Category: I

Disorders caused by problems with the body’s mechanisms for protecting itself against viruses, bacteria, and other foreign substances. Immune system disorders result in conditions in which some portion of the immune response is weak or absent. In one form of immune system disorders, called autoimmune disorders, the immune system mistakenly identifies the body’s own normal…

A surgical procedure in which a stoma, an artificial opening, is created in the abdominal wall to allow the discharge of feces into a device attached to the skin. The operation by which an artificial opening is made into the ileum and brought through the abdominal wall to create an artificial opening or stoma. It…

A surgical procedure in which the colon and rectum are removed and part of the ileum (the lowest part of the small intestine) is used to construct an internal pouch in which waste collects. Ileal pouch-anal anastomosis is performed to treat large- bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis. This procedure ensures a high degree of…

In a baby’s first 4 to 6 months, either breast milk or formula can meet a child’s nutritional needs. Cow’s milk should not be given to babies younger than 1 year of age. Babies should be fed on demand. The younger and smaller an infant, the more frequently he or she needs to eat. Newborns…

The most common type of injury in older people. Falls are both more common and more serious for older people than for others and more frequently result in fractures. Each year, one fourth of adults older than age 65 who live at home fall. Older adults in hospitals and nursing homes fall even more frequently.…

A method that provides pain-suppressing medication through a small, flexible tube (intravenous catheter) inserted into a vein, usually in the hand or lower arm. Intravenous anesthesia can be used for general anesthesia. Anesthesia initiated by injecting an anesthetic substance into a vein.  

An enzyme elevated in liver disease or placental problems of pregnancy.  

An antigen that incites antibody production in members of the same species. An antigen that forms a natural component of an individual’s tissues. Thus the antigens of the HL-A system are isoantigens, as are the agglutinogens of the different ‘blood groups. A substance present in certain individuals that stimulates antibody production in other members of…

Cleaning and suctioning a wound or body cavity, to relieve accumulation of pus or other material, or to send a sample to the laboratory for examination.  

A measure of the iron uptake and return in blood, in relation to the synthesis and breakdown of hemoglobin. Iron-binding capacity serves as a metric to assess the quantity of transferrin, a protein that complements hemoglobin in its role of binding and ferrying iron within the bloodstream. Measuring this capacity can aid in determining the…