Medical terms - Letter D (page 7) | MedicalVocabulary.org

Diabulimia

Patients with type 1 diabetes attempt to control body weight by minimizing insulin dosages. Since insulin encourages fat storage, sometimes patients attempt to manipulate their insulin, often skipping doses, in an…
Diachronic

The word 'diachronic' is from the Greek dia-, through + chronos, time = through time. As opposed to synchronic, at one point in time
Diachronic study

A study done over the course of time. For example, a longitudinal study of children with Down syndrome (trisomy 21) might involve the study of 100 children with this condition from birth to 10 years of age. Also called…
Diagnosis

1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A conclusion or decision reached by diagnosis. The diagnosis is rabies. 3 The identification of any problem. The diagnosis was a plugged IV. The word…
Diagnosis, differential

The process of weighing the probability of one disease versus that of other diseases possibly accounting for a patient's illness. The differential diagnosis of rhinitis (a runny nose) includes allergic rhinitis…
Diagnosis, retrospective

See: Retrodiagnosis
Diagnostic mammogram

An X-ray of the breast done to evaluate: > >Abnormalities seen or suspected on a prior screening mammogram; >Subjective or objectives abnormalities in the breast such as a lump, pain, thickening, nipple discharge or a…
Dialectical behavioral therapy

A mode of treatment designed for people with borderline personality disorder (BPD), particularly those with suicidal behavior. Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) aims to help people with BPD to validate their emotions…
Dialysis

Dialysis: The process of cleansing the blood by passing it through a special machine. Dialysis is necessary when the kidneys are not able to filter the blood. Dialysis allows patients with kidney failure a chance to…
Dialysis machine

Dialysis machine: A machine that filters a patient's blood to remove excess water and waste products when the kidneys are damaged, dysfunctional, or missing. Blood is drawn through a specially created vein in the…
Dialysis, peritoneal

Dialysis, peritoneal: Technique that uses the patient's own body tissues inside of the belly (abdominal cavity) to act as a filter. The intestines lie in the abdominal cavity, the space between the abdominal wall and…
Diaper rash

Diaper rash: Also called 'diaper dermatitis,' a diaper rash is a skin inflammatory reaction localized to the area usually covered by the diaper. It can have many causes including infections (yeast, bacterial or viral)…
Diaper rash, yeast

Rash, yeast: Infection in the diaper area caused by a yeast formerly called Monilia and now called Candida. These organisms are part of the germs normally found in various parts of the body and ordinarily do not cause…
Diaphragm (contraceptive)

A barrier method of contraception that is available by prescription only and must be sized by a health professional to achieve a proper fit. The diaphragm has a dual mechanism to prevent a pregnancy. A dome-shaped…
Diaphragm (muscle)

The muscle that separates the chest (thoracic) cavity from the abdomen. The diaphragm is the main muscle of respiration. Contraction of the diaphragm muscle expands the lungs during inspiration when one is breathing air…
Diaphragm pacing

A procedure to help patients with spinal cord injuries to breathe. Their breathing is helped by setting the respiratory rate by electrical stimulation (pacing) of the phrenic nerve. The pacing is accomplished via…
Diaphragmatic hernia

Hernia: Passage of a loop of bowel through the diaphragm muscle. This type of hernia occurs as the bowel from the abdomen 'herniates' upward through the diaphragm into the chest (thoracic) cavity. Diaphragmatic hernias…
Diaphragmatic pacing

See: Diaphragm pacing
Diarrhea

Diarrhea: A familiar phenomenon with unusually frequent or unusually liquid bowel movements, excessive watery evacuations of fecal material. The opposite of constipation. The word 'diarrhea' with its odd spelling is a…
Diarrhea and dermatitis, zinc deficiency

Diarrhea and dermatitis, zinc deficiency: Among the consequences of zinc deficiency, dermatitis (skin inflammation) and diarrhea are particularly prominent features. A genetic disease called acrodermatitis enteropathica…
Diarrhea, antibiotic-induced

Diarrhea, antibiotic-induced: A bacterium called Clostridium difficile (C.difficile), one of the most common causes of infection of the large bowel (colon). Patients taking antibiotics are at particular risk of becoming…
Diarrhea, Brainerd

A syndrome characterized by the acute onset of watery nonbloody diarrhea (3 or more loose stools per day), lasting 4 weeks or more, and resolving spontaneously. The disease is of unknown causation and appears in…
Diarrhea, E. coli hemorrhagic

Bloody colitis (inflammation of the bowel) caused by E. coli, usually by the strain E. coli 0157:H7. The diarrhea is severe with painful abdominal cramps, gross blood in the stool, and lasts for 6 to 8 days. Most…
Diarrhea, rotavirus

Diarrhea, rotavirus: A leading cause of severe winter diarrhea in infants and young children. Each year, rotavirus (RV) causes an estimated 500,000 doctor visits and 50,000 hospital admissions in the United States…
Diarrhea, traveler's

Diarrhea illness associated with travel to a foreign country. Among the causes of traveler's diarrhea are viruses and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC). E.coli is a particular type of bacteria that normally lives in the…
Diastole

The time period when the heart is in a state of relaxation and dilatation (expansion). The final letter in 'diastole' is pronounced as a long 'e' as in 'lee.' The adjective for diastole is diastolic. The diastolic…
Diastolic

Referring to the time when the heart is in a period of relaxation and dilatation (expansion). The noun for diastolic is diastole. (The final letter in 'diastole' is pronounced as a long 'e' as in 'lee.') The diastolic…
Diastrophic dysplasia

An inherited skeletal disorder involving significantly short stature (dwarfism). Characteristic features at birth include short birth length with short limbs (short-limbed dwarfism), 'hitchhiker thumb', and clubfeet…
Diathermy

The use of heat to destroy abnormal cells. Also called cauterization or electrodiathermy.
Diathesis

In medicine, a 'diathesis' is an elegant term for a predisposition or tendency. Thus, a hemorrhagic diathesis is nothing more than a bleeding tendency. The word 'diathesis' is Greek
Dibenzoxazepine

A riot control agent or 'tear gas.' See: Riot control agent poisoning
Dicentric chromosome

An abnormal chromosome with two centromeres rather than the normal one. Every normal chromosome has one centromere that tethers it to the pole of the spindle and is essential to the chromosome at the time of cell…
Dicysteine

Cystine
Did not attend (DNA)

In the UK, DNA is an abbreviation for 'did not attend.' (In the US, the term used for a patient who missed an appointment is 'no-show.'
DIDMOAD

An acronym that stands for Diabetes Insipidus (inability to concentrate the urine), Diabetes Mellitus, Optic Atrophy (degeneration of the nerve to the eye), and Deafness. These features are characteristic of this…
Dieldrin

A chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide. See: Aldrin and dieldrin
Dieldrix

Trade name of the insecticide dieldrin. See: Aldrin and dieldrin
Diesel exhaust

The exhaust generated by diesel engines. This exhaust is a complex mixture of combustion products of diesel fuel. The exact composition depends on the type of engine, the speed and load at which it is run, and the…
Diesel exhaust particle

A respirable particle produced during the compression ignition of diesel fuel. Diesel particles are composed of elemental and organic carbon compounds as well as trace amount of other elements with toxic properties…
Diet, Atkins

A high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate weight-loss diet popularized by Dr. Robert C. Atkins. See: Atkins diet
Diet, DASH

See: DASH diet
Diet, Mediterranean

See: Mediterranean diet
Diethylstilbestrol

The earliest synthetic (man-made) form of the hormone estrogen. Diethylstilbestrol (DES) was once widely prescribed to prevent miscarriages and premature births. Its usage was standard practice in the 1950s and 1960s…
Diff dx

Abbreviation for differential diagnosis, the process of weighing the probability of one disease versus that of other diseases to account for a patient's condition. Dx is the medical abbreviation for diagnosis
Differential diagnosis

The process of weighing the probability of one disease versus that of other diseases possibly accounting for a patient's illness. The differential diagnosis of rhinitis (a runny nose) includes allergic rhinitis…
Differential white cell count

The proportions of the different types of white cells in the blood, usually split into the different types of granulocytes, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils. The differential white cell count was…
Differentiated cancer

Cancer: A cancer in which the cells are mature and look like cells in the tissue from it arose. Differentiated cancers tend to be decidedly less aggressive than undifferentiated cancers composed of immature cells
Differentiation

1 The process by which cells become progressively more specialized; a normal process through which cells mature. This process of specialization for the cell comes at the expense of its breadth of potential. Stem cells…
Differentiation therapy

Differentiation therapy: An approach to the treatment of advanced or aggressive malignancies in which the malignant cells are treated so that they can resume the process of maturation and differentiation into mature…
Difficult urination

See: Dysuria