Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «M»:
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Mimetic
Mimetic: The adjective for "mimesis" -- imitation or mimicry.
A radiomimetic drug is one that imitates the effects of radiation as in the case of chemicals such as nitrogen mustards which are used in cancer chemotherapy.
"Mimetic" and "mimesis" come from the Greek verb "mimeisthai" meaning "to imit...
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Minamata disease
Minamata disease: A disorder caused by methyl mercury poisoning that was first described in the inhabitants of Minamata Bay, Japan and resulted from their eating fish contaminated with mercury industrial waste. The disease is characterized by peripheral sensory loss, tremors, dysarthria, ataxia, and...
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Mind
Mind: That which thinks, reasons, perceives, wills, and feels. The mind now appears in no way separate from the brain. In neuroscience, there is no duality between the mind and body. They are one....
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Miner's asthma
Miner's asthma: See: Black lung disease....
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Mineral requirements, infant
Mineral requirements, infant: Minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, iodine, copper and zinc) and trace elements (manganese, chromium,
selenium, and molybdenum) are included in most infant formulas. Therefore, there is no evidence that mineral
supplementation are necessary for healthy for...
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Mineralocorticoids
Mineralocorticoids: A group of hormones (the most important being
aldosterone) that regulate the balance of water and electrolytes (ions such as sodium and
potassium) in the body. The mineralocorticoid hormones act on the kidney (and specifically
on the tubules of the kidney)....
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Minimal change disease
Minimal change disease: The most common form of the nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disorder that affects the structures called glomeruli which contain small capillaries surrounded by membranes through which the blood is filtered to form urine. Called minimal change disease (MCD) because under the ordi...
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Minimal change nephrotic syndrome
Minimal change nephrotic syndrome: See: Minimal change disease....
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Minimal residual disease
Minimal residual disease: Evidence for the presence of residual malignant cells, even when so few cancer cells are present that they cannot be found by routine means. Tests for minimal residual disease (MRD) can detect some early tumors. In a patient who has been treated, the detection of MRD indica...
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Minimally invasive lung volume reduction
Minimally invasive lung volume reduction: Minimally invasive techniques for reducing the lung volume in advanced emphysema, including COPD, to improve pulmonary function, exercise capacity, quality of life, and survival. Minimally invasive techniques are designed to achieve lung volume reduction wi...
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Minipill
Minipill: A form of oral contraceptive taken daily, like combined oral contraceptives (the "pill"), but containing only the hormone progestin and no estrogen.
The minipill works by reducing and thickening cervical mucus to prevent sperm from reaching the egg. It also keeps the uterine lining from ...
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Minocin
Minocin: Brand name for minocycline....
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Minocycline
Minocycline: A tetracycline antibiotic used to treat many different bacteria in urinary tract infections, acne, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, and other injections. The brand names for minocycline include Dynacin, Minocin, and Vectrin.
The tetracyclines are broad-spectrum antibiotics effective against a...
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Minor
Minor: A minor is someone who is not yet an adult and, in a larger sense, it is something that is less than something else.
For example, the teres minor muscle is smaller than the teres major muscle. In anatomy, wherever there is a minor, there is also a major.
Minor also enters into the idea of a ...
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Minor anomaly
Minor anomaly: An unusual anatomic feature that is of no serious medical or cosmetic consequence to the patient. A minor anomaly of the feet might, for example, be curvature of the second toe so it overlaps the third toe a little.
A major anomaly, by contrast, might be a cleft lip and palate, a bir...
