Smart Doctor Terms

To impress your medical friends

LTC

Long Term Care (People who need 24 hr skilled care)

Chronic Illness

A condition that lasts a long period of time.

Terminal Illness

The illness will eventually cause death

Assisted Living

People who don’t need 24hr care but help with daily care

Dementia

Serious loss of mental abilities

Acute care

Short-term, active treatment for urgent medical conditions. (ER and ICU)

Subacute Care

A level of short-term, intensive medical care designed for patients who no longer need the emergency infrastructure of a hospital but are too medically fragile to return home. (Rehab Center)

HMOs

(Health maintenance organizations) offers insurance at lower costs but require you to use a strict network of doctors and get referrals.

PPOs

(Preferred provider organizations) offers insurance at higher flexibility to see any doctor without referrals, including out-of-network providers, at a higher premium

Hospice Care

Care for someone who has about 6 months or less to live

Catheters

thin tubes inserted into the body to drain fluids or inject them

CMS

Center for Medicare and Medicaid

Medicaid

For people who are above 65 years old

Medicare

For people with disability or living in poverty.

Hyperopia

Farsightedness

Myopia

Nearsightedness

Cerebrovascular accident (CVA)

Stroke (when blood is blocked or ruptures in a brain)

Hemiplegia

Paralysis on one side of the body

Hemiparesis

Weakness on one side of the body

Expressive aphasia

Trouble communicating thoughts through speech or writing

Receptive aphasia

Difficulty understanding spoken or written words

Emotional Lability

Inappropriate or unprovoked emotional responses

Dysphagia

Difficulty swallowing

MO (abbreviation)

Microorganism

Pathogens

any microorganism or agent that causes disease in its host

Mucous membranes

membranes that line body cavities that open to the outside of the body

Aspesis

The state of being completely free from pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and fungi

Don

to put on

Doff

to take off

Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs)

Organisms resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents

Hepatitis

Inflammation of the liver cause by certain viruses and other factors like alcohol abuse, trauma, etc…

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

HIV over time weakens the immune system and the virus causes AIDS later on

Jaundice

a condition in which the skin, whites of the eyes, and mucous membranes appear yellow

Tuberculosis (TB)

a highly contagious disease caused by bacterium, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, affecting the lungs and is spread by airborne

Latent TB

Is a type of TB that doesn’t show symptoms and cannot infect others.

Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB)

A form of TB caused by an organism that is resistant to medication that is used to treat that TB

Phlegm

Thick mucus from the respiratory passage

Beta-lactam antibiotics

Antibiotics that work by preventing bacteria from building their cell walls, making them highly effective against a wide range of bacterial infections

MRSA

A strain of bacterium that has developed resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics

Clostridioides difficiles

C. diff (a spore forming bacterium transferred by contact and causes horrible watery diarreha.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation

CPR

Myocardial infraction (MI)

Heart attack (when the heart does not receive enough oxygen because blood vessels are blocked)

Shock

When organs and tissues do no receive adequate blood supply

Orthostatic hypotension

a sudden drop in blood pressure that occurs when a person stands or sits up.

Epistaxis

Nosebleed

Syncope

Fainting

Hypoglycemia

An insulin reaction

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA)

A life-threatening complication of diabetes that occurs when the body, lacking enough insulin, breaks down fat too quickly and causes acidity in the blood.

Epilepsy

a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures

transient ischemic attack (TIA)

Warning signs of a CVA/Stroke like loss of vision, weakness, difficulty speaking…

Emesis

Vomiting

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

When babies stop breathing and die for no known reason while asleep.

Geriatrics

Branch of medicine that deals with disease in older and elderly adults

Cerebral Palsy

Is brain damaged caused when the baby was in the uterus or during birth affecting possibly mental and physical

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

a developmental disability that affects social skills and communication. Appears in early childhood.

Integument

the natural outer covering or enveloping layer of an organism, commonly referred to as skin

Contracture

When a muscle or tendon shortens and “freezes” in position

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Composed of the Brain and Spinal Cord

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Composed of the nerves that extend throughout the body excluding the brain and spinal cord

Systole

when the ventricles pump blood through the blood vessels to the body

Diastole

When the chambers fill with the blood

Sputum

Mucus a person coughs up from the lungs. (green, yellow, gray, or red)

Peristalsis

Involuntary contractions in the stomach

Lymph

a clear yellowish fluid that carries disease fighting cells called lymphocytes

Supine position

Lying flat on their back

Lateral position

Lying on their side

Prone Position

Lying on their stomach

Fowler’s position

When they are partially inclined on their back

Sim’s position

Lying on his left side with one leg drawn up

Circadian Rhythm

24-hour day-night cycle

Stage 1 pressure injury

Skin is intact but looks red, purple, and white, and could be different texture than the surrounding skin

Stage 2 pressure injury

Partial skin loss with irritated skin around it (can look like a blister)

Stage 3 pressure injury

Full thickness skin loss in which fat is visible in the injury

Stage 4 pressure injury

Full thickness skin loss extending through all layers of the skin, tissue, muscle, and more. (Looks like a deep raw crater)

Unstageable Pressure Injury

Cannot determine stage because slough or eschar covers the injury

Slough

a mass of dead tissue that separates from living tissue

Eschar

a thick, dry, and leathery layer of dead, devitalized tissue that forms over a severe wound or burn

Axillae

Underarms

Perineum

Genital and anal area

Foot Drop

a weakness of muscles in feet and ankles that causes difficulty to flex foot and walk

Seborrheic dermatitis

Dandruff

Halitosis

Bad Breath

Edentulous

Having no teeth

Aspiration

the inhalation of food, liquids, and more into the lungs

Apnea

the absence of breathing

Dyspnea

Difficulty breathing

Eupnea

Normal respirations

Orthopnea

Shortness of breath only when lying down

Tachypnea

Rapid respirations

Bradypnea

Slow respirations

Cheyne-Strokes

Irregular respirations

Auscultation

The medical practice of listening to the internal sounds of the body

Tachycardia

High heart rate

Bradycardia

Low heart rate

Hypotension

Abnormally low blood pressure.

Hypertension

Abnormally high blood pressure

Sphygmomanometer

An instrument used to measure blood pressure

Apathy

a lack of feeling, emotion, or interest