Hospital Corpsman 3 & 2: June 1989

Appendix II - Glossary

Naval Education and Training Command

The following terms are explained as used in this manual.

• ABDUCTION - Moving an extremity away from the body

• ABRASION - An area of skin or mucous membrane worn from the body mechanically by some unusual or abnormal process

• ABSCESS - A localized collection of pus

• ACIDOSIS - A condition resulting from acid accumulating in the body

• ADDUCTION - Bringing an extremity toward the body

   

• ADIPOSE - Of a fatty nature

   

• ADRENERGIC - Activated by, characteristic of, or secreting epinephrine or similar substance

   

• ABSORBENT - A drug which "takes up" other substances by absorption

   

• ADSORPTION - The attachment of one substance to the surface of another

   

• AEROBIC - Growing only in the presence of oxygen

   

• ALBUMINURIA - Albumin in the urine

   

• ALKALOSIS - A pathogenic condition resulting from accumulation of base in, or loss of acid from the body

   

• AMBULATORY - Walking or able to walk

   

• AMEBACIDE - A drug that destroys amoeba

   

• ANABOLISM - The constructive process by which the simple products of digestion are converted by living cells into more complex compounds and living matter for cellular growth and repair

   

• ANAEROBIC - Growing only in the absence of oxygen

   

• ANALGESIC - A drug used to relieve pain without producing unconsciousness or impairing mental capacities

   

• ANATOMY - The science of the structure of the body and the relationship of its parts to each other

   

• ANEMIA - A decrease in certain elements of the blood, especially red cells and hemoglobin

   

• ANESTHESIOLOGIST - A physician who specializes in anesthesiology

   

• ANESTHESIOLOGY - A branch of medicine that studies anesthesia and anesthetics

   

• ANESTHETIST - A registered nurse trained in administering anesthetics

   

• ANISOCORIA - Unequal diameter of the pupils ANODYNE-A drug that relieves pain

   

• ANOREXIA - Loss of appetite

   

• ANOXIA - A lack of oxygen that can result in brain damage

   

• ANTHELMENTIC - A drug that expels, paralyzes, or kills intestinal worms

   

• ANTIBIOTIC - A synthetic product or a product of living microorganisms that kills or inhibits the growth of undesirable microorganisms

   

• ANTIDOTE - An agent that counteracts a poison

   

• ANTIGEN - A substance which, under certain conditions, is capable of inducing the formation of antibodies and reacting specifically with the antibodies in a detectable manner

   

• ANTIPYRETIC - A drug that lowers elevated body temperature AII-1

   

• ANTISEPTIC - A drug or chemical that inhibits the growth of microorganisms without necessarily destroying them

   

• APNEA - A temporary cessation of breathing

   

• ARTICULATION - The place of union or junction between two or more bones of the skeleton

   

• ASEPTIC - Clean; free of pathogenic organisms

   

• ASTRINGENT - A drug or preparation that produces shrinkage of body membranes, especially mucous membranes

   

• ASYMPTOMATIC - Having no symptoms

   

• AUSCULTATION - The act of listening for sounds within the body, with or without a stethoscope

   

• AUTOLYSIS - The spontaneous disintegration of tissues or cells by the action of their own enzymes or serum, such as occurs after death and in some pathological conditions

   

• AVULSED - A forcible separation; also a part torn from another

   

• BACTERICIDE - An agent that destroys bacteria

   

• BACTERIOSTATIC - An agent that inhibits the growth of bacteria

   

• BIOLOGICALS - Medicinal preparations made from living organisms and their products, including serums, vaccines, antigens, and antitoxins

   

• BLANCHING - Turning white

   

• BLEB - Blister, bubble

   

• BRADYCARDIA - Abnormally slow heartbeat evidenced by a pulse rate of 60 or less

   

• BRADYPNEA - Abnormally slow breathing

   

• BUBO - An inflamed swelling of a lymphatic gland, especially in the area of the armpit or groin

   

• BUCCAL - Referring to the cheek

   

• CARRIER - A person or animal that harbors specific infectious agents in the absence of discernible clinical disease, and serves as a potential source of infection for humans

   

• CASTS - Urinary sediments formed by coagulation of albuminous material in the kidney tubules

   

• CATABOLISM - A destructive process in which the complex compounds of the digestive process are reduced to more simple substances

   

• CATHARTICS - Drugs that promote bowel movement

   

• CHEYNE-STOKES - Breathing characterized by alternating periods of apnea and deep respirations

   

• CLAMMY - Moist and cold

   

• COAGULATION - Clotting

   

• COAPTATION - To fit together, as the edges of a wound or the ends of a fractured bone; category of splint

   

• COLATION - Straining

   

• COMMUNICABLE - Capable of being transmitted from one person to another

   

• COMMUNICABLE PERIOD - The period of time in which an infectious agent may be passed from an infected animal or man to a receptive host. There may be more than one such period of time during the course of disease

   

• COMMINUTION - The process of physical reduction of a substance to fine particle size

   

• CONTACT - A person or animal known to have been associated with an infected person or animal, or a contaminated environment, and to have had the opportunity to acquire the infection

   

• CONTAMINATION - The presence of an infectious agent or toxin on the surface of a body or inanimate article, such as clothing, dishes, surgical dressings or instruments, as well as in food or water

   

• CONTRACTURE - A condition of muscle shortening and fibrous tissue development which results in a permanent joint deformity

   

• CONTUSION - A bruise

   

• CORROSIVE - A substance that rapidly destroys or decomposes body tissue at point of contact AII-2

   

• CREPITUS - The cracking or grating sound produced by fragments of fractured bones rubbing together

   

• DEBILITY - The state of abnormal bodily weakness

   

• DEBRIDEMENT - The removal of all foreign matter and devitalized tissue in or about a wound

   

• DECANTATION - Separating liquids from solids by letting the solids settle to the bottom and pouring off the liquid

   

• DECEREBRATE - A person with brain damage that produces certain abnormal neurologic signs

   

• DECORTICATION - Removing portions of the cortical substance of a structure or organ, such as the brain, kidney, or lung

   

• DECUBITUS ULCER - Bed or pressure sore

   

• DESQUAMATE - To shed, peel, or scale off

   

• DIASTOLE - The dilation or period of dilation of the heart, especially of the ventricles

   

• DISINFECTION - The killing of infectious agents outside the body by physical or chemical means applied directly concurrent-Done during the treatment of a patient with a communicable disease terminal-Done after a patient has been discharged or transferred

   

• DISINFESTATION - A physical or chemical means of destroying animal or insect pests in a particular area

   

• DISSOCIATES - To separate from a union or association with another

   

• DISTILLATION - Converting a liquid to a vapor by applying heat and condensing the vapor back to liquid by cooling

   

• DIURESIS - Urine excretion in excess of the usual amount

   

• DIURETICS - Drugs that increase the secretion of urine

   

• DYSPNEA - Labored or difficult breathing

   

• EBULLITION - Boiling

   

• ECCHYMOSIS - A small hemorrhagic spot, larger that a petechia, in the skin or mucous membrane, forming a nonelevated, rounded or irregular, blue or purplish patch

   

• ELECTROLYTE - A substance that dissociates into ions in solution or when fused, thereby becoming electrically conducting

   

• ELIXIR - An aromatic, sweetened, hydroalcoholic solution containing medicinal substances

   

• EMBOLUS - A clot or other plug brought by the blood from another vessel and forced into a smaller one, thereby obstructing circulation

   

• EMETIC - A substances that caused vomiting

   

• EMOLLIENT - A drug which softens, soothes, or smoothes the skin or irritated surfaces

   

• EMULSION - A liquid preparation containing two unmixable liquids, such as oil and water, one of which is dispersed as globules in the other

   

• ENCAPSULATED - Enclosed within a capsule

   

• ENDEMIC - The constant presence of a disease in a given locality

   

• ENTERIC - Of or within the intestine

   

• EPIDEMIC - The outbreak of disease in the geographic area in excess of normal expectations

   

• EPIDEMIOLOGY - The study of epidemics and epidemic diseases

   

• EPISTAXIS - Nose bleed

   

• EPIZOOTIC - Attacking many animals in a region at the same time

   

• ERADICATE - Wipe out; destroy

   

• ERYTHEMA - Redness

   

• ERYTHROCYTE - Red blood cell

   

• EUPNEA - Ordinary, quiet breathing

   

• EUTAXIA - The liquification of solids mixed in a dry state AII-3

   

• EXSANGUINATION - Extensive loss of blood due to hemorrhage, either internal or external

   

• EXTENSION - Straightening or unbending, as in straightening the forearm, leg, or fingers

   

• EXTRAVASATION - A discharge or escape, such as blood from a vessel into the tissue

   

• EXTRICATION - The process of freeing a victim, such as from a wrecked car or flooded compartment

   

• FLEXION - Bending, as in bending an arm or leg

   

• FLUID EXTRACT - An alcoholic solution of vegetable drugs, of such strength that 1 ml of the solution contains the active ingredient of 1 g of the crude drug

   

• FOMITE - An object, such as a book, wooden object, or an article of clothing, that is not in itself harmful, but is able to harbor pathogenic microorganisms and thus may serve as an agent of transmission of an infection

   

• FUMIGATION - The destruction of disease pro- ducing animals or insects by gaseous agents

   

• FUNGICIDE - A drug that kills fungus

   

• FURUNCLE - An abscess in the true skin caused by the entry of microorganisms through a hair follicle or sweat gland

   

• FUSION - Melting

   

• GASTROSTOMY - A surgical opening from the external surface of the body into the stomach, usually for inserting a feeding tube

   

• GAVAGE - Introducing a substance into the stomach through a tube

   

• GERMICIDE - An agent that kills germs

   

• GESTATION - The period of carrying developing offspring in the uterus after conception

   

• GLYCOSURIA - Glucose in the urine

   

• GRAM-NEGATIVE - A microorganism that does not retain the purple dye of Gram's stain

   

• GRAM-POSITIVE - A microorganism that is stained by the purple dye of Gram's stain

   

• HEMACYTOMETER - An instrument for estimating the number of blood cells in a measured volume of blood

   

• HEMATEMESIS - Vomiting bright red blood

   

• HEMATOCRIT - A determination of the volume percentage of red blood cells in whole blood

   

• HEMIPLEGIA - Loss of motion and sensation of one side of the body

   

• HEMOGLOBIN - Iron containing red pigment (heme) combined with a protein substance (globin)

   

• HEMOLYSIN - Substance that breaks down red blood cells, thereby liberating hemoglobin

   

• HEMOPTYSIS - Coughing up bright red blood

   

• HEMOSTATICS - Drugs that control external bleeding by forming an artificial clot

   

• HISTOLOGY - The microscopic study of tissue structure

   

• HOST - A man or other living animal affording subsistence or lodgment to an infectious agent under natural conditions

   

• HYPERGLYCEMIA - Abnormally increased content of sugar in the blood

   

• HYPERPNEA - Increased rate and depth of breathing

   

• HYPERTENSION - High blood pressure

   

• HYPERTHERMIA - Abnormally high body temperature, especially that induced for therapeutic purposes

   

• HYPOGLYCEMIA - Low blood sugar

   

• HYPOPNEA - Abnormal shallowness and rapidity of breathing

   

• HYPOSTASIS - Poor or stagnant circulation in a dependent part of the body or organ, as in venous insufficiency

   

• HYPOTENSION - Low blood pressure AII-4

   

• HYPOTHERMIA - Abnormally low body temperature

   

• HYPOVOLEMIA - Abnormally decreased volume of circulating fluid (plasma) in the body

   

• HYPOXIA - Low oxygen content or tension; deficiency of oxygen in the inspired air

   

• IMMUNE PERSON - An individual who does not develop clinical illness when exposed to specific infectious agents of a disease, due to the presence of specific antibodies or cellular immunity

   

• IMMUNITY - A defense mechanism of the body which renders it resistant to certain organisms

   

• INAPPARENT INFECTION - An infection with no detectable clinical symptoms even though the causative infectious agent may be identifiable with laboratory examinations. It is also known as an asypmtomatic or subclinical infection

   

• INCIDENCE RATE - The number of specific disease cases diagnosed and reported in a specific population in a defined period of time. It is usually expressed as cases per 1,000 or 100,000 annually

   

• INCISION - A cut, or a wound produced by cutting with a sharp instrument

   

• INCOMPATIBLE - Not suitable for combination or simultaneous administration

   

• INCONTINENT - Unable to control excretory functions

   

• INCUBATION PERIOD - The period of time between the initial exposure to an infectious agent and the first clinical symptoms of the disease

   

• INDURATION - An abnormally hard spot or place

   

• INFECTION - A condition resulting when pathogens enter body tissues, multiply, and cause injury to cells

   

• INFECTIOUS AGENT - An organism capable of producing infection or disease

   

• INFECTIOUS DISEASE - A disease of man and animal resulting from an infection

   

• INFESTATION - The establishment and multiplication of small animals or arthropods (especially insects and rodents) on the body, clothing, or habitat of individuals or animals

   

• INSTRUCTION - A directive containing authority or information having continued reference value or requiring continuing action

   

• INTRADERMAL - Into the dermis

   

• INUNCTION - Rubbing in

   

• ISCHEMIA - The lack of blood supply to specific areas due to constriction or obstruction in the blood vessels

   

• ISOLATION - Procedures taken to separate infected persons or animals, dispose of their secretions, and disinfect or sterilize the supplies, equipment, utensils, etc., used for their care, in order to prevent the spread of disease to susceptible persons or animals. Different procedures may be required for the specific infectious agent involved

   

• ISOTONIC - A solution having the same salinity as whole blood

   

• KERATOLYTIC - Removes horny layers of epidermis

   

• LACERATED - Torn

   

• LACERATION - A wound made by tearing resulting in jagged edges

   

• LACRIMATION - The secretion of tears

   

• LACRIMATORS - Tear gases

   

• LACTATION - The production of milk

   

• LATENT - Concealed; not manifest; potential

   

• LAVAGE - To wash out

   

• LESION - Any pathological or traumatic discontinuity of tissue or loss of function of a part

   

• LEUKOCYTE - White blood cell

   

• LEUKOCYTOSIS - Abnormally high white blood cell count

   

• LEUKOPENIA - Abnormally low white blood cell count AII-5 LEVIGATION-Adding a small amount of liquid to a mortar and pestle while triturating

   

• LIGAMENT - A sheet or band of tough, fibrous tissue connecting two or more bones or cartilages, or supporting an organ, fascia, or muscle

   

• LINIMENT - Solution or mixture of various substances in oily, alcoholic, or emulsified form intended for external application

   

• LYOPHILIZATION - The creation of a stable preparation of a biological substance (blood plasma, serum, etc.) by rapid freezing and dehydration of the frozen product under high vacuum

   

• MACERATION - Soaking

   

• MAGMAS - Thick, creamy, aqueous suspensions of inorganic substances in a very fine state

   

• MALAISE - A vague feeling of bodily discomfort

   

• MASTICATION - Chewing

   

• MATERIA MEDICA - The study of drugs

   

• MEDICAL ASEPTIC TECHNIQUE - The practice that prevents the spread of pathogens from person to person, place to place, or place to person

   

• MELENA - Excretion of black tarry stools

   

• METABOLISM - The sum of all the physical and chemical processes by which living organized substance is produced and maintained. Also, the transformation by which energy is made available to the organism

   

• METAMORPHOSIS - Change of shape or structure, particularly a transition from one development stage to another, as from larva to adult form

   

• METROLOGY - The science of weights and measures

   

• MICROORGANISM - A minute, living organism invisible to the naked eye

   

• MICTURATION - Voiding; urinating

   

• MORBIDITY RATE - An incidence rate which includes all persons in a particular population who become ill during a specific period of time

   

• MORPHOLOGY - The science of forms and structure of organized beings

   

• MORTALITY RATE - The number of deaths, reported in a particular population, over a specific period of time, divided by the total population, reported as deaths per 1,000 population. If the deaths are from one cause, then it is known as a disease specific mortality rate

   

• MOTTLED - Marked with blotches or spots of different colors or shades

   

• MUCUS - A sticky substance secreted by mucous membranes

   

• MYDRIATIC - Any drug that dilates the pupil

   

• MYELIN - -A lipid substance that forms a sheath around certain nerve fibers

   

• MYELINATED - Covered with a myelin sheath

   

• NECROSIS - The death of tissue, usually in small localized areas

   

• NOSOCOMIAL - Hospital acquired

   

• NOTICE - A directive of a one-time or limited nature that has a self canceling provision, and the same force or effect as an instruction

   

• NUTRITION - The total process of providing the body with nutriments, and assimilating and using them

   

• OINTMENT - A semisolid, fatty, or oily preparation of medicinal substances for external application

   

• OLIGEMIA - Deficiency in the volume of blood

   

• OPHTHALMIC - Pertaining to the eye

   

• ORGANISM - Any living thing

   

• OSMOSIS - The diffusion of fluids through a membrane or porous partition

   

• OSSIFICATION - Changing or developing into bone

   

• OXIDATION - The union of a substance with oxygen

   

• PALPABLE - Can be touched or felt AII-6

   

• PALPITATION - An abnormal, rapid, regular or irregular beating of the heart, felt by the patient

   

• PARAPLEGIA - Loss of motion and sensation of the lower half of the body

   

• PARASITICIDES - Drugs that kill parasites

   

• PARENTERAL - Administering drugs by injection

   

• PARESIS - Slight or partial paralysis

   

• PAROXYSM - A sudden attack, or intensification of the symptoms of a disease, usually recurring periodically

   

• PATHOGEN - An organism capable of producing disease or causing infections

   

• PATHOGENICITY - The capability of an infectious agent to cause disease in a susceptible host

   

• PERCUSSION - The act of striking a body part with short, sharp blows as an aid in diagnosing the condition by evaluating the sound obtained

   

• PERIPHERAL - Outward part or surface

   

• PERSISTENT - Stubborn; persevering

   

• PETECHIA - A round pinpoint, nonraised purplish red spot caused by hemorrhage in the skin

   

• PHAGOCYTOSIS - The ingestion and destruction by phagocytes of cells, microorganisms, and other foreign matter in the blood or tissue

   

• PHARMACOGNOSY - The study of the action of drugs and their uses

   

• PHYSIOLOGICAL - -Characteristic of or appropriate to an organism's functioning

   

• PLEXUS - Network

   

• POSOLOGY - The study of dosage and the criteria which influence it

   

• PRONE - Lying face down

   

• PROPHYLACTIC - The prevention of disease; preventive treatment

   

• PROPORTION - Two equal ratios considered simultaneously

   

• PROSTRATION - Utter exhaustion

   

• PRURITIS - Intense itching

   

• PSYCHOLOGICAL - Belonging to or of the nature of psychology; the mental process

   

• PURULENT - Pus filled or containing pus

   

• PUSTULE - A small, inflamed elevation of the skin containing pus

   

• QUADRAPLEGIA - Loss of motion and sensation below the neck

   

• RALES - An abnormal sound, either moist or dry, classified by location e.g., bronchial rales, laryngeal rales

   

• RATIO - The relationship of one quantity to another of like units

   

• RESERVOIR - A carrier on which an infectious agent depends primarily for survival

   

• RESISTANCE - The sum total of body mechanisms that provide barriers to the invasion of infectious agents or their toxic products

   

• RHINORRHEA - The free discharge of a thin nasal mucus

   

• RHONCHUS - A rattling throat sound due to partial obstruction; a dry coarse rale in the bronchial tubes

   

• SANITIZATION - The process of cleaning with soap and water or boiling to reduce the number of organisms to a safe level

   

• SEPSIS - The growth of pathogens in living tissue

   

• SHOCK - Collapse of the cardiovascular system, characterized by circulatory deficiency and depression of vital functions

   

• SOLUBILITY - The ability of a solid to dissolve in a given amount of solvent

   

• SPIRITS - Alcoholic or hydroalcoholic solutions of volatile substances AII-7

   

• SPORE - A microorganism in a resting or dormant state that renders it highly resistant to destruction

   

• SPRAIN - Injury to the ligaments and soft tissues that support a joint

   

• STERILE - Free of all living organisms

   

• STERILIZATION - The process of destroying all organisms on a substance or article by exposure to physical or chemical agents; the process by which all organisms, including spores, are destroyed

   

• STERNUNTATORS - Vomiting agents

   

• STERTOROUS - Snoring type breathing sound

   

• STRAIN - Forcible overstretching or tearing of a muscle or tendon

   

• STRIATED - Striped or streaked

   

• STRIDOR - A harsh, high-pitched respiratory sound such as the inspiratory sound often heard in acute laryngeal obstruction

   

• SUBCUTANEOUS - Under the skin

   

• SUBLINGUAL - Under the tongue

   

• SUPERFICIAL - Of or pertaining to the surface, lying on, not penetrating below

   

• SUPINE - Lying on the back

   

• SURGICAL ASEPTIC TECHNIQUE - The practice that renders and keeps objects and areas f

   

• SURGICALLY CLEAN - Clean but not sterile

   

• SUSCEPTIBLE - Not resistant. A person or animal who may acquire an infection or disease when exposed to a specific agent, because his or her resistance to the agent is lacking or reduced

   

• SUSPECT - A person who may have acquired a communicable disease; it is indicated by the mecical history and clinical presentation

   

• SUSPENSION - A coarse dispersion of finely divided insoluble material suspended in a liquid medium

   

• SYNCOPE - Faintness or actual fainting

   

• SYNERGIST - A medicine that aids or cooperates with another

   

• SYRUP - Concentrated aqueous solutions of sucrose, containing flavoring or medicinal substances

   

• TACHYCARDIA - Excessively rapid heart beat, usually over 100

   

• TAENIACIDE - A drug that kills or paralyzes tapeworms

   

• TAENIAFUGE - A drug that expels tapeworms without necessarily killing them

   

• TENDON - A fibrous cord by which a muscle is attached to the skeleton

   

• THROMBUS - A plug or clot in a blood vessel or in one of the cavities of the heart, formed by coagulation of the blood. It remains where it was formed

   

• TINCTURE --Usually an alcoholic solution of animal or vegetable drugs

   

• TINNITUS - Ringing in the ears

   

• TOXEMIA - Poisonous products in the blood

   

• TOXICOLOGY - The science of poisons

   

• TOXINS - Poisons

   

• TRACHEOSTOMY - Surgically creating an opening into the trachea

   

• TRIAGE - Sorting casualties to determine priority of treatment

   

• TRITURATION - A process of reducing a solid to a very fine powder by grinding in a mortar and pestle

   

• UTICARIA - Hives or welts

   

• UREMIA - A condition resulting from waste products not being removed efficiently by the kidneys so they remain in the blood

   

• VASCULAR - Pertaining to blood vessels AII-8

   

• VASOCONSTRICTOR - Constricts the blood vessels

   

• VASODILATOR - Dilates the blood vessels

   

• VERMICIDE - A drug that expels worms without necessarily killing them

   

• VESICANT - A blistering drug or agent

   

• VESICATION - The process of blistering

   

• VESICLE - -A small blister

   

• VIRULENCE - -The degree of pathogenicity of a microorganism or its ability to invade the tissues of the host

   

• WATERS - -Aqueous solutions of volatile substances

Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited.

The listing of any non-Federal product in this CD is not an endorsement of the product itself, but simply an acknowledgement of the source. 

Operational Medicine 2001

Health Care in Military Settings

This web version is provided by The Brookside Associates Medical Education Division.  It contains original contents from the official US Navy NAVMED P-5139, but has been reformatted for web access and includes advertising and links that were not present in the original version. This web version has not been approved by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. The presence of any advertising on these pages does not constitute an endorsement of that product or service by either the US Department of Defense or the Brookside Associates. The Brookside Associates is a private organization, not affiliated with the United States Department of Defense.

Contact Us  ·  ·  Other Brookside Products