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

Shark attack

>Always swim in a group. Sharks most often attack lone individuals. >Don't wander too far from shore. Doing so isolates you and places you away from assistance. >Avoid the water at night, dawn, or dusk. Many sharks are…
Sharp

Medical slang for a needle or similar pointed object
Shell egg

An egg in a shell. See: Raw egg
Shell shock

The World War I name for what is known today as post-traumatic stress, this is a psychological disorder that develops in some individuals who have had major traumatic experiences (and, for example, have been in a…
Sherlock, Sheila

British physician (1918-2001) who pioneered the study of the liver (hepatology). She made liver biopsy a routine clinical tool and, with its help, developed the current classification of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis…
Shettles method

A set of procedures proposed and popularized for sex selection by the gynecologist Landrum B. Shettles (1909-2003) in his book entitled 'Baby's Sex: Now You Can Choose.' With his method, Dr. Shettles claimed that…
Shield, nipple

See: Nipple shield
Shigella

Epidemic and opportunistic bacillary dysentery due to infection with the Shigella bacteria. Shigellosis causes intestinal pain and diarrhea with mucus and blood in the stool. It is especially common in tropical…
Shigellosis

Epidemic and opportunistic bacillary dysentery due to infection with the Shigella bacteria. Shigellosis causes intestinal pain and diarrhea with mucus and blood in the stool. It is especially common in tropical…
Shin

1. The tibia, the larger of the two bones in the lower leg.2. The anterior aspect (front) of the tibia
Shin bone fever

Fever: Called shin bone fever because it characteristically causes fever and pain in the legs, this disease is also known as trench fever. It is a disease borne by body lice that was first recognized in the trenches of…
Shin splint

An inflammatory condition of the front part of the tibia (the big bone in the lower leg) that results from overuse as, for example, from running too much on hard roads or sidewalks. Shin splints are due to injury to the…
Shin spot

A light brown or reddish oval or round scaly patch on the skin of the shin. Shin spots can be due to diabetes. See: Diabetic dermopathy
Shinbone

The larger of the two bones in the lower leg (the smaller one being the fibula). The shinbone is anatomically known as the tibia. 'Tibia' is a Latin word meaning both shinbone and flute. It is thought that 'tibia'…
Shingle

In medicine, a small signboard outside the office of a doctor. The term has nothing to do with the disease shingles
Shingles

Shingles: An acute infection caused by the herpes zoster virus, the same virus as causes chickenpox. Shingles is most common after the age of 50 and the risk rises with advancing age. Shingles occurs because of exposure…
Shingles pain

Shingles pain: Localized pain in the area of involvement of shingles. When such pain persists beyond one month it is referred to as postherpetic neuralgia. The most common complication of shingles is postherpetic…
Ship fever

An old name for epidemic typhus, which was common in the crowded conditions aboard ship. Ship Fever and Other Stories (1996) by Andrea Barrett received the National Book Award. See: Typhus, epidemic
Shock

Shock: In medicine, shock is a critical condition brought on by a sudden drop in blood flow through the body. There is failure of the circulatory system to maintain adequate blood flow. This sharply curtails the…
Shock lung

See: ARDS
Shock syndrome, dengue

A syndrome due to the dengue virus that tends to affect children under 10, causing abdominal pain, hemorrhage (bleeding) and circulatory collapse (shock). Known also as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), it starts abruptly…
Shock, anaphylactic

A life-threatening allergic reaction characterized by a swelling of body tissues including the throat, difficulty in breathing, and a sudden fall in blood pressure
Shock, cardiogenic

Shock caused by heart failure. The heart fails to pump blood effectively. For example, a heart attack (a myocardial infarction) can cause an abnormal ineffectual heart beat (an arrhythmia) with very slow, rapid, or…
Shock, hypovolemic

Shock due to a decrease in blood volume. This is the #1 cause of shock. It can be due to loss of blood from bleeding, loss of blood plasma through severe burns, and dehydration. The treatment, first and foremost, is…
Shock, primary

Sudden loss of blood pressure resulting in shock due to pain, fear, and other reactions experienced immediately after a severe injury
Shock, psychologic

Trauma due to psychological events, as in 'shell shock' (now known as post-traumatic stress disorder)
Shock, secondary

Shock that occurs as a side effect of another problem, such as a crushing injury or heart attack.
Shock, septic

Shock caused by infection. See also septicemia.
Shock, shell

The World War I name for what is known today as post-traumatic stress, this is a psychological disorder that develops in some individuals who have had major traumatic experiences (and, for example, have been in a…
Shock, spinal

Shock caused by injury to the spinal cord
Shock, toxic

See Syndrome, toxic shock.
Shock, vasogenic

Shock caused by widening of the blood vessels, usually from medication
Shopaholic

Someone obsessed with shopping. A compulsive shopper. From shop + -aholic, alteration of -oholic (as in alcoholic) See Compulsive shopping
Short arm of a chromosome

The short arm of a human chromosome is symbolized by convention as 'p'. The 'p' comes from the French 'petit' meaning small. All human chromosomes have 2 arms, the p (short) arm and the q (long) arm. They are separated…
Short bowel syndrome

A condition due to loss of half or more of their small intestine removed because of surgical removal or disease of the small intestine. Common reasons for removing part of the small intestine include surgery for Crohn's…
Short hairpin RNA

See: shRNA
Short-term memory

A system for temporarily storing and managing information required to carry out complex cognitive tasks such as learning, reasoning, and comprehension. Short-term memory is involved in the selection, initiation, and…
Shot, flu

The flu (influenza) vaccine is recommended annually (each year) for persons at high risk for serious complications from influenza virus infection. Those include: > >Everyone age 65 or more; >People with chronic diseases…
Shotgun sequencing

An approach used to decode a genome by shredding ('shotgunning') it into smaller fragments of DNA which can then be individually sequenced. The sequences of these fragments are then ordered, based on overlaps in the…
Shots, allergy

Known medically as allergy desensitization or allergy immunotherapy, the injections are designed to stimulate the immune system with gradually increasing doses of the substances to which a person is allergic, the aim…
Shotty

Resembling shot or pellets of lead, shotgun pellets and, hence, hard and round. The term 'shotty' was in use in the 19th century. It is now generally obsolete but it is still in medicinal usage. Shotty is very commonly…
Shoulder

A structure made up of two main bones: the scapula (shoulder blade) and the humerus (the long bone of the upper arm). The end of the scapula, called the glenoid, is a socket into which the head of the humerus fits…
Shoulder blade

The familiar flat triangular bone at the back of the shoulder. Known familiarly as the wingbone or, medically, as the scapula. The word 'scapula' (with the accent on the first syllable) is Latin. The Romans always…
Shoulder bursitis

Shoulder bursitis: Inflammation of one or both of the two major bursae (fluid-filled sacs) in the shoulder. Treatment typically includes rest, ice, and medications for inflammation and pain. Bursitis from infection is…
Shoulder dislocation

Displacement of the ball of the shoulder joint (the top rounded portion of the upper arm bone, or humerus) from the socket of the joint (the glenoid fossa of the wingbone, or scapula). There is complete separation of…
Shoulder dystocia

Halt to spontaneous delivery because the baby's shoulder is wedged behind the mother's pubis, due usually to the baby being too big to fit through the birth canal. Dystocia means difficult delivery.
Shoulder joint

The flexible ball-and-socket joint formed by the junction of the humerus and the scapula. This joint is cushioned by cartilage that covers the face of the glenoid socket and head of the humerus. The joint is stabilized…
Shoulder pain

Pain in the shoulder due to an injury or disease. The design of the shoulder joint is such that it sacrifices stability for mobility. As an extremely mobile joint that plays a central role in the action of a major…
Shoulder, frozen

See: Frozen shoulder
Show

As a noun: 1. An appearance. 2. Short for bloody show