Alcohol Intoxication Glossary of Terms

1. OTC and Prescription Drug Abuse Slideshow Pictures
2. Health Risks of Alcohol Abuse Slideshow Pictures

Abnormal: Outside the expected norm, or uncharacteristic of a particular patient.

Absorption: Uptake. For example, intestinal absorption is the uptake of food (or other sub...

Acute: Of abrupt onset, in reference to a disease. Acute often also connotes an illness th...

Addiction: An uncontrollable craving, seeking, and use of a substance such as alcohol or a...

Airway: The path that air follows to get into and out of the lungs. The mouth and nose are...

Alcohol abuse: Use of alcoholic beverages to excess, either on individual occasions (binge...

Alcoholism: Physical dependence on alcohol to the extent that stopping alcohol use would b...

Ataxia: Poor coordination and unsteadiness due to the brain's failure to regulate the body...

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is...

Blood sugar: Blood glucose. See also: High blood sugar; Low blood sugar.

Brain: The portion of the central nervous system that is located within the skull. It func...

Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through ...

Butyric acid: An acid that has four carbons in it. The formula for butyric acid is: CH3-CH...

Caffeine: A stimulant compound found naturally in coffee, tea, cocoa (chocolate), and kola...

Carbon dioxide: A gas which is the byproduct of cellular metabolism and which collects in ...

Chronic: In medicine, lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one that lasts 3 months ...

Cirrhosis: Liver disease characterized by irreversible scarring. Alcohol and viral hepatit...

Cocaine: A substance derived from the leaves of the coca plant that is a bitter, addictive...

Coma: A state of deep, unarousable unconsciousness. A coma may occur as a result of head t...

Cough: A rapid expulsion of air from the lungs, typically in order to clear the lung airwa...

Dehydration: Excessive loss of body water. Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract that ca...

Delirium: A sudden state of severe confusion and rapid changes in brain function, sometime...

Delirium tremens: A central nervous system symptom of alcohol withdrawal that is seen in c...

Depression: An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the way...

Diabetes: Refers to diabetes mellitus or, less often, to diabetes insipidus. Diabetes mell...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

Discharge: 1.The flow of fluid from part of the body, such as from the nose or vag...

Diuretic: Something that promotes the formation of urine by the kidney. All diuretics caus...

Emergency department: The department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medica...

Enlarged liver: A liver that is greater in size than normal. Enlarged liver is also known ...

Epilepsy (seizure disorder): When nerve cells in the brain fire electrical impulses...

Euphoria: Elevated mood. Euphoria is a desirable and natural occurrence when it results f...

Fever: Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degr...

Gait: A manner of walking. Observation of gait can provide early diagnostic clues for a nu...

Generic: 1. The chemical name of a drug. 2. A term referring to the chemical...

Head injury: Damage to any of the structures of the head as a result of trauma. While the ...

Heroin: Semisynthetic drug derived from morphine. Discovered in 1874, it was introduced co...

Hypoglycemia: Low blood sugar (glucose). Hypoglycemia may be associated with symptoms such...

Incontinent: Unable to control excretions, to hold urine in the bladder, or to keep feces ...

Indicate: In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular ...

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Injury: Harm or hurt. To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emot...

Internal bleeding: Bleeding inside the body that is not seen from the outside. Internal bl...

Intestine: The long, tubelike organ in the abdomen that completes the process of digestion...

Intubation: The process of putting a tube into a hollow organ or passageway, often into th...

Jaundice: Yellow staining of the skin and sclerae (the whites of the eyes) by abnormally h...

Kidney: One of a pair of organs located in the right and left side of the abdomen. The kid...

Liver: The largest solid organ in the body, situated in the upper part of the abdomen on t...

Low blood pressure: Any blood pressure that is below the normal expected for an individua...

Low blood sugar: A low blood level of the sugar glucose. Also called hypoglycemia.

Lungs: The lungs are a pair of breathing organs located with the chest which remove carbon...

Marijuana: A common street and recreational drug that comes from the marijuana plant: the ...

Medical history: 1. In clinical medicine, the patient's past and present which may ...

Memory: 1. The ability to recover information about past events or knowledge. ...

Meningitis: Inflammation of the meninges, the three membranes that envelop the brain and t...

Metabolism: The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within a living organism. ...

Motor: Something that produces or refers to motion. For example, a motor neuron is a nerve...

Mouth: 1. The upper opening of the digestive tract, beginning with the lips and con...

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses electrical and chemical signals to transmit sensory an...

Neural: Having to do with nerve cells (neurons).

Neurotransmitter: A chemical that is released from a nerve cell which thereby transmits an...

Obese: Well above ones normal weight. A person has traditionally been considered to be obe...

Ounce: A measure of weight equal to 1/16^th of a pound or, metrically, 28.35 gra...

Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs, with dense areas of lung inflammation. Pneum...

Prescription: A physician's order for the preparation and administration of a drug or dev...

Progressive: Increasing in scope or severity, advancing, or going forward. For example, a ...

Psychiatric: Pertaining to or within the purview of psychiatry, the medical specialty conc...

Reflex: An involuntary reaction. For example, the corneal reflex is the blink that occurs ...

Renal: Having to do with the kidney. For example, renal cancer is cancer of the kidneys.

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

Sedative: A drug that calms a patient, easing agitation and permitting sleep. Sedatives ge...

Seizure: Uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain, which may produce a physical conv...

Seizure disorders: One of a great many medical conditions that are characterized by epis...

Shoulder: A structure made up of two main bones: the scapula (shoulder blade) and the hume...

Small intestine: The part of the digestive tract that extends from the stomach to the larg...

Snoring: A rough rattling noise made on inspiration during sleep by vibration of the soft ...

Stomach: The digestive organ that is located in the upper abdomen, under the ribs. The upp...

Trachea: A tube-like portion of the respiratory tract that connects the larynx with the br...

Trauma: A physical or emotional injury.

Urine: Liquid waste produced by the kidneys. Urine is a clear, transparent fluid that norm...

Vitamins: The word "vitamin" was coined in 1911 by the Warsaw-born biochemist Casimir Funk...

Vomit: Matter from the stomach that has come up into and may be ejected beyond the mouth, ...

Windpipe: The trachea, a tube-like portion of the respiratory (breathing) tract that conn...