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

Tooth root sensitivities

Oversensitivity of exposed roots of teeth to cold, hot, and sour foods because those roots are no longer protected by healthy gum and bone. Chronic gum disease contributes to toothache due to root sensitivities. The…
Tooth, cracked, syndrome

A toothache caused by a broken tooth (tooth fracture) without associated cavity or advanced gum disease. Biting on the area of tooth fracture can cause severe sharp pains. These fractures are usually due to chewing or…
Tooth, wisdom

One of the large molars in the very back of the jaw. The human jaw has changed in size over the course of evolution, and wisdom teeth are no longer needed, but these teeth continue to erupt in many people. If the jaw is…
Toothache

Toothache: Pain in or near a tooth. Also called odontalgia. The most common cause of a toothache is a dental cavity. The second most common cause is gum disease. Toothache can be caused by a problem that does not…
Tophaceous gout

A chronic form of gout. Nodular masses of uric acid crystals (tophi) are deposited in different soft tissue areas of the body. Even though tophi are most commonly found as hard nodules around the fingers, at the tips of…
Tophi

The plural of tophus
Tophus

A nodular mass of uric acid crystals. Tophi are characteristically deposited in different soft tissue areas of the body in gout. The word tophus comes via Latin from the Greek tophos meaning a porous volcanic stone. In…
Topical

Pertaining to a particular surface area. A topical agent is applied to a certain area of the skin and is intended to affect only the area to which it is applied. Whether its effects are indeed limited to that area…
Topical chemotherapy

Chemotherapy: Treatment with an anticancer drug in a lotion, ointment or cream that is applied to the skin.
Topoisomerase

A class of enzymes that alter the supercoiling of double-stranded DNA. (In supercoiling the DNA molecule coils up like a telephone cord, which shortens the molecule.) The topoisomerases act by transiently cutting one or…
TORCH screen

Screening test for a group of infections known by the acronym TORCH which stands for Toxoplasma gondii; other viruses (HIV, measles, and more); rubella (German measles);cytomegalovirus; and herpes simplex. All of these…
Tornado supplies kit

Sluggishness, dullness, languor, lassitude, stupor, torpidity. People can fall into a state of torpor, as can animals. Some mosquitoes pass the winter in a state of torpor. From the Latin torpor, from torpere, to be…
Torpor

Sluggishness, dullness, languor, lassitude, stupor, torpidity. People can fall into a state of torpor, as can animals. Some mosquitoes pass the winter in a state of torpor. From the Latin torpor, from torpere, to be…
Torre syndrome

See: Muir-Torre syndrome
Torsion dystonia

A form of dystonia known as early-onset torsion dystonia (also called idiopathic or generalized torsion dystonia) that begins in childhood around the age of 12. Symptoms typically start in one part of the body, usually…
Torsion fracture

A fracture, also called a spiral fracture, in which a bone has been twisted apart. align=center>
Torticollis

The most common of the focal dystonias, torticollis is a state of excessive of inadequate muscle tone in the muscles in the neck that control the position of the head. It can cause the head to twist and turn to one…
Torticollis, congenital

A deformity of the neck that is evident at birth. It is due to shortening of the neck muscles. Congenital torticollis tilts the head to the side on which the neck muscles are shortened so that the chin points to the…
Torticollis, spasmodic

Spasmodic torticollis, or torticollis, is the most common of the focal dystonias. In torticollis, the muscles in the neck that control the position of the head are affected, causing the head to twist and turn to one…
Torture

An act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person, for a purpose such as obtaining information or a confession, punishment, intimidation or coercion, or for any…
Torus fracture

A fracture in which one side of the bone bends, but does not actually break. Torus fractures normally heal on their own within a month with rest, although they can cause soreness and discomfort
Total hip replacement

Total hip replacement: Surgery in which the diseased ball and socket of the hip joint are completely removed and replaced with artificial materials. A metal ball with a stem (a prosthesis) is inserted into the femur…
Total hysterectomy

Hysterectomy: Complete surgical removal of the uterus and cervix. Also called a complete hysterectomy
Total knee replacement

Total knee replacement: A surgical procedure in which damaged parts of the knee joint are replaced with artifical parts. The surgery is done by separating the muscles and ligaments around the knee to expose the inside…
Total laryngectomy

A surgical procedure in which the whole voice box is removed, and the stoma opening into the larynx is permanent. The patient breathes through the stoma, and must learn to talk in a new way. In contrast to a partial…
Total parenteral nutrition

Intravenous feeding that provides a patient with all of the fluid and the essential nutrients they need when they are unable to feed themselves by mouth. Often referred to by its acronym, TPN.
Totipotent

Having unlimited capability. A totipotent cell has the capacity to form an entire organism. Human development begins when a sperm fertilizes an egg and creates a single totipotent cell. In the first hours after…
Tourette syndrome

Tourette syndrome: A tic disorder characterized by the presence of chronic vocal and motor tics, probably based on differences in or damage to the basal ganglia of the brain. Tourette syndrome usually emerges between…
Toxaphene

A chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide currently banned for all uses in the US. Breathing, eating, or drinking high levels of toxaphene can damage the lungs, nervous system, and kidneys, and can even cause death. The US…
Toxemia

A condition in pregnancy, also known as pre-eclampsia (or preeclampsia) characterized by abrupt hypertension (a sharp rise in blood pressure), albuminuria (leakage of large amounts of the protein albumin into the urine)…
Toxic agent syndrome

See: Toxic syndrome
Toxic goiter, diffuse

Graves disease, the most common cause of hyperthyroidism (overactivity of the thyroid gland), with generalized diffuse overactivity ('toxicity') of the entire thyroid gland which becomes enlarged into a goiter. There…
Toxic hepatitis

Hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) caused by an industrial chemical such as carbon tetrachloride or phosphorus
Toxic multinodular goiter

Condition in which the thyroid gland contains multiple lumps (nodules) that are overactive, produce excess thyroid hormones and thereby cause hyperthyroidism. This condition is also known as Parry's disease or Plummer's…
Toxic shock

See Toxic shock syndrome
Toxic shock syndrome

A grave condition occurring predominantly in menstruating women using tampons, toxic shock is characterized by a highly toxic state (with sudden high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aching) followed by low blood…
Toxic syndrome

The ensemble of the signs and symptoms of the disorder resulting from exposure to a toxic agent. There are many toxic syndromes. There is a toxic syndrome for ricin or abrin poisoning; a toxic syndrome for arsine or…
Toxicity

The degree to which a substance can harm humans or animals. Toxicity can be acute, subchronic, or chronic: > >Acute toxicity involves harmful effects in an organism through a single or short-term exposure. >Subchronic…
Toxicogenomics

The collection, interpretation, and storage of information about gene and protein activity in order to identify toxic substances in the environment, and to help treat people at the greatest risk of diseases caused by…
Toxicology

The study of the nature, effects and detection of poisons and the treatment of poisoning
Toxin

One of a number of poisons produced by certain plants, animals, and bacteria. The term 'toxin' is frequently used to refer specifically to a particular protein produced by some higher plants, animals and pathogenic…
Toxin, anthrax

The toxic substance secreted by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of the disease anthrax. Anthrax toxin is made up of three proteins. One is protective antigen and two are enzymes that are called…
Toxin, botulinum

See: Botulinum toxin
Toxo (toxoplasmosis)

Toxo (toxoplasmosis): An infection caused by a single-celled parasite named Toxoplasma gondii that may invade tissues and damage the brain, especially of the fetus and newborn. The parasite Toxoplasma gondii is very…
Toxoplasma gondii

A single-celled parasite that causes toxoplasmosis (toxo) . Toxoplasma gondii is very common (more than 60 million people in the US carry it) but few are aware of it because the immune system often keeps the parasite…
Toxoplasmosis (toxo)

Toxoplasmosis (toxo): An infection caused by a single-celled parasite named Toxoplasma gondii that may invade tissues and damage the brain, especially of the fetus and newborn. The parasite Toxoplasma gondii is very…
TPA

See: Tissue plasminogen activator
TPH2

Tryptophan hydroxylase 2, also known as neuronal tryptophan hydroxylase (NTPH), the key rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5HT). 5HT is causally involved in numerous activities…
TPN

Total parenteral nutrition, intravenous feeding that provides a patient with all of the fluid and the essential nutrients when they are unable to feed themselves by mouth
Trabecula

A partition which divides or partly divides a cavity. > >One of the strands of connective tissue projecting into an organ that constitutes part of the framework of the organ as, for example, the trabeculae of the…