Definition Debridement is the process of removing dead (necrotic) tissue or foreign material from and around a wound to expose healthy tissue. Purpose An open wound or ulcer can not be properly evaluated until the dead tissue or foreign matter is removed. Wounds that contain necrotic and ischemic (low oxygen content) tissue take longer to close and heal. This is because necrotic tissue provides an ideal growth...

Definition Death is defined as the cessation of all vital functions of the body including the heartbeat,brain activity (including the brain stem), and breathing. Description Death comes in many forms, whether it be expected after a diagnosis of terminal illness or an unexpected accident or medical condition. Terminal illness When a terminal illness is diagnosed, a person, family, friends, and physicians are...

  Definition Dacryocystitis is an inflammation of the tear sac (lacrimal sac) at the inner corner of the eye. Description Tears drain into little openings (puncta) in the inner corners of the eyelids. From there, the tears travel through little tube-like structures (canaliculi) to the lacrimal sac. The nasolacrimal ducts then take the tears from the lacrimal sac to the nose. That's why people need to...

DYSENTERY, BACILLARY Bacillary dysentery is a bowel disease caused by germs of the Shigella group of bacilli. It causes frequent stools (one hundred or more a, day) which contain mucus, blood, and pus. There are abdominal cramps, general illness, and fever. The disease occurs in all parts of the world, particularly in the tropics, and where families live in overcrowded, unsanitary quarters. It affects young...

This very serious, acute contagious disease is caused by the diphtheria bacillus. Children from one to ten are especially susceptible, but the disease also attacks older persons. The bacillus does not survive long when not in contact with human tissues. The germs are usually carried by infected secretions from nose or throat, spread by contaminated droplets of moisture, by contact with contaminated fingers,...

Diabetic foot  diseases are diseases that can evolve in the skin, sinews, or skeletal components of the foot as a outcome of the cheek impairment and poor circulation that is associated with diabetes. People who have diabetes have a greater-than average possibility of evolving foot infections. Because a individual who has diabetes may not seem foot agony or discomfort, difficulties can stay undetected...

Definition A drug allergy is an adverse reaction to a medication, often an antibiotic, that is mediated by the body's immune system. A drug sensitivity is an unusual reaction to a drug that does not involve the immune system. Description Adverse reactions to medication may be allergic reactions involving a child's immune system, individual sensitivities to a drug, or side effects of the drug itself....

It takes three kinds of sensation to keep a person informed on movements of his body: sensations from the eyes (vision); from the muscles, joints, and tendons; and from his semicircular canals. When a person receives conflicting sensations regarding the movements of his body, as when the semicircular canals register movement and the other sensations indicate no movement, the result is dizziness. The semicircular...

(See Deafness; Tinnitus.) Auditory hallucinations are false perceptions related to hearing. In an auditory hallucination a person hears meaningful sounds such as music or spoken words. It is in the brain that elementary  sensations are decoded so that they become significant. It is this brain function of attaching significance to sensations that constitutes perception. A hallucination is a false perception...

The body responds to an invasion of germs by mobilizing blood leukocytes which crowd into the infested tissue area. The leukocytes carry antibodies, and some have the ability to engulf germs. In the ensuing conflict leukocytes as well as germs and some tissue cells are destroyed. In mild infections the remains of the germs are carried away by the blood and lymph to be disposed of in other parts of the body....

Mucus is a semi-fluid secretion produced by glands located in the membranes that line many of the  body's tubes and hollow organs. Mucus serves to keep the membranes moist and to lubricate them, protecting them from injury. In response to irritation of a membrane, mucus is produced in larger quantities than usual. A mucous discharge means an excess of mucus being eliminated from some part of the body. A....

In normal conditions of health the residue from digested food passes into the large intestine six to nine hours after the food was consumed. It may be eliminated from the rectum as feces within the next hour, or it may remain in the large intestine as long as two or three days. The fecal material consists of water, the undigested residue of food, debris from worn-out cells, and bacteria. In the large intestine...

The impact of circumstances may cause a perfectly normal person to feel depressed, as in the death of a loved one, disappointment in romance, business failure, or enforced inactivity because of accident or illness. In persons with neurotic inclinations. depression is typically greater than the aggravating factor would seem to justify. The depression, then, may satisfy a subconscious need for personal attention...

In delirium the patient is mentally confused, restless, anxious, unable to cooperate; his speech is not sensible and his imagination may be out of control.  Delirium may appear in so many serious conditions that its occurrence gives little help in diagnosing the patient's illness. The occurrence of delirium hinges on several factors: the height of the patient's fever, what drugs he has received,...

The ear is designed to convert the energy of sound into nervous impulses. Sound waves coming to the external ear cause the eardrum to vibrate. The vibrations are carried across the space of the middle ear by a chain of three tiny bones (ossicles) which, in turn, cause the fluid of the inner ear to vibrate. Delicate nerve cells here generate impulses which are carried by the auditory nerve to that part of the...

Any of the following symptoms may be present in dyspepsia: nausea (with possible vomiting), heartburn, pain in the upper abdomen, belching, and a feeling of fullness. Causes include overeating, eating too rapidly, inadequate chewing of food (commonly because of poor teeth), unconscious swallowing of air, excessive smoking, constipation, eating poorly cooked foods, eating foods with high fat content, and eating...

Until recent years even experts assumed that most deformities result from faulty heredity. Now it is known that many deformities are caused by circumstances during the nine months prior to birth. Many babies with birth defects, it has been discovered, are from mothers  contracted German measles (rubella) during the first three months of pregnancy. Also there was the thalidomide tragedy in Germany and...