Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «M»:
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Moscati, St. Joseph
Moscati, St. Joseph: (1880-1927) Dr. Giuseppe (Joseph) Mosati, physician from Naples. First modern doctor to be canonized by the Catholic Church (in 1987). Moscati directed several hospitals, served as a doctor in the front lines of World War I, healed, taught and supported the poor and outcast. He ...
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Mother
Mother: (1) The female parent. (2) To produce offspring as a female. To attribute the maternity of. (3) A cell or other structure from which similar cells or structures are formed. Accordingly, such a cell might be referred to as the mother cell.(4) To provide maternal protection, guidance, and nurt...
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Motherese
Motherese: The language spoken, all over the world, by mothers to their babies, before and after birth. Motherese is the earliest language a baby hears. A baby may be deprived of motherese through deafness or through separation from the parents.
"Reading about the seemingly miraculous, if controvers...
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Motility study, antro-duodenal
Motility study, antro-duodenal: An antro-duodenal motility
study is a study for detecting and recording the contractions of the
muscles of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine, the
duodenum. It is performed to diagnose problems with how the muscles
of the stomach and small inte...
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Motion sickness
Motion sickness: Motion sickness is a very common disturbance of the inner ear that is caused by repeated motion such as from the swell of the sea, the
movement of a car, the motion of a plane in turbulent air, etc. In the inner ear (which is also called the labyrinth), motion sickness affects the...
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Motion, range of
Motion, range of: The range through which a joint can
be moved, usually its range of flexion and extension. Due to an injury, the knee may for
example lack 10 degrees of full extension....
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Motoneuron
Motoneuron: The term motoneuron is an elision of motor and neuron. See: Motor neuron....
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Motor
Motor: In medicine, having to do with the movement of a part of the body. Something that produces motion or refers to motion. For example, a motor neuron is a nerve cell that conveys an impulse to a muscle causing it to contract. The term "motor" today is also applied to a nerve that signals a gland...
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Motor neuron
Motor neuron: A neuron that sends electrical output signals to muscle neurons. Also called a motoneuron....
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Motor neuron disease
Motor neuron disease: A group of neurological diseases characterized by steadily progressive deterioration of the motor neurons in the brain, brainstem and spinal cord that send instructions in the form of electrical impulses to the muscles, leading to muscle weakness and wasting.
Motor neuron dise...
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Motor neurone disease
Motor neurone disease: Motor neuron disease. "His suffering from motor neurone disease (MND) was finally over because he had chosen to die." (article by Lesley Close in The Guardian, May 25, 2004)...
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Motulsky dye test
Motulsky dye test: A test for glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD), a cause of anemia and the most common enzyme defect known to be responsible for human disease.
Persons with G6PD deficiency develop anemia because of the breakup of their red blood cells. Depending on the degree of en...
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Mountain sickness
Mountain sickness: Also known as altitude sickness or altitude illness, this is a disorder caused by being at high altitude, commonly above 8,000 feet (2,440 meters).
The cause of altitude illness is a matter of oxygen physiology. At sea level the concentration of oxygen is about 21% and the barom...
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Mountain sickness, acute (AMS)
Mountain sickness, acute (AMS): Acute mountain sickness
(AMS) is the illness that results from being in a high altitude
environment. AMS is common at high altitudes, that is above 8,000
feet (2,440 meters). Three-quarters of people have mild symptoms of
AMS over 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). The...
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Mourning
Mourning: The process by which people adapt to a loss as, for example, the death of someone near and dear. Mourning is influenced by cultural customs, rituals, and society's rules for coping with loss....
