Here’s the **complete list** of all the short, easy-to-remember definitions in one place:
### Disease & Disorder Terms
1. **ARDS** – Sudden life-threatening lung failure where fluid fills the air sacs
2. **Asphyxia** – Body tissues starved of oxygen
3. **Asthma** – Airways tighten and swell → reversible wheezing and shortness of breath
4. **COPD** – Progressive lung disease that makes breathing hard (chronic bronchitis + emphysema)
5. **Coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever)** – Fungal lung infection from inhaling dust
6. **COVID-19** – Contagious coronavirus infection ranging from mild to severe pneumonia/ARDS
7. **Croup** – Kids’ barking cough + noisy breathing from upper airway swelling
8. **Cystic fibrosis (CF)** – Genetic disorder → thick sticky mucus clogs lungs and pancreas
9. **Deviated septum** – Crooked wall inside the nose → one nasal passage smaller
10. **Diphtheria** – Serious bacterial throat infection that forms a gray membrane
11. **Emphysema** – Alveoli lose elasticity and stay over-inflated (part of COPD)
12. **Epistaxis** – Nosebleed
13. **IPF** – Scar tissue slowly builds up in the lungs for unknown reasons
14. **Influenza (flu)** – Contagious viral infection with fever, body aches, and cough
15. **OSA** – Airway collapses during sleep → pauses in breathing
16. **Pertussis (whooping cough)** – Highly contagious bacterial infection with severe coughing fits that end in a “whoop”
17. **Pleural effusion** – Extra fluid collecting between the lung and chest wall
18. **Pulmonary edema** – Fluid builds up in the lungs (usually from heart failure)
19. **Pulmonary embolism (PE)** – Blood clot (or other matter) blocks a lung artery
20. **Tuberculosis (TB)** – Contagious bacterial lung infection
21. **Upper respiratory infection (URI)** – Common cold / infection of nose & throat
### Diagnostic Imaging
1. **Chest CT scan** – Detailed 3D X-ray slices of the chest
2. **Chest radiograph (CXR)** – Regular chest X-ray
3. **V/Q scan** – Nuclear test that checks air flow + blood flow in the lungs (used for PE)
### Laboratory
4. **AFB smear** – Sputum test looking for TB bacteria
### Pulmonary Function
5. **Arterial blood gas (ABG)** – Blood test that measures oxygen, CO₂, and pH
6. **Peak flow meter (PFM)** – Small device that measures how fast you can blow air out (asthma monitor)
7. **Pulmonary function tests (PFTs)** – Group of tests that measure how well the lungs work
8. **Pulse oximetry** – Finger clip that painlessly measures blood oxygen level
### Other Procedures / Tools
9. **Auscultation** – Listening to body sounds with a stethoscope
10. **Percussion** – Tapping the chest to hear what’s underneath
11. **PPD skin test** – Skin test that checks for TB exposure
12. **Stethoscope** – Instrument used to listen to heart/lungs
### Signs & Symptoms
1. **Crackles** – Crackling/popping lung sounds (usually fluid)
2. **Effusion** – Collection of fluid (e.g., in the pleural space)
3. **Hyperventilation** – Breathing too fast or too deep
4. **Hypoventilation** – Breathing too slow or too shallow
5. **Paroxysm** – Sudden attack or spasm
6. **Rhonchi** – Low-pitched continuous rattling sounds (secretions in airways)
7. **Stridor** – Harsh high-pitched sound from upper airway blockage
8. **Wheeze** – Whistling sound from narrowed airways
### Treatments
9. **Bronchoconstrictor** – Medicine that narrows the airways
10. **Bronchodilator** – Medicine that opens the airways
11. **Nebulizer** – Machine that turns liquid medicine into a breathing mist
12. **Ventilator** – Machine that breathes for the patient
### Descriptive Terms
13. **Mucopurulent** – Contains both mucus and pus
14. **Patent** – Open / not blocked
15. **Sputum** – Mucus coughed up from the lungs
### Other
16. **Airway** – The path air travels through (nose/mouth → lungs)
17. **Aspirate** – To suck something iyhn or withdraw fluid
18. **Nosocomial infection** – Infection you catch in the hospital
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You can copy this whole list and paste it straight into **Knowt**, **MintDeck**, or any free flashcard tool.
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