Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «S»:
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Stomach cramps
Stomach cramps: A nonmedical
term most often used to describe pain in the mid- or upper abdominal area.
Abdominal pain (pain in the belly) can come from conditions affecting a variety
of organs and does not necessarily arise from the stomach even though an
individual may perceive that pain is o...
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Stomach emptying study
Stomach emptying study: Also
called a gastric emptying study, this test evaluates the emptying of food from the stomach.
For a gastric emptying study,
a patient eats a meal in which the solid food, liquid food or both are mixed with a small amount of radioactive material. A scanner (acting like...
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Stomach fat (belly fat, abdominal fat)
Stomach fat ("belly fat,"
abdominal fat): fat tissue deposited in the midsection of the body around
the abdominal organs. Studies have shown that an increased amount of belly fat
is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, and early death. Two measurements, wais...
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Stomach flu
Stomach flu: So-called "stomach flu" actually has
nothing to do with the influenza (flu) virus. This term is sometimes
used to describe gastrointestinal illnesses caused by other
microorganisms....
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Stomach paralysis
Stomach paralysis: Formally called gastroparesis, this is a medical condition in which the muscle of the stomach is paralyzed by a disease of either the stomach muscle itself or the nerves controlling the muscle. As a consequence, food and secretions do not empty normally from the stomach, and ther...
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Stomach, Pavlov
Stomach, Pavlov: A pouch fashioned surgically from part of the stomach
(but isolated from the rest of the stomach) that opens via a fistula (canal) on to the
abdominal wall. At different points along the dogs' digestive tracts, the Russian
physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1848-1936) surgically cr...
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Stomatitis, Vincent
Stomatitis, Vincent: This is trench mouth, a progressive painful infection with ulceration, swelling and sloughing off of dead tissue from the mouth and throat due to the spread of infection from the gums.
Certain germs (including fusiform bacteria and
spirochetes) have been thought to be invo...
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Stone, kidney
Kidney stone: A stone in the
kidney (or lower down in the urinary tract).
Kidney stones are a common cause of blood in the urine and pain in
the abdomen, flank, or groin. Kidney stones occur in 1 in 20 people
at some time in their life.
The development of the stones is related to decreased
u...
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Stone, renal
Stone, renal: A stone in the kidney (or lower down in the urinary tract). Also called a kidney stone.
Renal stones are a common cause of blood in the urine and pain in the abdomen, flank, or groin. Kidney stones occur in 1 in 20 people at some time in their life.
The development of the stones is...
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Stone, tonsil
Stone, tonsil: A tiny stone (calculus) in the tonsils.
These stones, called tonsilloliths, are found within little pockets (crypts) in the tonsils that typically form in chronic recurrent tonsillitis and harbor bacteria.
The stones are foul-smelling. They tend to contain high quantities of sulfa. W...
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Stone-mason's disease
Stone-mason's disease: See: Silicosis....
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Stones, cystine kidney
Stones, cystine kidney: Cystine kidney stones are due to cystinuria, an inherited (genetic) disorder of the transport of an amino acid (a building block of protein) called cystine. The result is an excess of cystine in the urine (cystinuria) and the formation of cystine stones.
Cystinuria is the mo...
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Stool
Stool: The solid matter discharged in a bowel movement....
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Stool occult blood test
Stool occult blood test: A test to see whether there
is blood in the bowel movement. Also called
a fecal occult blood test: A test to check for hidden blood in stool.
(Fecal refers to
stool. Occult means hidden.) Abbreviated stool OB. ...
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STOP (selective tubal occlusion procedure)
STOP (selective tubal occlusion procedure): A nonsurgical form of permanent birth control in which a physician inserts a 4-centimeter (1.6 inch) long metal coil into each one of a woman's two fallopian tubes via a scope passed through the cervix into the uterus and thence into the openings of the fa...
