Body systems

Clostridioides difficile, a spore-forming bacterium that can infect the colon (the large intestine).

Severe, ongoing loss of muscle and fat, with weakness, that eating more does not fully reverse.

A hormone made by the thyroid gland that lowers blood calcium; a lab-made form is used as a drug.

A mineral that builds bones and teeth and that nerves, muscles, the heart and blood clotting need to work.

A thick, hard patch of skin formed by repeated rubbing or pressure; also, the new bone that forms as a fracture heals.

A unit that measures the energy in food and the energy the body uses.

A small triangle near the neck of the gallbladder bordered by the cystic duct, the common hepatic duct and the cystic artery.

One of the cup-shaped spaces inside the kidney that collect urine from the tips of the renal pyramids and pass it on to the renal pelvis.

A ring-shaped channel in the eye, where the cornea meets the sclera, that carries aqueous humor from the trabecular meshwork into the veins.

The light, porous inner bone made of a network of thin struts, with marrow in the spaces between them; also called spongy bone.

An infection caused by Candida, a yeast (a kind of fungus).

A walking stick used to give support and balance while walking.

Either corner of the eye, where the upper and lower eyelids meet.

One of the tiniest blood vessels, joining the smallest arteries to the smallest veins.

A quick test that measures how fast color returns to a nail bed after it is pressed and released.

Swelling of the soft tissue of a newborn's scalp, formed by pressure on the head during birth.

One of the main nutrients in food, made of sugars and starches, that the body uses for energy.

A gas made by the body's cells as waste, carried in the blood to the lungs and breathed out.

A cluster of boils joined under the skin: a deep infection of several neighboring hair follicles.

Anything that can cause cancer, such as tobacco smoke, asbestos, UV light or certain chemicals and viruses.

A cancer that starts in the cells that line the skin or the inside and outside surfaces of organs.

The part of the stomach around the opening from the esophagus.

Relating to the heart.

The sudden stop of the heart's pumping, so blood no longer reaches the brain and body.

The series of events in one heartbeat, from the start of one beat to the start of the next.

Death by the irreversible loss of heart and lung function, so the heartbeat and breathing stop for good.

A machine that shows the heart's electrical rhythm on a screen without stopping, using electrodes on the chest.

The muscle tissue that makes up the walls of the heart.

The amount of blood the heart pumps out in one minute.

The band of connective tissue at the base of each broad ligament, beside the cervix, that gives the uterus its main support and carries the uterine vessels.

A type of shock in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to supply the body's organs.

The branch of medicine that studies and treats the heart and blood vessels.

A disease of the heart muscle itself that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood.

Relating to the heart and lungs together.

Relating to the heart and blood vessels.

Any disease of the heart or blood vessels.

The heart and blood vessels, which together move blood through the body.

Changing an abnormal fast heart rhythm back to normal with a timed electric shock or with drugs.

The ridge inside the lower end of the windpipe that separates the openings of the right and left main bronchi.

Having to do with the carotid arteries, the two large arteries on each side of the neck that carry blood to the head and brain.

One of the large arteries that run up each side of the neck and carry blood to the head, face and brain.

The pulse felt in the neck over the carotid artery, in the groove beside the windpipe.

Firm, smooth, rubbery tissue that cushions joints and gives shape to parts such as the ear, nose and windpipe.

In urine, a tiny tube-shaped mold of protein, cells or both that formed inside a kidney tubule and was washed out, seen under the microscope.

The breaking-down half of metabolism, in which large molecules are split into smaller ones and energy is released.

Clouding of the lens of the eye.

Any of a group of hormones and neurotransmitters, mainly epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine, that act in the body's stress response.

A urinary tract infection that develops in a person who has, or recently had, a urinary catheter in place.

The bundle of lumbar and sacral nerve roots that hang down in the spinal canal below the end of the spinal cord.

Short for vena cava, one of the two largest veins, which bring blood from the body back to the heart.