Category: N

In clinical practice, the transmission of impulses at the NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION may be blocked to paralyze temporarily a patient for a surgical procedure, or to assist treatment on the intensive care unit. There are two main types of drug, both of which competitively block the acetylcholine receptors on the motor end plates. (a) Depolarizing neuromuscular…

A microscopic strand of cytoplasm that occurs in the cell body of a neurone(E) as well as in the semifluid content of the AXON of a nerve cell.  

A family of gram-negative bacteria of which three varieties cause disease. Neisseria meningitidis (‘meningococcus’) causes meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia. Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes gonorrhoea. Moraxella catarrhalis occurs in the nose and throat and sometimes causes ear infections. A family of bacteria that are spherical, gram-negative, and nonmotile.  

A non-opioid analgesic drug used in the relief of pain that fails to respond to other non-opioid analgesics.  

A nebuliser makes an aerosol by blowing air or oxygen through a solution of a drug. Many inhaled drugs such as salbutamol, ipratropium and corticosteroids such as beclomethasone can be given in this way. It has the advantage over a metered dose inhaler (MDI) that no special effort is required to coordinate breathing, and a…

National Listening Library is a charity which produces recorded books for handicapped people who cannot read, with the exception of the blind who have their own separate organization, the Royal National Institute for the Blind.  

This NHS initiative aims to provide health professionals with easy and fast access to best current knowledge from medical journals, professional group guidelines, etc. Unbiased data can be accessed by both clinicians and the public online.  

This special health authority in the National Health Service, launched in 1999, prepares formal advice for all managers and health professionals working in the service in England and Wales on the clinical value and cost effectiveness of new and existing technologies.  

In England and Wales, this body manages regional transfusion centres. Among its aims are the maintenance and promotion of blood and blood products based on a system of voluntary donors; implementing a cost effective national strategy to ensure adequate supplies of blood and its products to meet national needs; and ensuring high standards of safety…

Disease may affect the nail fold, nail plate or nail bed. Inflammation of the nail fold is called paronychia: acute paronychia is usually caused by a minor injury allowing in bacteria; chronic paronychia is often an occupational hazard, due to constant exposure of the hands to water for example, in the catering industry, agriculture and…