Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «H»:
-
Hand-foot-and-mouth syndrome
Hand-foot-and-mouth syndrome: A clinical pattern
consisting of a rash on
the hands and feet and in the mouth due to a viral
infection. The internal
rash (the enanthem) consists of blisters and little ulcers
that may involve
not only the lining of the mouth but also the gums, palate,
and tongue...
-
Handedness
Handedness: The preferential use of one hand for most fine manual tasks. Right handedness is the preferential use of the right hand while left handedness is the preferential use of the left hand for most fine manual tasks. Being able to use both hands equally well is known as being ambidextrous. Ap...
-
Hangman injury (Hangman's fracture)
Hangman's fracture: A broken neck involving a fracture of an upper cervical vertebra similar to the injury suffered in death by hanging. The fracture always affects the vertebra called the axis -- the second cervical vertebra (C2) -- with or without subluxation (slippage) of C2 on C3. A hangman's fr...
-
Hangman's fracture
Hangman's fracture: A broken neck involving a fracture of an upper cervical vertebra similar to the injury suffered in death by hanging. The fracture always affects the vertebra called the axis -- the second cervical vertebra (C2) -- with or without subluxation (slippage) of C2 on C3. A hangman's fr...
-
Hangover
Hangover: A common nonmedical term for the disagreeable physical effects following excessive consumption of alcohol (or the use of other drugs). Veisalgia is the little-used medical name for the condition. It is also called a Spanish headache.
Hangovers been known since Biblical times (or before): "...
-
Hansen bacillus
Hansen bacillus: Mycobacterium leprae, the agent of leprosy (Hansen disease)....
-
Hansen disease
Hansen disease: Leprosy, a chronic granulomatous infection
caused by a bacterium which affects various parts of the body,
including in particular the skin and nerves. (Granulomatous refers to the formation of granulomas, inflammatory nodules that are usually small, granular, firm, and persistent.)...
-
Hansen's bacillus
Hansen's bacillus: See: Hansen bacillus....
-
Hansen's disease
Hansen's disease: See: Hansen disease....
-
Hantavirus
Hantavirus: A group of viruses
that cause hemorrhagic fever and pneumonia. The
Hantaviruses include the Hantaan virus that causes Korean
(and Manchurian) hemorrhagic fever. The Hantavirus
Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) struck the Four Corner area (where
the States of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, ...
-
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome: Abbreviated HPS. A disease that struck the Four Corners area (where the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah meet) in 1993 with devastating, frequently fatal consequences. As the name indicates, it is due to a Hantavirus. Hantavirus transmission to humans ...
-
HAPE
HAPE: Acronym for High Altitude pulmonary edema, the accumulation in the lungs of extravascular fluid (fluid outside of blood vessels) at high altitude, a consequence of rapid altitude ascent, especially when that ascent is accompanied by significant exercise.
HAPE leads to dyspnea (shortness of b...
-
Haploid
Haploid: A set of chromosomes containing only one
member of each chromosome pair. The sperm and egg are haploid and, in humans, have 23 chromosomes....
-
Haploinsufficiency
Haploinsufficiency: A situation in which the total level of a gene product (a particular protein) produced by the cell is about half of the normal level and that is not sufficient to permit the cell to function normally. Another way to define haploinsufficiency is as a condition that arises when the...
-
Hapten
Hapten: In immunology, a molecule that is incapable, alone, of causing the production of antibodies but which can do so when fastened to a larger antigenic molecule called a carrier.
The term "hapten" was taken from the Greek verb "haptein" meaning "to fasten or bind." Haptin and haptene are alter...
