Body systems

A small tube-shaped pocket in the skin from which a hair grows.

Hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling or tasting something that is not really there.

The bony front part of the roof of the mouth.

An autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland, slowly reducing its hormone output.

The row of pouches along the colon, made as its bands of muscle bunch the wall up, that give the large intestine its puckered look.

The tiny column that is the building block of compact bone: rings of hard matrix around a central canal for vessels and nerves; also called an osteon.

Cancer that starts in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses or salivary glands.

A delay or break in the heart's electrical signal on its way from the atria to the ventricles, most often at the AV node.

A general term for any condition that affects the structure or function of the heart.

A long-term condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.

A whooshing or swishing sound heard with a stethoscope, made by blood flowing unevenly through the heart.

How many times the heart beats per minute.

A burning feeling behind the breastbone or in the upper belly, often rising toward the throat.

A dense metal, such as lead, mercury or arsenic, that can poison the body even in small amounts.

A severe complication of pregnancy whose name stands for hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets.

Vomiting blood, either bright red or dark and grainy like coffee grounds.

A collection of blood, often clotted, that has leaked out of the blood vessels into the tissue.

Blood in the urine, either seen by eye or found only by a test.

Paralysis of one side of the body.

The study and measurement of blood flow and the pressures that move blood through the heart and vessels.

The iron-containing protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen, and the blood test that measures it.

The breaking apart of red blood cells, which releases hemoglobin into the blood.

An inherited disorder in which the blood lacks a clotting factor, so it does not clot normally.

Coughing up blood or blood-streaked mucus from the lungs or airways.

A large loss of blood from a blood vessel, inside the body or out of it.

A swollen vein in or around the anus or lower rectum.

The stopping of bleeding, either by the body's own clotting process or by medical or surgical methods.

Blood in the pleural space, the thin space between a lung and the chest wall.

Relating to the liver.

Either of the two ducts, right and left, that carry bile out of the liver and join to form the common hepatic duct.

The bend of the colon under the liver, on the right side, where the ascending colon turns left to become the transverse colon.

Inflammation of the liver, most often caused by a virus.

A liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus.

The virus that causes hepatitis B, an infection of the liver.

An infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus.

A liver cell, the main working cell of the liver.

An enlarged liver.

A bulge of an organ or tissue through a weak spot in the muscle or tissue wall that normally holds it in.

The bulging or pushing of an organ or tissue through an opening or weak spot into a place where it does not belong.

A common virus that infects the skin and lining of the mouth or genitals and stays in the body for life.

The weak area of the lower abdominal wall bounded by the rectus, the inferior epigastric vessels and the inguinal ligament; direct hernias occur here.

Hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state: very high blood glucose with severe dehydration and little or no ketone buildup.

A hernia in which part of the stomach pushes up through the esophageal hiatus, the opening in the diaphragm for the esophagus, into the chest.

The everyday name for hypertension: blood pressure that stays higher than normal.

A dent on the surface of an organ where its vessels, nerves and ducts go in and out.

A break in the upper part of the thigh bone, near the hip joint.

A condition present at birth in which a section of the large intestine has no nerve cells to move stool along.

Thick, dark hair growing in a male-type pattern, such as on the face, chest or back, in a woman.

A chemical released by certain immune cells that widens blood vessels, makes them leaky and tightens airway muscles.

The study of body tissues under a microscope.