Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «S»:
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Sydenham, Thomas
Sydenham, Thomas: (1624-1689) Great English physician who has been called the "English Hippocrates" and the "father of English medicine." Sydenham left Oxford to fight in the English Civil Wars during which he met Thomas Coxe, a physician serving in the army, who inspired him to enter medicine. At t...
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Sylvatic plague
Sylvatic plague: Plague that is spread by ground squirrels and other wild rodents, for example, in the western portion of the United States. "Sylvatic" means pertaining to the woods (sylvan)....
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Sylvius, aqueduct of
Sylvius, aqueduct of: A canal that communicates between the third and fourth ventricles in a system of four communicating cavities within the brain that are continuous with the central canal of the spinal cord.
The four ventricles consist of the two lateral ventricles, the third ventricle and the fo...
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Symbol of medicine
Symbol of medicine: A staff or a rod with a snake
curled around it; the staff of Aesculapius, also called Asklepios, the ancient mythical god of medicine. For more information, see; Medical symbol....
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Symbol of pediatrics
Symbol of pediatrics: See: Infant in swaddling,...
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Symmetric lipomatosis, multiple
Symmetric lipomatosis, multiple: A disorder characterized by painless symmetrical diffuse deposits of fat beneath the skin of the neck, upper trunk, arms and legs.
The condition is thought to be genetic although its exact mode of inheritance is uncertain. It may be a mitochondrial DNA disease. It f...
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Sympathetic nervous system
Sympathetic nervous system: A part of the nervous
system that serves to accelerate the heart rate, constrict blood
vessels, and raise blood pressure. The sympathetic nervous system and
the parasympathetic nervous system constitute the autonomic nervous
system, the branch of the nervous system t...
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Sympathetic ophthalmia
Sympathetic ophthalmia: An autoimmune eye disease in which a penetrating injury to one eye produces inflammation in the uninjured eye. (The injured eye is termed the "exciting" eye while the uninjured one is the "sympathetic" eye.) The original eye injury always involves the uvea, specifically the c...
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Sympathicoblastoma
Sympathicoblastoma: A childhood tumor, better known today as neuroblastoma, that arises in the
adrenal gland or in tissue in the nervous system that is related to
the adrenal gland. Neuroblastoma affects newborn babies and children up through the age of 10. In the adrenal it develops in the medull...
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Symphysiotomy
Symphysiotomy: A surgical procedure to effect an immediate dramatic
increase in the size of the pelvic outlet to permit delivery of a baby. The cartilage of
the symphysis pubis (where the pubic bones come together) is surgically divided in the
procedure which can be a life-saver for the baby....
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Symphysis pubis
Symphysis pubis: The area in the front of the
pelvis where the pubic bones (the two bones of the pubis) meet....
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Symptom
Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. Anxiety, lower back pain, and fatigue are all symptoms. They are sensations only the patient can perceive. In contrast, a sign is objective evidence of disease. A bloody nose is a sign. It is evident to the patient, doctor, nurse and other observers....
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Symptom of pregnancy
Symptom of pregnancy: See: Pregnancy symptom....
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Symptomatic
Symptomatic: 1 With symptoms, as a symptomatic infection. 2 Characteristic, as behavior symptomatic of Huntington disease. 3 Directed at the symptoms, as symptomatic treatment....
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Symptomatic treatment
Symptomatic treatment: Therapy that eases the symptoms without addressing the basic cause of the disease.
For example, symptomatic treatment of advanced lung cancer that has spread (metastasized) beyond the lung is designed to decrease the pain and other symptoms but not to eradicate the disease.
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