Medical terms - Letter M
1,075 terms start with the letter M.
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Masticate
To chew, grind, or pulverize food (or something else) until it turns to pulp. From the Latin masticare, from the Greek mastikhan meaning to grind the teeth.
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Mastitis
Inflammation of one or more mammary glands within the breast, usually in a lactating woman. It can be felt as a hard, sore spot within the breast. Mastitis can be caused by an infection in the breast or by a plugged…
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Mastocyte
A mast cell
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Mastocytoma
A form of mastocytosis characterized by a benign nodular skin tumor infiltrated by mast cells. Usually present at birth or in early childhood and resolves spontaneously. Also called a mast cell tumor
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Mastocytosis
A condition characterized by infiltration of mast cells into the tissues of the body. Mast cells are connective tissue cells which release chemicals including histamine that are very irritating and cause itching…
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Mastoid
The rounded protrusion of bone just behind the ear once thought to look like the breast. The word comes from the Greek mastos meaning breast + -oid= breast-like.
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Mastoiditis
Inflammation of the mastoid, often secondary to ear infection.
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Materfamilias
The female head of the family; the mother figure. Materfamilias is the Latin for mother of the household. It is compounded from mater (mother) + familias, which comes from familia (household), from famulus (servant…
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Materia medica
1. The ingredients used to make medications, whether those be for medicine, homeopathy, herbal medicine, or whatever. 2. The branch of medical science concerned with the study of drugs and their properties, preparation…
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Maternal
The age of the mother at the time of delivery. Advanced maternal age is usually defined as age 35 or more at delivery. Advanced maternal age predisposes to Down syndrome (trisomy 21). The risk of having a Down syndrome…
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Maternal age
The number of maternal deaths related to childbearing divided by the number of live births (or by the number of live births + fetal deaths) in that year. The maternal mortality rate in the United States in 1993 (and…
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Maternal mortality rate
The number of maternal deaths related to childbearing divided by the number of live births (or by the number of live births + fetal deaths) in that year. The maternal mortality rate in the United States in 1993 (and…
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Maternal myasthenia gravis
Myasthenia gravis: The presence of myasthenia gravis in a pregnant woman. Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder characterized by fatigue and exhaustion of muscles. It is caused by a mistaken immune…
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Maternal phenylketonuria
A mother with the genetic disease phenylketonuria (PKU) whose high blood levels of phenylalanine (phe) are dangerous to a developing fetus. High phe is a teratogen. It can damage a baby before birth. Women with PKU who…
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Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP)
The presence of AFP, a plasma protein normally produced by the fetus, in the mother's blood. MSAFP serves as the basis for some valuable tests. AFP is manufactured principally in the fetus's liver and, also, in the…
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Materteral
1. Literally, relating to a maternal aunt.2. Figuratively, suggestive of an aunt on either side of the family. 3 In medical genetics, pertaining to an aunt. An materteral relationship is the genetic relationship between…
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Materterine
See: Materteral
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Mathematics disorder
A condition characterized by math skills that are significantly below normal, given the person's age, intelligence, and education. A mathematics disorder can include problems writing or printing numbers, counting…
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Matricectomy
The process of surgically, chemically, or electrically destroying all or part of the base nail portion called the nail matrix. Complete destruction of the nail matrix results in permanent loss of that portion of the…
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Matter, gray
The cortex of the brain which contains nerve cell bodies. The gray matter is as opposed to the white matter, the part of the brain that contains myelinated nerve fibers. The gray matter is so named because it in fact…
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Matter, white
The part of the brain that contains myelinated nerve fibers. The white matter is white because it is the color of myelin, the insulation covering the nerve fibers. The white matter is as opposed to the gray matter (the…
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Maturity onset diabetes of the young
Diabetes mellitus that has early onset (usually before the age of 25), is non-insulin-dependent, and is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Abbreviated MODY. MODY is often considered a subtype of type 2 diabetes…
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Maxilla
The maxilla is the major bone of the upper jaw
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Mb
Megabase
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MB ChB
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees. See: MBChB
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MBChB
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees, which are awarded in the U.K. and other countries (such as New Zealand and South Africa) after 5 years of what is analogous to a combined undergraduate-graduate…
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MCAD
Abbreviation for medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase. See: MCAD deficiency
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MCAD deficiency
Deficiency of an enzyme that makes it impossible to digest certain kinds of fat. MCAD stands for medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase. Children born with MCAD deficiency cannot metabolize (digest) medium-chain fats such…
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MCAF
Monocyte chemotactic and activating factor. See: MPC1
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McArdle disease
Glycogen storage disease type V and the most common type of glycogen storage disease. McArdle disease is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the gene that encodes myophosphorylase, an enzyme that is…
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McArdle's disease
See: McArdle disease
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MCAT
The Medical College Admissions Test, a test that is required of all applicants to medical school in the U.S. and Canada. The MCAT is 'a standardized test used to assess applicants' science knowledge, reasoning, and…
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McBurney's point
McBurney's point is the most tender area of the abdomen of patients in the early stage of appendicitis. McBurney's point is named after the 19th-century New York surgeon Charles McBurney (1845-1913) who was the leading…
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McClintock
See: McClintock, Barbara
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McClintock, Barbara
(1902-1992) American geneticist who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of genetic transposition, or the ability of genes to change position on the chromosome. Barbara McClintock was…
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McCune-Albright syndrome
Abbreviation (not only for McDonald's but also) for a number of entities in medicine including minimal change disease, mean corpuscular diameter, and medullary cystic disease.
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MCD
Abbreviation (not only for McDonald's but also) for a number of entities in medicine including minimal change disease, mean corpuscular diameter, and medullary cystic disease
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MCH
Abbreviation for mean cell hemoglobin concentration, which is the average concentration of hemoglobin in a given volume of blood. The MCHC is a calculated value derived from the measurement of hemoglobin and the…
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MCHC
Abbreviation for mean cell hemoglobin concentration, which is the average concentration of hemoglobin in a given volume of blood. The MCHC is a calculated value derived from the measurement of hemoglobin and the…
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MCI
Mild cognitive impairment
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McKusick-Kaufman syndrome
A genetic disorder in which there is build-up of fluids (called hydrometrocolpos) in the vagina and the uterus as a result of a membrane across the vagina which holds back the cervical fluid secreted in response to the…
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MCL (medial collateral ligament) of the knee
The knee joint is surrounded by a joint capsule with ligaments strapping the inside and outside of the joint (collateral ligaments) as well as crossing within the joint (cruciate ligaments). These ligaments provide…
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MCP
Membrane cofactor protein. A ubiquitous protein on the surface of cells that regulates complement and is involved in the attachment and ingestion of foreign particles by neutrophils and macrophages. The gene for MCP is…
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MCP1
Monocyte chemotactic protein-1, a member of the small inducible gene (SIG) family, plays a role in the recruitment of monocytes to sites of injury and infection. The gene for MCP1 is on chromosome 17 in region…
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MCPH1
Microcephalin 1
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MCTD
Abbreviation standing for Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, an overlapping mixture of three diseases of connective tissue disease (the framework of the cells of the body) -- systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, and…
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MCV
Abbreviation for mean cell volume, the average volume of a red blood cell. This is a calculated value derived from the hematocrit and the red cell count (The hematocrit is the ratio of the volume of red cells to the…
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MD
Abbreviation for the Latin Medicinae Doctor, Doctor of Medicine
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MDCT
Multidetector computed tomography
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MDI
1. Metered-dose inhaler; 2. Multiple daily injections; 3. Mental developmental index, as in 'the Bayley Mental Developmental Index (MDI), which measures language, memory, and problem-solving abilities.