Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

The state of being a parent.  

An original cell which divides into daughter cells by mitosis.  

An injection of local anaesthetic into the back near the vertebrae.  

Near the vertebrae, beside the spinal column.  

The surgical removal of a parathyroid gland. Surgical removal of one or more of the parathyroid glands. Surgical removal of parathyroid gland tissue for the treatment of hyperparathyroidism. In hyperparathyroidism, the parathyroid glands, for unknown reasons, become enlarged and produce excessive amounts of parathyroid hormone. To determine which of the glands are involved, diagnostic imagine,…

A drug which reduces the effects of the parasympathetic nervous system by relaxing smooth muscle, reducing the amount of sweat and saliva produced and widening the pupil of the eye. An example is atropine. A drug opposing the effects of the ‘parasympathetic nervous system. The actions of parasympatholytic drugs are anticholinergic (i.e. preventing acetylcholine from…

An act where someone tries to kill himself or herself, but without really intending to do so, rather as a way of drawing attention to his or her psychological condition. A self-injuring act (such as an overdose of sleeping tablets) that is not motivated by a genuine wish to die. It differs from attempted suicide…

The scientific study of parasitism; the existence and behavior of individual parasites and groups of parasites. A parasite is an organism that entirely lives off of another organism. In medicine, parasitology involves the study of parasitic diseases that affect humans. The study of parasites is a specialized scientific field. While viruses, numerous bacteria, and fungi…

A cyst caused by the growing larvae of a parasite in the body. A cyst enclosing the larval form of certain parasites, such as the cysticercus or hydatid of tapeworms or the larva of certain nematodes (i.e., Trichinella).