Medical terms - Letter E (page 13) | MedicalVocabulary.org

Exercise-induced asthma

Asthma: Asthma that is 'triggered' by vigorous physical activity. Exercise-induced asthma tends particularly to affect children and young adults (because of their high level of physical activity) but can occur at any…
Exercise-induced bronchospasm

Also called exercise- induced asthma, this is asthma that is triggered by vigorous physical activity. Exercise-induced asthma tends particularly to affect children and young adults (because of their high level of…
Exfoliate

1) To peal off scaly skin spontaneously. The skin exfoliates from the palms and soles in Kawasaki's disease and Reiter's syndrome. 2) To deliberately wear away the top layer of skin, as many be done gently by a facial…
Exfoliation syndrome

See: Pseudoexfoliation syndrome
Exhaustion, heat

A warning that the body is getting too hot. The person may be thirsty, giddy, weak, uncoordinated, nauseous, and sweating profusely. The body temperature is usually normal and the pulse is normal or raised. The skin is…
Exhibitionism

Ashing'): Exhibitionism is characterized by intense, sexually arousing fantasies, urges or behaviors involving exposure of the individual's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger. The individual with this problem…
EXIT

Stands for ex utero intrapartum treatment. Surgery on the fetus may be done after a Cesarean section, but before the cord is cut, so that the fetus is sustained by the mother's placenta and does not have to breath on…
Exocrine

Pertaining to the secretion of a substance out through a duct. The exocrine glands include the salivary glands, sweat glands and glands within the gastrointestinal tract. Exocrine is as opposed to endocrine which refers…
Exocrine gland

A gland that secretes a substance out through a duct. The exocrine glands include the salivary glands, sweat glands and glands within the gastrointestinal tract. The exocrine glands are the 'glands of external secretion.
Exogenous

Originating from outside the organism. Insulin taken by a diabetic is exogenous insulin
Exogenous DNA

DNA originating outside an organism
Exomphalos-macroglossia-gigantism syndrome

See: Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome
Exon

The region of a gene that contains the code for producing protein. Each exon codes for a specific portion of the complete protein. Exons are separated by introns, long regions of DNA that have no apparent function…
Exonuclease

An enzyme that cleaves nucleotide bases sequentially from the free ends of a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA)
Exopeptidase

An enzyme that catalyzes the cleavage of the terminal (last) or next-to-last peptide bond from a polypeptide or protein, releasing a single amino acid or dipeptide. By contrast, an endopeptidase catalyzes the cleavage…
Exophthalmos

Protruding eyeball. A common finding in hyperthyroidism (too much thyroid hormone) of Graves disease
Exotropia

Divergent gaze. Also called external strabismus or, pejoratively, wall-eyed (like a walleyed pike).
Expectorant

A medication that helps bring up mucus and other material from the lungs, bronchi, and trachea. An example of as expectorant is guaifenesin which promotes drainage of mucus from the lungs by thinning the mucus and also…
Expectoration

A big polysyllabic word for sputum or the act of bringing up and spitting out sputum. From the Latin expectorare, to expel from the chest, from ex-, out of + pectus, chest
Expiration date

The date for a drug estimated for its shelf life with proper storage in sealed containers away from harmful and variable factors like heat and humidity. The expiration date of a medicine is based on data, called…
Explant

1. The original meaning: to transfer tissue from the body and place it in a culture medium for growth; and the tissue that is transferred. 2. To remove a device that had been implanted. 'It took about three hours to…
Explicit memory

Memory in which there is a need for conscious recollection in order to recall something. By contrast, in implicit memory there is a lack of conscious awareness in the act of recollection. Implicit memory may survive…
Expressed sequence tag (EST)

A unique stretch of DNA within a coding region of a gene that is useful for identifying full-length genes and serves as a landmark for mapping. An EST is a sequence tagged site (STS) derived from cDNA. An STS is a short…
Expression, gene

See: Gene expression
Expressivity

The consistency of a genetic disease. For example, Marfan disease shows variable expressivity. Some persons with Marfan's merely have long fingers and toes while others have the full-blown disease with dislocation of…
Expulsion, stage of

The part of labor from the full dilatation of the cervix until the baby is completely out of the birth canal. The second stage of labor
Exstrophy

Eversion of a hollow organ at birth. An exstrophic bladder is one that is turned inside out like a rubber glove. In exstrophy of the cloaca (a primitive embryonic structure) an area of the intestine is interposed…
Extended family

The family group consisting not only the nuclear family (the parents and their children) but also embracing the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and sometimes more distant relatives
Extension

The process of straitening or the state of being strait. Extension of the hip and knee joints is necessary to stand up from the sitting position.
External ear

There are three sections of the ear. They are the external ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The external ear looks complicated but it is functionally the simplest part of the ear. It consists of the pinna or…
External fixation

A procedure that stabilizes and joins the ends of fractured (broken) bones by a splint or cast. External fixation is as opposed to internal fixation in which the ends of the fractured bone are joined by mechanical…
External genitalia, female

See: Female external genitalia
External genitalia, male

See: Male external genitalia
External jugular vein

The more superficial of the two jugular veins situated on each side of the neck. The other is the internal jugular vein. They drain blood from the head, brain, face and neck and convey it toward the heart. The external…
External radiation therapy

Radiation therapy using a machine located outside the body to aim high-energy rays at a tumor.
Extra systole

See: Extrasystole
Extracellular

Outside a cell. As opposed to intracellular, meaning within a cell
Extracolonic

Outside the colon. An hereditary colon cancer syndrome may also predispose to extracolonic malignancies
Extracorporeal

(ECMO) A life support system that circulates the blood through an oxygenating system. ECMO is like a heart-lung machine that takes over the work of the heart and lungs during open heart surgery. ECMO may be used, for…
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

(ECMO) A life support system that circulates the blood through an oxygenating system. ECMO is like a heart-lung machine that takes over the work of the heart and lungs during open heart surgery. ECMO may be used, for…
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy

A technique for shattering stones such as kidney stones or gallstones with a shock wave produced outside the body. To focus on kidney stones here, there are several methods available for producing an acoustical or…
Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy

See: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy
Extracranial

Outside the cranium, the bony dome that houses and protects the brain. As opposed to intracranial, inside the cranium
Extracranial hematoma

A hematoma (a collection of blood) outside the cranium (skull)
Extradural hematoma

See: Epidural hematoma
Extrafallopian

A term meaning 'outside the fallopian tube.' There are two fallopian tubes in female mammals, including human females. These tubes are also called oviducts. They serve as passageways connecting the egg-producing ovaries…
Extrapulmonary tuberculosis

See: Tuberculosis, extrapulmonary. See also: Tuberculous meningitis
Extrapyramidal side effects

Physical symptoms, including tremor, slurred speech, akathisia, dystonia, anxiety, distress, paranoia, and bradyphrenia, that are primarily associated with improper dosing of or unusual reactions to neuroleptic…
Extrapyramidal system

That part of the nervous system that regulates muscle reflexes
Extrasystole

A premature contraction of the heart that is independent of the normal rhythm of the heart and that arises in response to an impulse in some part of the heart other than the normal impulse from the sinoatrial (SA) node…