Alcoholism Glossary of Terms

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Abdominal: Relating to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of ...

Abdominal pain: Pain in the belly. Abdominal pain can be acute or chronic. It may reflect ...

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

Abstinence: The voluntary self-denial of food, drink, or sex. Today, abstinence most commo...

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

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

Alcoholics Anonymous: A free self-help organization founded to assist people addicted to a...

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

Anemia: The condition of having a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells or quantity ...

Antidepressants: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

Anxiety: A feeling of apprehension and fear, characterized by physical symptoms such as pa...

Atrophy: A wasting away or diminution. Muscle atrophy is a decrease in muscle mass, often ...

Benzodiazepines: A class of drugs that act as tranquilizers and are commonly used in the t...

Binge drinking: The dangerous practice of consuming large quantities of alcoholic beverag...

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

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 ...

Calcium: A mineral found mainly in the hard part of bones, where it is stored. Calcium is ...

Carbohydrate: One of the three nutrient compounds, along with fat and protein, used as ene...

Carbohydrates: Mainly sugars and starches, together constituting one of the three principa...

Cardiomyopathy: Disease of the heart muscle (myocardium).

Cell: The basic structural and functional unit of any living thing. Each cell is a small c...

Cerebellar: Pertaining to the cerebellum, the part of the brain in the back of the head be...

Child abuse: A complex set of behaviors that include child neglect and the physical, emoti...

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

Chronic disease: A disease that persists for a long time. A chronic disease is one lasting...

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...

Congestive heart failure: Inability of the heart to keep up with the demands on it, with f...

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...

Dementia: Significant loss of intellectual abilities, such as memory capacity, that is sev...

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 ...

Dopamine: An important neurotransmitter (messenger) in the brain.

Electrolyte: A substance that dissociates into ions in solution and acquires the capacity ...

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

Encephalopathy: Disease, damage, or malfunction of the brain. In general, encephalopathy i...

Essential: In medicine, of unknown cause, as in essential hypertension (high blood pressur...

Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including inform...

Folate: Folic acid, one of the B vitamins that is a key factor in the synthesis (the makin...

Formication: The illusion or hallucination that ants or other insects are creeping on or u...

Gastritis: Inflammation of the stomach.

Gastrointestinal: Adjective referring collectively to the stomach and small and large inte...

Gene: The basic biological unit of heredity. A segment of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) need...

Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic
information.

Hallucination: A profound distortion in a person's perception of reality, typically accomp...

Hangover: A common nonmedical term for the disagreeable physical effects following excessi...

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Heart disease: Any disorder that affects the heart. Sometimes the term "heart disease" is ...

Heart failure: Inability of the heart to keep up with the demands on it and, specifically...

Heart rate: The number of heartbeats per unit of time, usually per minute. The heart rate ...

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

High blood pressure: A repeatedly elevated blood pressure exceeding 140 over 90 mmHg. Chro...

Hygiene: The science of preventive medicine and the preservation of health. Also commonly ...

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

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

Inpatient: A patient whose care requires a stay in a hospital. As opposed to an outpatient...

Insomnia: The perception or complaint of inadequate or poor-quality sleep due to a number ...

Intervention: The act of intervening, interfering or interceding with the intent of modify...

Ketoacidosis: A feature of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus characterized by a combination o...

Ketone: A chemical substances that the body makes when it does not have enough insulin in ...

Ketone bodies: Chemicals that the body makes when there is not enough insulin in the blood...

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

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

Magnesium: A mineral involved in many processes in the body including nerve signaling, the...

Malnutrition: A term used to refer to any condition in which the body does not receive eno...

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

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

Narcotic: 1. A drug that causes insensibility or stupor. A narcotic induces narcosi...

Nausea: Stomach queasiness, the urge to vomit. Nausea can be brought on by many causes, in...

Neck: The part of the body joining the head to the shoulders. Also, any narrow or constric...

Neuritis: Inflammation of nerves. There are many causes of neuritis, including various vir...

Neuropathy: Any disease or malfunction of the nerves.

Onset: In medicine, the first appearance of the signs or symptoms of an illness as, for ex...

Optic: Having to do with vision.

Outpatient: A patient who is not hospitalized, but instead comes to a physician?s office, ...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Pancreatitis: Inflammation of the pancreas. Of the many causes of pancreatitis, the most c...

Paralysis: Loss of voluntary movement (motor function). Paralysis that affects only one mu...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Placebo: A "sugar pill" or any dummy medication or treatment.

Potassium: The major positive ion (cation) found inside cells. The chemical notation for p...

Prognosis: The forecast of the probable outcome or course of a disease; the patient's chan...

Protein: One of the three nutrients used as energy sources (calories) by the body. Protein...

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

Psychiatry: The medical specialty that is concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and tr...

Psychosis: In the general sense, a mental illness that markedly interferes with a person'...

Pulse: The rhythmic dilation of an artery that results from beating of the heart. Pulse is...

Receptor: 1. In cell biology, a structure on the surface of a cell (or inside a cel...

Recurrent: Appearing or occurring again. For example, a recurrent fever is a fever that ha...

Rehab: An abbreviation for rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation: The process of helping a person who has suffered an illness or injury rest...

Relapse: The return of signs and symptoms of a disease after a remission.

Reuptake: The reabsorption of a secreted substance by the cell that originally produced an...

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

Serotonin: A neurotransmitter that is involved in the transmission of nerve impulses. Sero...

Sleep: The body's rest cycle.

Stage: As regards cancer, the extent of a cancer, especially whether the disease has spre...

Stress: In a medical or biological context stress is a physical, mental, or emotional fact...

Substance: 1. Material with particular features.
2. The material that...

Succumb: To lose the will to oppose something or to give up and accept something that you ...

Suicidal: Pertaining to suicide. the taking of ones own life. As in a suicidal gesture, su...

Sweating: The act of secreting fluid from the skin by the sweat (sudoriferous) glands. The...

Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. In contrast, a sign is objective. Blood comin...

Syndrome: A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.

TACE: Transarterial chemoembolization, a procedure in which the blood supply to a tumor is...

Tactile: Having to do with touch. For example, tactile signs of disease are signs that are...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Thiamine: Vitamin B1. Thiamine (vitamin B1) acts as a coenzyme in the metabolism of the bo...

Toxicology: The study of the nature, effects, and detection of poisons (toxins) and the tr...

Tremor: An abnormal, repetitive shaking movement of the body. Tremors have many causes and...

Vertebra: A vertebra is one of 33 bony segments that form the spinal column of humans. Th...

Vitamin B1: Thiamine. Vitamin B1 (thiamine) acts as a coenzyme in the metabolism of the bo...

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

Weight loss: Weight loss is a decrease in body weight resulting from either voluntary (die...

Withdrawal symptoms: Abnormal physical or psychological features that follow the abrupt di...