Medical terms - Letter P (page 11) | MedicalVocabulary.org

Perspiration

1) The secretion of fluid by the sweat (sudoriferous) glands. These small, tubular glands are situated within the skin, as well as in the subcutaneous tissue under it. They discharge their fluid through tiny openings in…
Pertussis

Pertussis: Whooping cough, a communicable, potentially deadly illness characterized by fits of coughing followed by a noisy, 'whooping' indrawn breath. It is caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis. The illness is…
PERV

Acronym for the porcine endogenous retrovirus, a pig virus that splices into DNA. PERV belongs to the same class of viruses as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Some of the concern about pig-to-human…
Pes

Latin word meaning foot.
Pes cavus

Literally a hollow foot, pes cavus is a foot with too high an arch
Pes planum

Flat feet
Pest (plague)

An infectious disease due to a bacteria called Yersinia pestis. Y. pestis mainly infects rats and other rodents. Rodents are the prime reservoir for the bacteria. Fleas function as the prime vectors carrying the…
Pesthouse

A hospital where people suffering from infectious disease were once confined and sometimes treated. 'I discovered the ruin of the pesthouse, a building where anyone with an illness who was passing through the western…
Pesticide

A chemical used to control, repel, or destroy pests of any sort. There are scores of different types of pesticides which may act specifically, for example, as acaricides (against mites), fungicides, herbicides…
Pestilence

The pestilence referred to the bubonic plague and it now refers to any epidemic disease that is highly contagious, infectious, virulent and devastating. The plague was, a highly contagious, infectious, virulent…
Pestis

The popular name (and abbreviation) of Positron Emission Tomography.
PET scan

The popular name (and abbreviation) of Positron Emission Tomography
Petasites hybridus

See: Butterbur
Petasites vulgaris

See: Butterbur
Petechiae

Pinpoint flat round red spots under the skin surface caused by intradermal hemorrhage (bleeding into the skin). Petechiae are red because they contain red blood that has leaked from the capillaries into the skin…
Peter Mansfield

See: Mansfield, Peter
Peter Pan syndrome

Term coined by pop psychology author Dan Kiley in his book 'Peter Pan syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up.' Peter Pan is in reference to J. M. Barrie's classic 1904 play in which a boy who refuses to grow up teaches…
Petit mal

A form of epilepsy with very brief, unannounced lapses in consciousness. A petit mal seizure involves a brief loss of awareness, which can be accompanied by blinking or mouth twitching. Petit mal seizures have a very…
Peutz-Jeghers syndrome

A cancer genetic disorder characterized by freckle-like spots on the lips, mouth and fingers and polyps in the intestines. Patients are at increased risk for developing cancer of the esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum…
Peyronie disease

A syndrome of craniosynostosis (premature fusion of the cranial sutures) due to mutation in FGFR (fibroblast growth factor receptor) characterized by bulging eyes (proptosis) due to shallow eye sockets, underdevelopment…
Pfeiffer syndrome

A syndrome of craniosynostosis (premature fusion of the cranial sutures) due to mutation in FGFR (fibroblast growth factor receptor) characterized by bulging eyes (proptosis) due to shallow eye sockets, underdevelopment…
PFOA

Perfluorooctanoic acid. See: Perfluorinated acid
PFT

Pulmonary function test, a test designed to measure how well the lungs are working. PFTs gauge how the lungs are doing their jobs -- of expanding and contracting (when a person inhales and exhales) and of exchanging…
PGA (polyglandular autoimmune syndrome)

A genetic autoimmune disease with an extraordinary array of clinical features but characterized most often by at least 2 of the following 3 findings: hypoparathyroidism -- underfunction of the parathyroid glands which…
PGE-2

Prostaglandin E2
PGF

Placental growth factor
PH

A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a fluid. The pH of any fluid is the measure of its hydrogen ion (H+) concentration relative to that of a given standard solution. The pH may range from 0 to 14, where 0 is most…
PH meter

A simple and speedy device to measure the acidity and alkalinity of a fluid. A pH meter acts as a volt meter that measures the electrical potential difference between a pH electrode and a reference electrode and…
PH, blood

See: Blood pH
PH, urine

See: Urine pH
Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy. (From the New Latin, philosophiae doctor). Ph.D.'s are involved in clinical care (as in clinical psychology), biomedical research (as in the Genome Project), health administration and other areas…
Phacoemulsification

A procedure in which the lens clouded by a cataract is broken up by ultrasound, irrigated, and suctioned out. Most cataract surgery today is performed using phacoemulsification. Before the advent of this technique…
Phage

Short for bacteriophage, a virus that lives within a bacteria. A virus for which the natural host is a bacterial cell. Bacteriophages have been very important and heuristic in bacterial and molecular genetics. Phages…
Phagedenic gingivitis

This is trench mouth, a progressive painful infection with ulceration, swelling and sloughing off of dead tissue from the mouth and throat due to the spread of infection from the gums. Certain germs (including fusiform…
Phago-

Fix): Eating, devouring. From the Greek 'phago' meaning 'to eat.' Examples of words starting with phago- include: phagocyte, a cell that can engulf particles; and phagophobia, an excessive fear of eating.
Phagocyte

A cell that can engulf particles such as bacteria, other microorganisms, aged red blood cells, foreign matter, etc. The principal phagocytes include the neutrophils and monocytes (types of white blood cells). The prefix…
Phagocytosis

The process by which a cell engulfs particles such as bacteria, other microorganisms, aged red blood cells, foreign matter, etc. The principal phagocytes (cells that can engage in phagocytosis) include the neutrophils…
Phalangeal

Pertaining to a phalanx (a bone in the finger or toe)
Phalanges

The plural of phalanx. See: Phalanx
Phalanx

Anatomically, any one of the bones in the fingers or toes. (Plural: phalanges.) There are 3 phalanges (the proximal, middle, and distal phalanx) in most of the fingers and toes. However, the thumb and large toe have…
Phantom limb syndrome

The perception of sensations, usually including pain, in an arm or leg after the limb has been amputated. The brain still gets messages from the nerves that originally carried impulses from the missing limb. Phantom…
Phantom tooth

Persistent pain in the area from which a tooth has been extracted. Phantom tooth pain may last for months and can spread beyond the extraction site to other areas of the mouth
Phantom vision

Seeing images after total loss of eyesight
Pharma food

A food product with a pharmacological additive meant to improve health, for example, to lower cholesterol
Pharmacist

A professional who fills prescriptions, and in the case of a compounding pharmacist, makes them. Pharmacists are familiar with medication ingredients, interactions, cautions, and hints. Pharmacists are thus trained to…
Pharmaco-epidemiology

The study of the use of drugs in society. The process of identifying and responding to safety issues about drugs. Pharmaco-epidemiology has been called pharmaco-vigilance. For example, the diabetes drug called Rezulin…
Pharmacogenetics

The merger of pharmacology and genetics into a field that pertains to the hereditary responses to drugs. For example, after the administration of a muscle relaxant drug, a patient may remain apneic for hours due to a…
Pharmacogenomics

The study of how variations in the human genome affect the response to medications. The older term 'pharmacogenetics' was created from the words 'pharmacology' and 'genetics' to indicate the intersection of…
Pharmacologic stress test

Stress test: There are a diversity of pharmacologic stress tests. Here this refers specifically to a pharmacologic cardiac stress test in which certain medications are administered that stimulate the heart to mimic the…
Pharmacologist

A specialist in the study of medications and their effects on the body