland where it is used to synthesise thyroid hormones. Iodine has a highly irritating action and, when applied to the skin, stains the latter dark brown and causes it to peel off in flakes, while…

Salts of iodine, those which are especially used in medicine being the iodide of potassium and iodide of sodium. They are used to assist in providing a supply of iodine in patients with goitre, or in individuals who live in an area where goitre is liable to occur because of a deficiency of IODINE in…

A method of helping conception to occur when a man is infertile because his sperm cannot penetrate either the cervical mucus at the entrance of the uterus or the barriers that surround the ovum. The sperm, often treated chemically beforehand to increase motility, are injected directly into the uterus via the vagina.  

This technique is used to deal with male infertility when in vitro fertilization is not possible because the man has very few motile, normal sperm, or when previous attempts at IVF have not produced a fertilized embryo. ICSI requires a single sperm which is injected directly into the cytoplasm of an egg previously retrieved from…

A narrowed or blocked coronary artery can compromise the blood supply to the heart muscle. A supportive tube or stent passed into each affected artery can restore the blood supply. The stent has a heparin coating to stop blood clots from forming. Since they were first performed in 1987, intracoronary stents have cut the re-blockage…

Sometimes Called an intensive care unit, this is a hospital unit in which seriously ill patients undergo resuscitation, monitoring and treatment. The units are staffed by doctors and nurses trained in intensive care medicine, and patients receive 24-hour, one-to-one care with continuous monitoring of their condition via highly specialized electronic equipment that assesses vital body…

The origin of this important branch of medicine lies in the effective use of positive pressure ventilation of the lungs to treat respiratory breathing failure in patients affected by poliomyelitis in an outbreak of this potentially fatal disease in Denmark in 1952. Doctors reduced mortality from 90 per cent to 40 per cent in patients…

The sides of the toenail curve downwards, resulting in inflammation of the skin next to the nail which spreads to the base of the nail. The skin and nail base may become painful and badly infected. If antibiotics and local dressing do not cure the condition, surgery to remove part of the nail will be…

The advent of computing has had widespread effects in all areas of society, with medicine no exception. Computer systems are vital as they are in any modern enterprise for the administration of hospitals, general practices and health authorities, supporting payroll, finance, stock ordering and billing, resource and bed management, word-processing correspondence, laboratory-result reporting, appointment and…