...medicine and health care news

Chemical synapses are specialized junctions through which cells of the nervous system signal to one another and to non-neuronal cells such as muscles or glands.

A headache (cephalgia in medical terminology) is a condition of pain in the head; sometimes neck or upper back pain may also be interpreted as a headache.

Transplant rejection occurs when the immune system of the recipient of an transplant attacks the transplanted organ or tissue.

An essential nutrient is a nutrient required for normal body functioning that can not be synthesized by the body.

Mammary glands are the organs that, in the female mammal, produce milk for the sustenance of the young.

The puffer fish, also called blowfish, swellfish, globefish, balloonfish, bubblefish are fish making up the family Tetraodontidae, within the order Tetraodontiformes.

Chronic pain was originally defined as pain that has lasted 6 months or longer.

The MMR vaccine is a mixture of live attenuated viruses, administered via injection for immunization against measles, mumps and rubella.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever is the most severe and most frequently reported rickettsial illness in the United States, and has been diagnosed throughout the Americas.

The human brain is the center of the central nervous system in humans as well as the primary control center for the peripheral nervous system.

Kidney stones, also known as nephrolithiases, urolithiases or renal calculi, are solid accretions (crystals) of dissolved minerals in urine found inside the kidneys.

Progesterone is a C-21 steroid hormone involved in the female menstrual cycle, pregnancy (supports gestation) and embryogenesis of humans and other species.

Smog is a kind of air pollution, originally named for the mixture of smoke and fog in the air.

Myopia is a refractive defect of the eye in which images focus in front of the retina. This may be caused by a defect of the lens/cornea or when the shape of the eye is longer then usual.

A circadian rhythm is a roughly 24 hour cycle in the physiological processes of living beings, including plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria.

An eye is an organ of vision that detects light. Different kinds of light-sensitive organs are found in a variety of organisms.

The human genome is the genome of Homo sapiens. It is made up of 23 chromosome pairs with a total of about 3 billion DNA base pairs.

A microorganism (also spelled as microrganism) or microbe is an organism that is microscopic (too small to be seen by the human eye). The study of microorganisms is called microbiology.

Child abuse is the physical or psychological maltreatment of a child by an adult, often synonymous with the term child maltreatment or the term child abuse and neglect.

A fungus (plural fungi) is a eukaryotic organism that digests its food externally and absorbs the nutrient molecules into its cells.

Coeliac disease or celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small bowel that occurs in genetically predisposed individuals in all age groups after early infancy.

Psychedelic mushrooms are fungi that contain psychedelic substances, such as psilocybin, psilocin, or muscimol. The most common colloquial terms for psychedelic mushrooms are magic mushrooms.

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is part of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which also includes the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).

Acute nasopharyngitis, often known as the common cold, is a mild viral infectious disease of the the upper respiratory system (nose and throat).

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique which produces a three dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body.

A bruise or contusion or ecchymosis is a kind of injury, usually caused by blunt impact, in which the capillaries are damaged, allowing blood to seep into the surrounding tissue.

Histology is the study of tissue sectioned as a thin slice, using a microtome. It can be described as microscopic anatomy. Histology is an essential tool of biology.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is any sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant aged one month to one year.

An herbal tea, tisane, or ptisan is an herbal infusion not made from the leaves of the tea bush.