Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «A»:
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A (adenine)
A (adenine): In genetics, A stands for
adenine, one member of the A-T (adenine-thymine) base pair in DNA. The other base pair in DNA is G-C (guanine-cytosine).
Each base pair forms a "rung of the DNA ladder." A DNA nucleotide is made of a molecule of sugar, a molecule of phosphoric acid, and a mole...
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A-
A-: Prefix very much employed in medicine and all of the health sciences, indicating "not, without, -less" as, for example, in alexia
(not read), aphagia (not eat), aphonia (not voice, voiceless).
The "a-" usually becomes "an-" before a vowel as, for example, in anemia
(without blood), anophth...
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A-T
A-T: Ataxia-telangiectasia....
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A. baumannii
A. baumannii: Acinetobacter baumannii. See: Acinetobacter....
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a.c.
a.c.: Abbreviation on a prescription meaning before meals; from the Latin "ante cibum", before meals. This is one of a number of hallowed abbreviations of Latin terms that have traditionally been used in writing prescriptions.
Some others:
b.i.d. = twice a day (from "bis in die", twice a
day)
gt...
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A1C
A1C: A test that measures how much glucose has been sticking during the past 3-4 months to hemoglobin, the substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen to the cells of the body. The A1C test is important in diabetes as a long-term measure of control over blood glucose. Even outside of diabet...
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AAA
AAA: Abdominal aortic aneurysm....
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AAAS
AAAS: Spoken of as the "triple-AS", the American
Association for the Advancement of Science is an organization
concerned not only with
the biomedical sciences but with all of the sciences. The AAAS
publishes the weekly journal
"Science", one of the great scientific periodicals.
"Science" carries...
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AAD
AAD: American Association of Dermatology, one
of many important professional societies in the health arena. The
AMA (the American Medical Association) is a better known example in
the US. Only a small selection of the many health-related
organizations is given as a sampler in this DICTIONARY.
...
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AAFP (American Academy of Family Physicians)
AAFP (American Academy of Family Physicians):
Originally, most physicians in the U.S. (and elsewhere) were family
doctors. Then there was a strong move away from family medicine
toward the medical specialties in the U.S. The pendulum now has swung
back to a more equitable balance between family ...
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AAMC (Ass Am Medical Colleges)
AAMC (Ass Am Medical Colleges): The American Association of Medical Colleges, a nonprofit association of the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools; the 16 accredited Canadian medical schools; more than 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems; some 90 academic and professional societies represe...
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AANAT
AANAT: The synbol for the enzyme arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase and for the gene that encodes it. AANAT is present in animals, bacteria and yeast but in no other living organisms. AANAT belongs to the large superfamily of acetyltransferase enzymes. AANAT is used to make melatonin, a hormone that...
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AAO
AAO: 1. Alert and oriented.
2. American Association of Ophthalmology, a professional organization.
3. American Academy of Otolaryngology, a professional organization.
4. American Association of Orthodontists, a professional organization.
5. Amino acid oxidase, an enzyme....
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AAOS (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
AAOS (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons): The professional organization of American
orthopaedists. Literally, the practice of child straightening,
orthopaedics
is the branch of surgery that is broadly concerned with the skeletal
system (bones)....
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AAP
AAP: The American Academy of Pediatrics....
