Body systems

An abbreviation with more than one meaning, most often premature atrial contraction or pulmonary artery catheter.

A small device that sends electrical pulses to the heart to keep it beating at a set rate; also the heart's own natural rhythm center.

A blood product made of red blood cells with most of the plasma removed, given by transfusion.

An abbreviation that most often means peripheral artery disease, a narrowing of the arteries outside the heart and brain.

Having to do with the palm of the hand.

A newborn reflex in which the baby's fingers close tightly around an object placed in the palm.

The feeling of your own heartbeat as pounding, racing, fluttering or skipping.

A long, flat gland behind the stomach that makes digestive enzymes and the hormones insulin and glucagon.

Inflammation of the pancreas, which may come on suddenly (acute) or last for years (chronic).

A sudden wave of intense fear that peaks within minutes.

A benign tumor of skin or lining tissue that grows outward in small fingerlike folds.

A small, solid, raised bump on the skin, less than 1 cm across, with no fluid inside.

The number of pregnancies a person has carried to 20 weeks or more, whatever the outcome.

Loss of the ability to move a part of the body, and sometimes loss of feeling in it.

A stop in the normal movement of the intestines that happens without anything physically blocking them.

Four pairs of air-filled spaces in the skull bones around the nose that open into the nasal cavity: frontal, maxillary, ethmoid and sphenoid.

Effects of a cancer far from the tumor itself, caused by hormones or other substances the tumor makes or by antibodies the body makes against it.

Paralysis of both legs and the lower part of the body.

Relating to the part of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body and supports "rest and digest" functions.

The part of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, slows the heart and helps digestion during rest.

One of four small glands behind the thyroid that control the amount of calcium in the blood.

A hormone from the parathyroid glands in the neck that raises the calcium level in the blood.

Nutrition given as a liquid straight into a vein instead of through the digestive tract.

Partial paralysis: muscle weakness or an incomplete loss of movement.

An abnormal feeling in the skin, such as tingling, prickling or "pins and needles," with nothing touching it.

Relating to the wall of a body cavity; also names a lobe of the brain and two bones of the skull.

A cell of the stomach's gastric glands that makes hydrochloric acid and intrinsic factor.

The part of the brain at the top and back of the head that processes touch, pain, temperature and the body's position in space.

The layer of peritoneum that lines the inside of the abdominal and pelvic walls.

The outer layer of the pleura, which lines the inside of the chest wall, the side of the mediastinum and the top of the diaphragm.

A slowly worsening brain disease in which the nerve cells that help control movement die off.

The largest salivary gland, one on each side of the face in front of the ear and over the jaw, which drains into the mouth through the parotid duct.

Protection from ready-made antibodies a person receives instead of making them, which works at once but lasts only a while.

The kneecap: a flat, triangular sesamoid bone in the tendon of the quadriceps on the front of the knee.

The strong band that runs from the bottom of the kneecap to the bump on the front of the tibia, carrying the pull of the quadriceps.

A heart defect in which the ductus arteriosus, a blood vessel between the aorta and pulmonary artery, stays open after birth.

An opening between the heart's two upper chambers that did not close after birth as it normally does.

How a disease begins and develops, step by step, from its cause to the signs it produces.

The study of disease and its causes and effects, or the disease changes found in a person or tissue.

The study of how normal body functions change when disease or injury is present.

An abbreviation that most often means pulmonary embolism; it can also mean physical examination or pleural effusion.

A narrow stem or stalk that attaches a structure, such as a tumor or a skin flap, to the body.

Infestation with lice, tiny wingless insects that live on the body and feed on blood.

Having to do with the pelvis, the bowl-shaped ring of bones at the base of the spine, or the organs inside it.

Infection of the female upper reproductive organs: the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries.

The ring of bones at the base of the spine that joins the legs to the trunk, or the lower part of the trunk it encloses.

Passing into or through something, such as an object entering the body through the skin.

The male external organ that carries the urethra, for passing urine and delivering semen.

An enzyme in the stomach that begins breaking down proteins.

A number from 1 to 99 that shows how a measurement compares with others, as the share of the group that falls below it.