Category: S
-
Sidestream smoke
Smoke inhaled from the burning tobacco products or others. Smoke that goes directly into the air from burning tobacco. The smoke produced by the smoldering tip of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe, as well as the smoke exhaled by the smoker, constitutes what is commonly referred to as second-hand smoke. This term encompasses both the…
-
Side-by-side
A coital position in which the partners are positioned facing each other while lying on their sides.
-
Sick-role behavior
As defined by SOPHE, that which occurs after the appearance of a symptom of illness or disease, health behavior; illness behavior.
-
Sickledex test
A laboratory test to diagnose sickle cell anemia trait.
-
Sickle-cell anemia trait
A genetic condition in which a person has inherited one recessive defective gene and one normal gene. The person is not clinically sick but can pass the sick-cell anemia (disease) onto his or her offspring. However, the person may experience mild symptoms under severe environmental conditions, sickle-cell anemia.
-
Sickle-cell anemia (SCA)
A genetic blood defect. A genetic disease caused by a mutation in the code for one of the subunits of hemoglobin. Because of this mutation, the amino acid sequence of the protein is aberrant, which in turn affects its quatenary structure and its ability to carry oxygen. The name comes from the change in shape…
-
Sib-mating (Crossing of siblings)
Matings involving two or more individuals of the same parentage, brother-sister mating.
-
Sibling status
The place where a person is located in the sibling structure of the family.
-
Siamese twins
An outdated term describing identical twins that have not been completely separated at birth. Twins born joined together at one or more body parts and often sharing a body part. Most Siamese twins can be separated surgically, the prognosis depending on the site of connection and the extent of shared organs. Also called conjoined twins.…
-
Shunt
A passageway between two blood vessels or between two sides of the heart. The passing of fluid through a channel which is not the usual one. A channel which links two different blood vessels and carries blood from one to the other. A medical technique that involves insertion of a bypass tube, or shunt, to…