Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

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…

In the UK, the Industrial Injuries scheme provides money for people who have suffered injury or illness because of their work. Benefits for employment-related disability (self-employment is excluded) have been altered many times since they were introduced in 1948. There is now a mix of benefits, eligibility for which depends on several factors: the date,…

An alpha-adrenoreceptor-blocking drug used in the treatment of high blood pressure. It has several side-effects, including sleepiness, dizziness, depression and failure to ejaculate. Indoramin is an alpha-blocker medication used to manage high blood pressure, or hypertension. It works by relaxing the muscles in the walls of blood vessels, which allows the vessels to expand and…

One of many drugs used in the treatment of gout and rheumatoid arthritis. A proprionic-acid derivative, it may help to relieve night pain and morning stiffness. It is also used to treat the congenital abnormality of the heart known as ductus arteriosus. Indometacin is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) utilized to alleviate pain, stiffness, and…

This is the preferred term for amino acids that are essential for the body’s normal growth and development, but which the body is unable to produce. Nine such amino acids exist histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine and they are present in foods rich in protein: dairy products, eggs, meat, and…

The term applied to the region of the junction between the small and large intestines in the right lower corner of the abdomen. The ileocaecal valve is a structure which allows the contents of the intestine to pass onwards from the small to the large intestine, but, in the great majority of cases, prevents their…