Body systems

Having much more body fat than is healthy, usually defined in adults as a body mass index of 30 or higher.

A mental health condition with unwanted thoughts that keep coming back and actions a person feels driven to repeat.

A physician who specializes in the care of people during pregnancy, labor and birth, and just after.

The branch of health care that looks after people during pregnancy, birth and the weeks after birth.

A blockage in a passage of the body, such as an airway, the bowel, a blood vessel or a tube.

A sleep disorder in which the upper airway closes again and again during sleep, stopping or reducing breathing.

Relating to the back of the head.

The bone that forms the back and most of the base of the skull, with the foramen magnum where the spinal cord joins the brainstem.

The part of the brain at the back of the head that takes in and makes sense of what the eyes see.

A blockage or closing off of a passage, such as a blood vessel, tube or IV line.

A reflex in which pulling on an eye muscle, or a block behind the eye, slows the heart through the vagus nerve.

Having to do with movement of the eyes; most often refers to the oculomotor nerve, the third cranial nerve.

The third cranial nerve, which moves most of the muscles of the eye, raises the eyelid and narrows the pupil.

The upper end of the ulna that forms the point of the elbow and receives the tendon of the triceps.

Relating to the sense of smell.

Too little amniotic fluid around the baby during pregnancy.

Making less urine than normal, in an adult below about 400 mL a day.

A kind of healthy unsaturated fat found in oily fish, flaxseed, walnuts and some plant oils.

A double fold of peritoneum hanging from the stomach: the greater omentum like an apron over the intestines, the lesser omentum up to the liver.

The branch of medicine that deals with cancer.

The pull that proteins in the blood, mainly albumin, exert to hold fluid inside the blood vessels.

An immature egg cell in the ovary, which becomes a mature egg (ovum) only when a sperm fertilizes it.

Having to do with the eye, or describing a medicine made to be put in the eye.

An infection caused by a germ that rarely makes healthy people sick but takes advantage of a weakened immune system.

The nerve that carries visual signals from the back of the eye to the brain; the second cranial nerve.

Relating to the mouth, or taken by mouth.

The mouth: the space from the lips to the throat, including the teeth, gums, tongue and palate.

A blood test that measures blood sugar before and at set times after drinking a measured sweet glucose drink.

A drink with a set mix of water, salts and sugar, used to replace fluid lost through diarrhea or vomiting.

A group of organs that work together to do one main job in the body.

A person's awareness of who they are, where they are, what time it is and what is happening.

The end of a muscle attached to the bone that stays still when the muscle contracts.

The middle part of the throat, behind the mouth, from the soft palate down to the top of the voice box.

Having to do with the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons, and the branch of medicine that treats them.

Difficulty breathing when lying flat that eases when sitting or standing up.

Relating to standing upright, or caused by changing to a standing position.

A drop in blood pressure when a person stands up from lying or sitting.

The amount of dissolved particles in a set volume of fluid, which decides which way water moves.

The movement of water across a membrane from a less concentrated solution to a more concentrated one.

Relating to osmosis, the movement of water across a membrane toward the side with more dissolved particles.

An increase in urine output caused by dissolved substances in the kidney tubules that hold water with them.

The direct joining of living bone to the surface of an implant, which locks the implant in place.

The three tiny bones of the middle ear, the malleus, incus and stapes, which carry sound from the eardrum to the inner ear.

The formation of bone, as in a growing skeleton or in a healing fracture.

A long-term joint disease in which the cartilage that cushions the ends of the bones wears away.

A bone cell that builds new bone by laying down its collagen and calcium matrix.

A bone cell that breaks down and removes old bone tissue.

A mature bone cell, walled in by the bone it made, that keeps the bone matrix healthy; the most common bone cell.

Softening of the bones in adults because new bone fails to take up enough calcium and phosphate, usually from a lack of vitamin D.

An infection of bone.