Medical terms - Letter S (page 31) | MedicalVocabulary.org

Syphilis, tertiary

The third stage of syphilis, in which the syphilis spirochetes infect the brain and other organs of the body. Dementia is a common outcome. Tertiary syphilis can develop many years after an initial untreated infection…
Syphilitic

1. Relating to syphilis, caused by it, or suffering from it.2. A person with syphilis. From the French syphilitique
Syringe

A device used in medicine to inject fluid into or withdraw fluid from the body. Medical syringes consist of a needle attached to a hollow cylinder that is fitted with a sliding plunger. The downward movement of the…
Syringoma

A benign (non-cancerous) skin tumor that derives from eccrine cells, specialized cells that are related to sweat glands. The skin lesions usually appear during puberty or adult life, and consist of small bumps one to…
System, autonomic nervous

Part of the nervous system that was once thought to be functionally independent of the brain. The autonomic nervous system regulates key functions of the body including the activity of the heart muscle (see below), the…
System, cardiac conduction

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…
System, cardiovascular

The circulatory system which comprises the heart and blood vessels. The system carries nutrients and oxygen to the tissues of the body and removes carbon dioxide and other wastes from them. The cardiovascular system is…
System, central nervous (CNS)

That part of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord. The central nervous system (CNS) is one of the two major divisions of the nervous system. The other is the peripheral nervous system (PNS)…
System, immune

A complex system that is responsible for distinguishing us from everything foreign to us, and for protecting us against infections and foreign substances. The immune system works to seek and kill invaders. If a person…
System, locomotive

The system that permits locomotion, movement from one place to another. The key components of this system are the bones that are the framework of the skeleton, the joints that hold the bones together and make movement…
System, parasympathetic nervous

A part of nervous system that slows the heart rate, increases intestinal and gland activity, and relaxes sphincter muscles. The parasympathetic nervous system together with the sympathetic nervous system (that…
System, peripheral nervous (PNS)

That portion of the nervous system that is outside the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is one of the two major divisions of the nervous system. The other is the central nervous system (CNS)…
System, sympathetic nervous

A part of nervous system that accelerates the heart rate, constricts blood vessels, and raises blood pressure. The sympathetic nervous system together with the parasympathetic nervous system (that slows the heart rate…
Systemic

Affecting the entire body. A systemic disease such as diabetes can affect the whole body. Systemic chemotherapy employs drugs that travel through the bloodstream and reach and affect cells all over the body
Systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus: A chronic inflammatory condition caused by an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease occurs when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system. Patients with lupus have…
Systemic mastocytosis

A form of mastocytosis characterized by infiltrates of mast cells in the skin, lymph nodes, liver, spleen, gastrointestinal tract, bones, and joints with a predisposition to peptic ulcer due to excess stomach acid…
Systemic therapy

Treatment that reaches cells throughout the body by traveling through the bloodstream
Systemic-onset juvenile chronic arthritis

See: Arthritis, systemic-onset juvenile rheumatoid
Systemic-onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

See: Arthritis, systemic-onset juvenile rheumatoid
Systems biology

The study of biological systems taking into account the interactions of the key elements such as DNA, RNA, proteins, and cells with respect to one another. The integration of this information may be by computer
Systole

The time period when the heart is contracting. The period specifically during which the left ventricle of the heart contracts. The final letter in 'systole' is pronounced as a long 'e' as in 'lee.' The adjective for…
Systole, extra

See: Extrasystole
Systole, premature

See: Extrasystole
Systolic

The blood pressure when the heart is contracting. It is specifically the maximum arterial pressure during contraction of the left ventricle of the heart. The time at which ventricular contraction occurs is called…
Systolic click-murmur syndrome

See: Mitral valve prolapse
Sz

Seizure