Medical terms - Letter F
678 terms start with the letter F.
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Fear of travel
An irrational and unreasonable fear of travel is called agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is a very complex phobia. It usually manifests as a collection of inter-linked phobias. For example, many agoraphobics fear being left…
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Fear of vomiting
An abnormal and persistent fear of vomiting. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. They usually are especially worried about vomiting in public and…
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Fear of water
An abnormal and persistent fear of water. Sufferers of aquaphobia experience anxiety even though they realize the water in an ocean, a river, a lake, a creek or even a bathtub may pose no imminent threat. They generally…
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Fear of women
An abnormal, irrational and persistent fear of women. Sufferers experience undue anxiety even though they realize they face no threat. Fear of women is termed 'gynephobia,' a word derived from the Greek 'gyne' (woman)…
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Fear of work
An abnormal and persistent fear of work. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety about the workplace environment even though they realize their fear is irrational. Their fear may actually be a combination of…
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Fear of worms (parasitic)
Feverish.
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Febrile
Feverish.
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Febrile herpes
A small sore situated on the face or in the mouth that causes pain, burning, or itching before bursting and crusting over. The favorite locations are on the lips (the labia), chin or cheeks and in the nostrils. Less…
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Febrile seizure
A convulsion that occurs in association with a rapid increase in body temperature. Febrile seizures are common in infants and young children and, fortunately, are usually of no lasting importance
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Fecal
Relating to the feces, the stool. The excrement discharged from the intestines. From the Latin 'faex' and 'faecis' meaning the dregs or sediment.
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Fecal incontinence
Fecal incontinence: Inability to hold feces in the rectum. This is due to failure of voluntary control over the anal sphincters permitting untimely passage of feces and gas. Also called rectal incontinence.
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Fecal occult blood test
Fecal occult blood test: A test to check for hidden blood in the feces. Fecal refers to stool. Occult means hidden. Fecal occult blood may be due to a number of causes. The source of the bleeding may be anywhere in the…
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Fecalith
A hard stony mass of feces. A fecalith can obstruct the appendix, leading to appendicitis. Fecaliths also can obstruct diverticuli. Called also a coprolith and stercolith. From fecal + -lith for stone
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Feces
The medical and scientific term for the 'excrement discharged from the intestines.' The word 'feces' (or its English version 'faeces') in Shakespeare in this context until the 17th century 'feces' merely meant the…
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Fecund
Fruitful, abundantly fertile. Just as a writer is prolific, a woman may be fecund, able to reproduce plentifully. Etymology:'Fecund' comes (minus the final 'us') from the Latin 'fecundus' meaning fruitful. 'Fecund'…
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Fecundity
The ability to have children, usually lots of them with ease. Etymology:'Fecundity' comes from the Latin 'fecundus' meaning fruitful. 'Fecundity' emphasizes abundance or rapidity in bearing offspring (or fruit).
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Federal Emergency Management Agency
Better known as FEMA, an agency of the US government dedicated to rapid response to disasters, both man-made and natural ones (such as floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes). FEMA provides financial assistance to…
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Fee for service
): In health care, a payment mechanism in which a provider is paid for each individual service rendered to a patient
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Feed contaminant
A substance contaminating animal feed. Contaminants in animal feed can threaten human health. There are two classes of feed contaminants. > >Contaminants that are naturally occurring -- This class of feed contaminants…
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Feedback
Many biologic processes are controlled by feedback, just as the temperature in a home from a furnace is regulated by a thermostat
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Feeding tube
See: Enteral nutrition
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Feeding, breast
See: Breastfeeding
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Feet
The plural of foot, both an anatomic structure and a unit of measure. As an anatomic structure, the foot is the end of the leg on which a person normally stands and walks. The foot is a particularly complex structure…
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Felty syndrome
A complication of long-standing rheumatoid arthritis characterized by the presence of 3 conditions -- rheumatoid arthritis, an enlarged spleen (splenomegaly), and an abnormally low white blood cell count. The white…
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Felty's syndrome
Felty's syndrome: A complication of long-standing rheumatoid arthritis. See: Felty syndrome.
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FEMA
A name well known to people in the US who have experienced a major natural or made-man disaster. FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency
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Female
The traditional definition of female was 'an individual of the sex that bears young' or 'that produces ova or eggs'. However, things are not so simple today. Female can be defined by physical appearance, by chromosome…
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Female condom
Although the word 'condom' usually conjures up the male condom, there is a female condom. The Reality Female Condom was approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 1993. It consists of a lubricated…
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Female external genitalia
The external genital organs of the female, comprising the pudendum, clitoris, and female urethra
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Female genitalia
The genital organs of the female. These are usually separated by convention into the external and internal genitalia. The female external genitalia comprise the pudendum, the clitoris, and the female urethra. The female…
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Female gonad
The female gonad, the ovary or 'egg sac', is one of a pair of reproductive glands in women. They are located in the pelvis, one on each side of the uterus. Each ovary is about the size and shape of an almond. The…
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Female internal genitalia
The internal genital structures of the female, comprising the ovaries, the Fallopian tubes, the uterus (womb), the cervix, and the vagina. These are, collectively, the female organs of reproduction. The ovaries or 'egg…
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Female organs of reproduction
The internal genital structures of the female include the ovaries, the Fallopian tubes, the uterus (womb) and the vagina. The ovaries or 'egg sacs' are a pair of female reproductive organs located in the pelvis, one on…
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Female orgasmic dysfunction
Failure of a female to achieve an orgasm (climax) during sexual intercourse. This disorder can originate in psychological or emotional problems such as stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue, worry, guilt, fear of painful…
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Female pelvis
The lower part of the abdomen located between the hip bones in the female. There are significant differences in the anatomy of the pelvis in the female and male. The female pelvis is more delicate, wider and not as high…
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Female urethral meatus
The urethra is the transport tube leading from the bladder to discharge urine outside the body. In females the urethra is shorter than in the male. The meatus (opening) of the female urethra is above the vaginal…
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Female urethral opening
The urethra is the transport tube leading from the bladder to discharge urine outside the body. In females the urethra is shorter than in the male and opens above the vaginal opening, as indicated here: NTER>
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Femara
Brand name for letrozole, an oral antiestrogen. Femara inhibits the enzyme aromatase in the adrenal glands that produces the estrogens (estradiol and estrone) and thereby lowers their levels. See also: Aromatase…
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Femicide
The killing of women. For example, AIDS in Africa has been termed 'mass femicide.' Femicide is in contrast to the literal meaning of homicide as the killing of men
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Femoral
Having to do with the femur or, less often, the thigh. As in the femoral head (the head of the femur), the femoral artery, and femoral vein
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Femoral artery
A large artery that starts in the lower abdomen and goes down into the thigh The femoral artery starts as a continuation of the external iliac artery which comes from the abdominal aorta. The femoral artery is first…
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Femoral head, avascular necrosis of the
See Legg-Calve-Perthes disease
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Femoral vein
The largest vein in the groin. The femoral vein is a continuation of the popliteal vein. It passes, together with the femoral artery, beneath the inguinal ligament to enter the abdomen and form the external iliac vein…
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Femur
The femur is the bone in the leg that extends from the hip to the knee. The femur constitutes the upper leg, that part of the leg above the knee. As compared to the lower leg which boasts two bones (the tibia and the…
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Fenestration
Literally, the making of a window -- fenestra in Latin (and fenetre in French) is a window -- fenestration refers to the creation of a new opening
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Fenfluramine
A weight loss drug, in a class of drugs called anorectics which decrease appetite. This drug, sold in the US under the brand name Pondimin, was withdrawn from the US market in 1997, and has since been withdrawn…
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Ferritin
The major iron storage protein. The blood level of ferritin serves as an indicator of the amount of iron stored in the body. Ferritin has the shape of a hollow sphere that permits the entry of a variable amount of iron…
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Ferrocalcinosis, cerebrovascular
A condition that was first described in 1930 by T. Fahr and is therefore sometimes called Fahr syndrome, this is a genetic (inherited) neurological disorder characterized by abnormal deposits of calcium in certain of…
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Ferroniere
A jewel held to the forehead by a chain worn by women in France and Italy in the 16th century to hide the marks of syphilis. The ferronière returned in the 19th century when syphilis was epidemic in Europe. Named for…
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Fertile
Able to conceive and bear offspring.