Fehlings solution: used to detect sugar in the urine.
Fibrillating: when the heart muscle is rapidly twitching in an uncoordinated way.
Flavine gauze: gauze soaked in flavine, an antiseptic.
Gastrectomy or gastric resection: this is when part or the whole of the stomach is removed.
Gastric intubation and suction: A tube inserted through the person’s nose into their stomach (called a naso-gastric tube) which can then be used to drain the fluids away more comfortably and cleanly. A syringe can be attached to the tube and used to remove the stomach’s contents by ‘suction’.
Gastro-enterologist: a specialist in the gastro-intestinal tract, digestion and its disorders.
Glucose and saline infusion: (see ‘infusion’ as well) an infusion into the vein of a mix of weak saline (salt) and glucose (sugar) solution.
Glyceryl trinitrate: a drug used to treat angina.
Glycosuria: the excretion of glucose into the urine.
Haemoglobin levels: haemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells which carries oxygen.
Hallucinogenic: substances causing hallucinations.
Hardened arteries: arteries are normally elastic to cope with the pressure of blood being pushed around the body: this elasticity allows the arteries to maintain the blood pressure.
Hemiplegic: one-sided weakness of the body.
Hiatus hernia: caused by the upper part of the stomach pushing through the hole in the diaphragm.
Hippocratic Oath: historically, an oath taken by doctors to practise ethically in medicine. It has been taken over by another oath in the USA. In the UK it has been taken over by a different code of conduct.
Huntingdon’s chorea: a degenerative disease of the brain, whereby the person suffers physical, cognitive and functional effects. It is hereditary and always fatal.
Hydraulic air bed: a specialised bed used to prevent pressure and bedsores in someone with reduced mobility.
Hypoglycaemia: low blood sugar levels. Can occur in diabetics when they do not take in enough glucose from their diet.
Hyper-glycaemia is high blood sugar levels, again caused by diabetes. Symptoms build up over several days but if not treated it can affect vision, nerves and circulation.
Hypothalamus: a very small part of the brain, which controls temperature, hunger, thirst and circadian rhythms (the twenty-four-hour body clock).
Iliac crest: part of the pelvic bone.
Iliac vein: main veins of the pelvis.
Infarction: the process of tissue death caused by lack of circulation to the area.
Involuntary reflexes: these are the body’s responses to certain things and which cannot be controlled by the mind.
Irritable boweclass="underline" a disease in which the bowel becomes irritated by something, either an allergy, disease or drugs, which causes profuse diarrhoea or constipation.
Ischaemic heart disease: death of heart tissue caused by blockage of blood vessels.
IV’s: short for intravenous, a term used for anything given via a vein.
Jugular: the largest vein in the body, situated in the neck.
Ketones: a by-product of the breakdown of fatty tissue in the body, usually occurring in diabetics.
Lapatoromy: This is the name of the surgical incision to the abdomen.
Laying out: often called ‘Last Offices’. This is the process of preparing the body of someone who has just died for burial.
Leukaemia: Cancer of the bone marrow.
Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) - Health and Welfare: the only legally recognised way a person can make a medical decision on behalf of another. This power only comes into effect when the person loses capacity i.e. the ability to make a decision. It must be registered (proven by a hologram sticker on the document, and an official rubber stamp) and must be seen by the medics and people treating that person at the time. The person acting as the attorney can only make decisions within the remit of what they think the person they are representing would have wanted in that situation.
Lumbar puncture: an investigative procedure in which cerebrospinal fluid is removed for analysis.
Mastectomy: removal of all or part of the breast.
Mersalyclass="underline" an early diuretic which contained mercury.
Metastasis: a single site where the cancer has spread, a single secondary. Metastases is the plural and means multiple secondaries.
MRSA: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus: a highly contagious and resistant bacterial infection requiring strong skin cleansers, and antibiotics.
Multiple sclerosis: when the myelin sheath (insulation) around certain nerves is affected which slows down the passage of nerve messages. There are several types of MS, some more progressive and damaging than others.
Nasojejunostomy tube: tube that is inserted through the nasal passage, into the gullet, through the stomach and into the small bowel, the jejunum.
Necrotic: dead and decaying: e.g. necrotic skin is blackened skin caused by lack of circulation.
Neurodegenerative disease: disease which causes deterioration of the nervous systems.
Neurologist: a specialist of the nerves, the nervous system and related disorders.
Oedema: swelling of the tissues of the body caused by poor circulation.
Oestrogen / Progesterone: these are female steroids, better known as female sex hormones.
Oncologist: a doctor specialising in treating cancer.
Oncotic pressures: when blood is more concentrated and attracts water into the circulatory system.
Open heart resuscitation (direct manual compression): heart compressions applied directly to the heart through an incision made through the skin, sternum and membranes.
Palliative care: care of patients with incurable disease and their families. In chronic disease it will begin when the disease can no longer be assisted by drug therapy.
Paraldehyde: a substance originally used to control convulsions, and as a sedative and hypnotic.
Paralytic ileus: when the small bowel paralyses itself.
Paramedics: specially trained professionals who attend emergencies in the community.
Parenteraclass="underline" given via external route instead of via the gastrointestinal route.
Path lab analysis (short for pathology laboratory analysis): analysis of certain body tissues or fluids.
Pathologist: a specialist of pathology.
Pelvic colon: the colon is the large bowel.
Peripheraclass="underline" on the edges of the body.
Peritoneal cavity: the abdominal cavity, which is surrounded by the peritoneal membrane.
Peritonitis: inflammation of the peritoneum, the membrane lining the abdominal cavity. It can be caused by infection, disease or injury. It needs to be treated with strong antibiotics or an operation, and can be fatal.
Placebo: a substance with no active element or drug, often used in trials against a real drug to see whether the latter is more effective.