Vocabulary list for health sciences

David Bar-Tzur

GENERAL TERMINOLOGY

adolescence	adulthood	ambulance	asymmetry	capacity	celsius	childhood
conscious	cross-section	dentist	determine (a value)	discriminate	doctor	expand
Fahrenheit	flow	gynecologist	holistic	hospital	infancy	infusion
internal	medicine	microscope	motoric	near-death experience	nurse	orthopedics
patient	perception	physical (exam)	physician	pressure	Red Cross	scar
stabilize	sterile	structure	symmetry	weigh	weight

AIDS

See also Sexuality.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome->	AIDS	anonymous/ confidential (testing)	bleed	blood->	donate ~	draw ~
born	breast milk	breastfeed	bruise	cancer	casual contact	cause (a disease)
chronic	cough	cunnilingus	decompensation	diarrhea	disease	donating (blood)
drugs	ELISA	enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay	fatigue	fever	glands	hemophilia
high risk behavior	HIV+	Human Immunodeficiency Virus	immunity	infect	infection	inject
intercourse	intravenous	IV	Kaposi's sarcoma	KS	lose weight	lubricant
lungs	multiple partners	needle	night sweats	PCP	Person [living] with AIDS	pneumocystis carinii pneumonia
pneumonia	PWA	Red Cross	risk	safe (sex)	safe(r) sex	saliva
(blood) screening	sensitive	sero-convert	share needles	skin	sterile	sterilize
swelling, swollen	thrush	tongue	(blood) transfusion	transmit (infect)	virus	weight loss
window period	womb

ANATOMY

See also Sexuality under "Sexual anatomy".

abdomen->	four quadrants of the ~	anatomy	anterior	anus	back	backbone
ball and socket joint	bellybutton	bilateral	blood	bone(s)	breast(s)	cell
cervical cap	cervix	chart	client	confidential	costovertebral	cross-section
cusp	diaphragm	disk	ear->	~drum	~mold	three bones (in middle ~)
esophagus	extension	flexion	heart	hinge	hinge joint	hips
inferior	intestine	involuntary	joint	kidney	large intestine	larnyx
lateral	lateral bending	lateral flexion	lumbar-spinal	lungs	marrow	mid-axillary line
mid-clavicular line	mid-sternal line	mucous membranes	muscle	nerve	nipples	organ
particle	pelvis	permeable	pisiform	posterior	rib(s)	sac
sacro-iliac joint	semi-permeable	skeleton	skin	small intestine	spinal column	spinal cord
spine	subcutaneous	superior	thorax	throat	tissue	tongue
transverse	unilateral	ureter	urethra

CHILDBIRTH AND BIRTH CONTROL
See also Sexuality under "Sexual anatomy and function".

abort	abstinence	alternative insemination	amniocentesis	bellybutton	birth	birth control
birth defect	born	bottlefeed	breast	breastfeed	breast sucking	Caesarian section
coitus interruptus	conception	condom	contraception	contraceptive	contraceptive foam	contraceptive implants
contraction	deliver, delivery	diaper	diaphragm	doula	egg (ovary)	embryo
Fallopian tubes	family planning	fertile	fertilization	fetus	foam (contraceptive)	gestation
gynecologist	head (classifier)	impotence	impregnate	incubation period	infertility	intrauterine device
Kegel exercises	labor	Lamaze	Leboyer	menstruate, menstruation	midwife	miscarriage
nipples	ob-gyn	obstetrician	ovary	ovulate	ovum	pelvic exam
period	placenta	post partum depression	pregnancy, pregnant	rhythm	spermicide	sterilization, sterlize
trimester	triplet(s)	tubal ligation	umbilicus	umbilical cord	uterus	vasectomy
water->	body retains (or takes on) ~	~ broke	wean	withdrawal

DIAGNOSIS

See also "Pathology and symptoms" and "Physiology" below.

adventitious	amniocentesis	autopsy	blink	blood test	blood pressure	breast self-examination
cause	chronic	congenital	culture	diagnose	diagnosis	draw blood
electrocardiogram	electroencephalogram	etiology	exhale	inhale	motor skills->	fine ~
gross ~	oral culture	palpate	pelvic exam	physical (exam)	postmortem	pulse
RH factor	rubella	scanning electron microscope	source	speculum	stethoscope	take blood
test	throat culture	tongue blade (depressor)	urinalysis	vagina	vaginal culture	x-ray

DIET AND NUTRITION

See also Culinary arts.

calorie	chew	cholesterol	diet	diet pills	digest	hydrogenated
intestine	metabolism	metabolize	polyunsaturated fat	protein	saturated fat	toxic
unsaturated fat

HEARING LOSS

acoustics	amplification	amplifier	amplify	attenuation	audiologist	audiology
audiometer	auditory canal	auditory nerve	bel	consultant	decibel	discriminate
feedback	hearing loss->	adventitious (~)	conductive (~)	congenital (~)	mild (~)	moderate (~)
postlingual (~)	postvocational (~)	prelingual (~)	prevocational (~)	mild (~)	profound (~)	sensorineural (~)
severe (~)	loudness	middle ear	monotone	outer ear	pinna	pressure
sound	sound wave	speech	tight	vibrate, vibration	volume

MEDICATIONS

See also Chemistry under "Elements and compounds".

amphetamine	aspirin	calcium	cubic centimeters	depressant	diet pills	drug(s)
expectorant	eye drops	gram	medicine	milligram	milliliter	ointment
pharmacy	pill->	take ~	powder	prescription	prescription drugs	tranquilizer
vaccinate	valium	vitamin

NEUROLOGY

association area	auditory area	auditory perception	autonomic	axon	brainstem	central nervous system
cerebellum	cerebral cortex	convolutions	corpus collosum	cortex	cortical	dendrite
diploid	DNA	efferent (neuron)	(nerve) excitation	forebrain	frontal (lobes)	hindbrain
left hemisphere	lobes	localization	medulla	midbrain	motor area	neurology
neuron	neurotransmitter	occipital (lobes)	parasympathetic	parietal (lobes)	peripheral nervous system	receptor
reflex	refractory period	reticular activating system	right hemisphere	sensory area	sensory perception	speech area
stimulus	sympathetic	synapse	temporal (lobes)	visual area	visual perception

PATHOLOGY AND SYMPTOMS

See also Psychology and Sexuality under "AIDS" and "Venereal diseases and their symptoms".

abnormal	ache	acute	adventitious	allergy	Alzheimer's	amputate
anesthesia	antibiotic	antibody	antigen	asthma	asymptomatic	atrophy
AZT	bacteria	bacteria vaginosus	bedridden	birth defect	bite (animal)	bite (insect)
blanche	bleed	blind	bloodshot eyes	break (bone)	breakdown	bronchitis
bruise	bump	burn	carrier	cataract	catch (a disease)	cause
caustic	cavity	chancre	chickenpox	chill	choke	chronic
cold	communicable disease	community acquired disease	complications	congested (nasal)	constipated	contagious
cough	cramp(s)	cut	decay	decompose	dehydrate, dehydration	demented
dementia	deteriorate	developmentally disabled	deviate, deviation	diarrhea	disabled	disablity
discharge	discoloration	disease->	catch/get/acquire a ~	disorientation, disoriented	dizziness	Down's syndrome
drowsiness	E coli	edema	epidemic	epilepsy	erupt	Escherichia coli
exposure	fagocytize	faint	fever	fracture	gag	gasp
glaucoma	heart attack	hemophilia	hiccup	hot flashes	hurt	ill->
to be ill	illness	immune, immunity	immune system	immunity	immuno-suppressed	impacted
incubation period	incurable	infection	infectious	infirmary	inflammation	injure
insomnia	irritate	itch	lesion	limp	lump	macular degeneration
malignant	measles	metastasize	Mittelschmerz	mumps	muscular dystrophy	myopia, myopic
nausea	near-sighted/ness	night blindness	night sweats	numb	obese	out-patient
pain	pain with urination	pale	palpitate	palsy	paralysis	paraplegic
pass out	pneumonia	premenstrual syndrome	quadriplegic	rash	reflux (acid)	regurgitate
retinal detachment	retinitis pigmentosa	RH factor	rubella	Salmonella	seizure	sensitive
Shigella	shortness of breath	sick	sleepy	sneeze	somatic	sore
sore on one's mouth	spaced out	spasm	sprain	Staph	Staphylococcus	sting
stroke	superficial	susceptible	symptom	TB	tense	tension
terminal	tonsillitis	toxin	trace	transmission	transmit	trauma
tuberculosis	tunnel vision	ulcer, ulceration	unconscious	Usher syndrome	vector	virus
vision loss	vomit->	projectile ~ing	wart	water->	body retains (or takes on) ~	weight->
lose ~

PHYSIOLOGY

bowel movement	breathe	belch	burp	chew	circulation	defecation
digest	eliminate	enzyme	excrete	exhale	expectorate	feces
glands	heartbeat	hemoglobin	homeostasis	hormone(s)	hypothalamus	inhale
intestine	limbic system	membrane	menarche	menopause	menstrual cramps	menstruate, menstruation
metabolism	oxygen	perspire	physiology	protein	respiration	sensation
sense	sneeze	sputum	stomach	thalamus	urine	urinate, urination
vision

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES AND SYMPTOMS

See also "AIDS" above and Health Sciences under "Pathology".

burn (penis)	burn (vagina)	chlamydia	crabs	diagnose	diagnosis	gonorrhea
herpes	itching (penis)	itching (vagina)	non-gonococcal urethritis	Pelvic Inflammatory Disease	pubic lice	scabies
Sexually Transmitted Disease(s)	sore on one's penis	sore on one's vagina	syphilis	ulceration (penis)	ulceration (vagina)	vagina->
discharge from ~	itching (~)	sore/ulceration (~)	gonorrhea	herpes	syphillis	venereal disease
venereal wart

THERAPY, SURGERY, AND RECOVERY See also "Medications" above and Physical therapy.

acupuncture	amputation	anesthesia	aseptic	assisted suicide	backrub	bandage
band-aid	C(a)esarean section	calorie	carbohydrate	chiropractic	chiropractor	circumcision
clamp	clinic	cochlear implant	diet	disinfect	douche	dress (a wound)
dressing	emergency department	emergency room	euthanasia	evaluate	exacerbate	examination
first aid	forceps	genetic engineering	group therapy	Heimlich maneuver	hygiene	hygienist
hypnotize	hypodermic	hysterectomy	inject->	bunch (the skin) to ~	stretch (the skin) to ~	in-patient
instrumentation	intramuscular	intradermal	inoculate, inoculation	intravenous	Kegel exercises	Kvorkian
ICU	intensive care (unit)	lose weight	massage	medicine	nebulizer	nutrient
nutrition	ob-gyn	operate	operating room	operation	organ donation	out of body experience
out-patient	overweight	oxygen	recover, recovery	rectum	rehabilitation	relapse
remission	risk	scar	screen	shot	sponge	sterile
suction	surgery	symptom	therapy	thermometer	tonsillectomy	toxin
treat	treatment	vaccination	weight->	lose ~	wheelchair

VISION

blind	braille	cane	cataract	dark adaptation	deteriorate	discriminate
glaucoma	illusion	light adaptation	magnification	magnify	mobility	myopia, myopic
near-sighted/ness	night blindness	orientation	orientation and mobility	peripheral vision	retinal detachment	retinitis pigmentosa
sighted person	tactile	tactual	tunnel vision	Usher syndrome	vision	vision loss

For the signs for these terms, see Signs for technical/specialized vocabulary.

For additional relevant terms, see Vocabulary list for alcohol and drug addiction.

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