Medical terms - Letter L (page 9) | MedicalVocabulary.org

LMP

Abbreviation for 'last menstrual period.' By convention, pregnancies are dated in weeks starting from the first day of a woman's last menstrual period (LMP). If her menstrual periods are regular and ovulation occurs on…
LN2

Liquid nitrogen
Loa loa

The eye worm, a parasite that lives in humans and other primates. People contract the parasite when bitten by infected deer flies. The larvae of the worm enter the bloodstream and later develop into adult worms…
Lobar

Having to do with a lobe. For example, lobar pneumonia.
Lobe

Part of an organ that appears to be separate in some way from the rest. A lobe may be demarcated from the rest of the organ by a fissure (crack), sulcus (groove), connective tissue or simply by its shape. For example…
Lobectomy

An operation done to remove a lobe of an organ such as the lobe of a lung or a lobe of the thyroid gland. The lung has 5 lobes -- 3 on the right and 2 on the left. A lobectomy may be performed for a disease such as lung…
Lobstein's disease

Osteogenesis imperfecta type I. An inherited, generalized connective tissue disorder featuring bone fragility and blue sclerae (blue whites of the eyes). The classic mild form of 'brittle bone disease.' It is a dominant…
Lobular carcinoma of the breast, infiltrating

Breast, infiltrating: Infiltrating lobular carcinoma is the second most common type of invasive breast cancer next to infiltrating ductal carcinoma, accounting for 5 to 10% of breast cancer. Infiltrating lobular…
Lobule

A little lobe.
Local seizure

See: Partial seizure
Local therapy

Treatment that affects only a tumor and the area close to it.
Local treatment

Treatment that affects the tumor and the area close to it.
Lochia

The fluid that weeps from the vagina for a week or so after delivery of a baby. At first the lochia is primarily blood, followed by a more mucousy fluid containing dried blood, and finally a clear-to-yellow discharge
Locked-in syndrome

A neurological disorder characterized by complete paralysis of voluntary muscles in all parts of the body except for those that control eye movement. The locked-in syndrome is usually a complication of a cerebrovascular…
Lockjaw

See Tetanus
Locomotion

Movement from one place to another. And the ability to locomote, to get from one place to the next. The locomotive system permits locomotion and consists of bones that are the framework of the skeleton, joints that hold…
Locomotive system

Limited to a local region. See also: Locoregional anesthesia; Locoregional metastasis.
Locoregional

Limited to a local region. See also: Locoregional anesthesia; Locoregional metastasis
Locoregional anesthesia

Anesthesia that produces loss of pain only in the region of the surgery. This may be done by a 'spinal' in which an anesthetic agent is administered by lumbar injection. Locoregional anesthesia is in contrast to general…
Locoregional metastasis

Metastasis (spread) of a cancer only within the region in which it arose. In contrast to systemic metastasis
Locus

The place, in Latin.. In genetics, a locus is the place a gene occupies on a chromosome. One locus, two loci
Locus minoris resistentiae

Latin meaning a place of less resistance. A locus minoris resistentiae offers little resistance to microorganisms. For example, a damaged heart valve acts as a locus minoris resistentiae, a place where any bacteria in…
LOD score

In genetics, a statistical estimate of whether two loci (the sites of genes) are likely to lie near each other on a chromosome and are therefore likely to be inherited together as a package. LOD stands for logarithm of…
Loeys-Dietz syndrome

Loeys-Dietz syndrome: Loeys-Dietz syndrome is an inherited syndrome characterized by aortic aneurysms (weakened outpouchings of the aorta) and other blood vessel abnormalities in children. Other physical characteristics…
Loiasis

The disease caused by the eye worm known as loa loa, a parasite that lives in humans and other primates. People contract the parasite when bitten by infected deer flies. The larvae of the worm enter the bloodstream and…
Loin

The portion of the lower back from just below the rib cage to the pelvis. The loins include the psoas muscles which are very powerful muscles in the lower back. The term 'loin' is more often encountered now at the meat…
Loneliness, fear of

An abnormal and persistent fear of loneliness, of being alone. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety even though they realize that being alone does not threaten their well-being. They may worry about being…
Long arm of a chromosome

The long arm of a chromosome is termed the q arm. All human chromosomes have 2 arms, the p (short) arm and the q (long) arm. They are separated from each other only by a primary constriction, the centromere, the point…
Long QT syndrome

An inherited defect in heart rhythm that predisposes to syncope without warning (sudden fainting spells), dizziness, palpitations, seizures and sudden death. The name of the syndrome comes from the QT segment in the…
Long-chain-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase def

Cy: Acute fatty liver of pregnancy (AFLP) has been found to be associated in some cases with an abnormality of fatty-acid metabolism. This abnormality is a deficiency of the enzyme long-chain-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA…
Long-chain-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase def.

Se: Acute fatty liver of pregnancy (AFLP) has been found to be associated in some cases with an abnormality of fatty-acid metabolism. This abnormality is a deficiency of the enzyme long-chain-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA…
Long-term care facility

A facility that provides rehabilitative, restorative, and/or ongoing skilled nursing care to patients or residents in need of assistance with activities of daily living. Long-term care facilities include nursing homes…
Long-term memory

A system for permanently storing, managing, and retrieving information for later use. Items of information stored as long-term memory may be available for a lifetime. Long-term memory is in contrast to short-term memory.
Longevity

Lifespan. (With increasing longevity, women will soon be postmenopausal for one third of their lives)
Longitudinal

The word come from the Latin longitudo meaning length. Hence, longitudinal means along the length, running lengthwise, or (by extension) over the course of time
Longitudinal section

A section that is cut along the long axis of a structure. The opposite is a cross section
Longitudinal study

A study done over the passage 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…
Lordosis

Inward curvature of the spine. Normally, for example, the low back demonstrates lordosis. The spine is not supposed to be absolutely straight, so some degree of curvature is normal. When the curve exceeds the usual…
Loss-of-function mutation

A mutation that results in reduced or abolished protein function. Gain-of-function mutations,which are much less common, confer an abnormal activity on a protein
Lou Gehrig disease

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a classic motor neuron disease. Motor neuron diseases are progressive chronic diseases of the nerves that come from the spinal cord responsible for supplying electrical stimulation…
Louise Brown

See: Brown, Louise.
Louse-borne typhus

See: Typhus, epidemic
Love pearls

Street name for alpha-ethyltryptamine
Low back pain

Low back pain: Pain in the lower back area that can relate to problems with the lumbar spine, the discs between the vertebrae, the ligaments around the spine and discs, the spinal cord and nerves, muscles of the low…
Low blood pressure

Low blood pressure: Any blood pressure that is below the normal expected for an individual in a given environment. Low blood pressure is also referred to as hypotension. Low blood pressure is a relative term because the…
Low blood sugar

A low blood level of the sugar glucose. Also called hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is only significant when it is associated with symptoms. It has many causes including drugs such as insulin, liver disease, surgical absence…
Low placenta

Location of the placenta in the lower part of the uterus (womb) so that the placenta partially or completely covers the cervix. Also known as a placenta previa
Low tension glaucoma

See: Glaucoma, normal tension
Low vision

A visual impairment, not corrected by standard glasses, contact lenses, medicine, or surgery, that interferes with the ability to perform everyday activities. Most people develop low vision because of eye diseases such…
Low vision device

A devise to help to improve visual ability of a person with low vision. Low vision devices may be optical or non-optical. Optical devices such as a magnifying glass involve the use of lenses to improve vision whereas…