Medical terms - Letter H
858 terms start with the letter H.
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Headache, sinus
See: Sinus headache
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Headache, stress
See headache, tension
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Headache, tension
A headache caused by contracting of the muscles in the back of the neck, on the scalp, and sometimes in the jaw. Tension headaches are usually related to stress. Treatment is via stress reduction, massage, and analgesic…
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Headache, thunderclap
A sudden and excruciatingly painful headache. Some doctors feel that in the absence of a known headache disorder, such as migraines, a thunderclap headache may sometimes signal a ruptured aneurysm in the brain. See your…
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Headache, vascular
A group of headaches felt to involve abnormal sensitivity of the blood vessels (arteries) in the brain to various triggers, resulting in rapid changes in the artery size due to spasm (constriction). Other arteries in…
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Health
As officially defined by the World Health Organization, a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
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Health and Human Services
The United States government's principal agency for 'protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.' Also known as DHHS and…
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Health Care Finance Administration
See: HCFA
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Health care proxy
A health care proxy is one form of advance medical directive. Advance medical directives pertain to treatment preferences and the designation of a surrogate decision-maker in the event that a person should become unable…
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Health for All
A global health movement undertaken by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the late 20th century. In 1977, the World Health Assembly decided that the major social goal of governments and WHO should be the attainment…
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Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act
T: See: HIPAA
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Health outcomes research
The measurement of the value of a particular course of therapy. Health outcomes research is based on the principle that every clinical intervention produces a change in the health status of a patient and that change can…
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Health physics
The science of human health and radiation exposure. Health physics, also called medical physics, is devoted to radiation safety. The international professional body for health physics, the Health Physics Society, notes…
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Health Saving Account
See: Artic health.
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Health, Aleut
See: Artic health
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Health, artic
See: Artic health
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Health, child
Child health is the purview of pediatrics. 'Pediatrics is concerned with the health of infants, children and adolescents, their growth and development, and their opportunity to achieve full potential as adults.'…
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Health, industrial
A branch of public health concerned with the health and well-being of workers. Its aims are to eliminate hazards and reduce industrial fatigue in the workplace
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Health, Inuit
See: Artic health
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Health, public
>The assessment and monitoring of the health of communities and populations at risk to identify health problems and priorities; >The formulation of public policies designed to solve identified local and national health…
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Health, Saami
See: Artic health
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Healthy
1. Enjoying good health, as she is healthy. 2. Evidencing good health, as her skin is healthy. 3. Conducive to good health, as a regular walk is healthy. See also: Healthy food label.
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Healthy food label
A food that is low in fat and saturated fat and that contains limited amounts of cholesterol and sodium. If it is a single-item food, it must also provide at least 10 percent of one or more of vitamins A or C, iron…
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Hearing aid
An instrument to help in hearing. There are four common styles of hearing aids. From largest to smallest, they are: > >Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids, >In-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids, >In-the-canal (ITC) hearing aids…
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Hearing instrument
A synonym for a hearing aid that gained popularity to distinguish the device from AIDS. See: Hearing aid
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Hearing loss, age-related
See: Presbycusis
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Hearing screening test, newborn
Screening of the newborn baby's ability to hear. Newborn screening of hearing is done with automated auditory brainstem response tests or, less often, with what are called otoacoustic emission or conventional auditory…
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Heart
The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. It is positioned in the chest behind the sternum (breastbone; in front of the trachea, esophagus, and aorta; and above the diaphragm…
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Heart and hand syndrome
See: Holt-Oram syndrome
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Heart attack
Heart attack: The death of heart muscle due to the loss of blood supply. The loss of blood supply is usually caused by a complete blockage of a coronary artery, one of the arteries that supplies blood to the heart…
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Heart block
A block in the conduction of the normal electrical impulses in the heart.
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Heart conduction system
The electrical conduction system that controls the heart rate. This system generates electrical impulses and conducts them throughout the muscle of the heart, stimulating the heart to contract and pump blood. Among the…
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Heart disease
Heart disease: Any disorder that affects the heart. Sometimes the term 'heart disease' is used narrowly and incorrectly as a synonym for coronary artery disease. Heart disease is synonymous with cardiac disease but not…
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Heart disease, rheumatic
Heart damage caused by rheumatic fever. Treatment is by preventing reinfection with strep and by treating with heart drugs as needed
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Heart failure
Heart failure: Inability of the heart to keep up with the demands on it and, specifically, failure of the heart to pump blood with normal efficiency. When this occurs, the heart is unable to provide adequate blood flow…
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Heart murmur
An unusual heart sound which may be innocent or reflect disease.
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Heart muscle
A type of muscle with unique features only found in the heart. The heart muscle, or cardiac muscle, is medically called the myocardium ('myo-' being the prefix denoting muscle)
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Heart rate
The number of heart beats per unit time, usually per minute. The heart rate is based on the number of contractions of the ventricles (the lower chambers of the heart). The heart rate may be too fast (tachycardia) or too…
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Heart rehab
See: Cardiac rehabilitation
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Heart rhythm disorders
Heart rhythm disorders: Abnormal rhythm of the heartbeat due to irregularities in transmission of the electrical signals that normally control heart rate and rhythm. Also known as arrhythmias. With an arrhythmia, the…
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Heart septum
The septum of the heart is the dividing wall between the right and left sides of the heart. That portion of the septum that separates the two upper chambers (the right and left atria) of the heart is termed the atrial…
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Heart test, EPS
ElectroPhysiologic Study of the heart, a test of the electrical conduction system of the heart (the system that generates the heart beat). EPS is done by threading thin plastic tubes (catheters) into a vein where the…
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Heart transplant
Heart transplant: A surgical procedure in which a diseased heart is replaced with a healthy heart from a deceased person. The world's first heart transplant was done on December 3, 1967 by South African surgeon…
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Heart valves
There are four heart valves. All are one-way valves. Blood entering the heart first passes through the tricuspid valve and then the pulmonary valve. After returning from the lungs, the blood passes through the mitral…
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Heart ventricle
One of the two lower chambers of the heart. The right ventricle is the chamber that receives blood from the right atrium and pumps it into the lungs via the pulmonary artery while the left ventricle is the chamber that…
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Heart, artificial
A manmade heart. An artificial heart was temporarily implanted in 1969 by Denton Cooley in Houston, Texas. Complete replacement of the heart by an artificial heart was done in 1982 by William DeVries at Salt Lake City…
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Heart, left
The heart is composed functionally of two hearts - the right heart and the left heart. The left heart consists of the left atrium which receives oxygenated blood from the lung and the left ventricle which pumps it out…
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Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National
BI): One of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S., the NHLBI's mission is to 'provide leadership for a national research program in diseases of the heart, blood vessels, lungs, and blood and in transfusion…
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Heart, right
The heart is composed functionally of two hearts - the right heart and the left heart. The right heart consists of the right atrium which receives deoxygenated blood from the body and the right ventricle which pumps it…
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Heart-hand syndrome
See: Holt-Oram syndrome