Dual Credit Med Terms - Chapter 10

acrophobia - An excessive fear of heights.

Alzheimer’s - Memory loss causing dementia.

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - Lou Gehrig’s disease, weakens muscles.

anesthetic - Medication used to induce anesthesia.

anorexia nervosa- ED, fear of gaining weight.

Anxiety disorders - irrational dread or fear of everyday situations.

autism - developmentally delayed children.

Bell’s palsy - paralysis of the cranial nerves that paralyze the affected side of the face.

carotid ultrasonography - a study of the carotid artery to detect plaque buildup or predict an ischemic stroke.

Causalgia - burning pain following a sensory nerve injury.

Cerebral contusion - bruising of brain tissue as result of a head injury.

Cerebral palsy - causes poor muscle control, speech deficiencies, other neurological deficiencies.

Cerebrovascular accident - stroke, brain damage when blood flow is disrupted.

cervical radiculopathy - nerve pain caused by pressure on spinal nerve roots around the neck.

Claustrophobia - abnormal fear of being in small spaces.

Cognition - The mental activities associated with thinking, learning, and memory.

Coma - deep unresponsive unconsciousness.

Concussion - violent shaking of the brain.

Cranial hematoma - blood trapped in brain tissue.

Delirium - confusion, disordered memory, hallucinations.

Delirium tremens - sudden and severe mental changes and seizures caused by abrupt stopping of drinking.

Delusion - False belief despite being obviously wrong.

Dementia - slow progressive decline in mental abilities.

Dura mater - thick outermost membrane of meninges.

Dyslexia - a learning disability.

Echoencephalography - use of ultrasound to create an image of the brain.

electroencephalography - The process of recording the electrical activity of the brain through the use of electrodes attached to the scalp.

Encephalitis - inflammation of the brain.

Epidural anesthesia - regional anesthetic.

Epilepsy - reoccurring episodes of seizures.

Factious disorder - faking illness

Guillain Barre syndrome - inflammation of peripheral nerves causing muscle weakness and possibly paralysis

Hallucination - a sensory perception experienced in abscesses of an external stimulation.

Hemorrhagic stroke - when a brain blood vessel leaks or ruptures.

Hydrocephalus - accumulation of excess cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain.

Hyperesthesia - abnormal excessive sensitivity to stimuli.

Ischemic stroke - occurs when flow of blood to brain is blocked in the carotid artery.

Lethargy - a lowered level of consciousness, Drowsiness.

Meningitis - inflammation of the meninges of the brain/spinal cord.

Meningocele - congenital herniation of the meninges surrounding the central nervous system cause by a defect.

Migraine headache - a headache of throbbing pain on one side of the head with nausea.

Multiple sclerosis - autoimmune disorder characterized by inflammation that causes demyelination of the myelin sheath, resulting in scarring of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves.

Myelitis - Inflammation of the spinal cord or bone marrow.

Myelography - inflammation that causes demyelination of the myelin sheath, resulting in scarring of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves.

Narcolepsy- a sleep disorder of random sleep during the day.

Neurotransmitters- chemical substances that send messages from a neuron to the target receptor.

OCD - an anxiety disorder of reoccurring or intrusive thoughts.

Panic attack - unexpected freak out in normal circumstances.

Paresthesia - fall asleep, burning sensation.

Parkinson’s disease - degenerative CNS disorder.

Peripheral neuropathy- disorder of PNS causing pain, loss of sensation, or inability to control muscles.

PTSD - past events causing anxiety, sleeping disorders, persistent reliving event.

Reye’s syndrome - Deadly child disorder of vomiting and confusion. Treated with aspirin.

Schizophrenia- withdrawal from reality including delusions and hallucinations.

Sciatica - inflammation of the sciatic nerve.

Seizure - short electrical surge affecting actions or feelings for a short time.

Shaken baby syndrome - causes injury, blindness, fractures, seizures, death.

Syncope - fainting.

Trigeminal neuralgia - lightning pain and inflammation on the affected side of the face.