Diet and Nutrition in Crohn's Disease Glossary of Terms

1. Irritable Bowel Disease Slideshow
2. Digestive Disease Myths Slideshow Pictures
3. Take the Tummy Trouble Quiz

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 ...

Absorb: 1. To take something in, as through the skin or the intestine.
2....

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

Anatomy: The study of human or animal form, by observation or examination of the living be...

Autoimmune: Pertaining to autoimmunity, a misdirected immune response that occurs when the...

Autoimmune disease: An illness that occurs when the body tissues are attacked by its own i...

Autoimmunity: A misdirected immune response that occurs when the immune system goes awry a...

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

Bowel: The small and large intestine.

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

Calorie: A unit of food energy. The word calorie is ordinarily used instead of the more pr...

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...

Colectomy: An operation to remove all or part of the colon (large intestine). In a partial...

Colitis: Inflammation of the large intestine (the colon). There are many forms of coliti...

Colon: The long, coiled, tubelike organ that removes water from digested food. The remaini...

Colonoscopy: A procedure whereby a physician inserts a viewing tube (colonoscope) into the...

Colostomy: An artificial exit from the colon created to divert waste through a hole in the...

Crohn's disease: A chronic inflammatory disease, primarily involving the small and large ...

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

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

Diarrhea: A common condition that involves unusually frequent and liquid bowel movements. ...

Digestive system: The system of organs responsible for getting food into and out of the bo...

Endoscopy: Examination of the inside of the body by using a lighted, flexible instrument c...

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

Fats: Plural of the word "fat". See the definition of fat.

Feces: The excrement discharged from the 'intestines.

Flare: 1. an exacerbation of a chronic disease. Sometimes referred to as a flare-up, a fla...

Gastroenteritis: Inflammation of the stomach and the intestines. Gastroenteritis can cause...

Gastroenterology: The medical specialty devoted to the study, diagnosis and treatment of d...

Granulomatous colitis: Crohn's disease of the colon (the large intestine).

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 ...

Hepatology: The field of liver disease. The liver is the body's largest organ and hepatolo...

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

Hormone: A chemical substance produced in the body that controls and regulates the activit...

Ileostomy: An opening into the ileum, part of the small intestine, from the outside of the...

Immune: Protected against infection, usually by the presence of antibodies.

Immune system: A complex system that is responsible for distinguishing a person from every...

Inflammation: A localized reaction that produces redness, warmth, swelling, and pain as a ...

Inflammatory bowel disease: A group of chronic intestinal diseases characterized by infla...

Internal medicine: The medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and medical treatment ...

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

Intravenous feeding: Feeding through a vein. Also called parenteral alimentation or parent...

Iron: An essential mineral. Iron is necessary for the transport of oxygen (via hemoglobin ...

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

Large intestine: Comes after the small intestine. Large because it is wider than the smal...

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

Malabsorption: Poor intestinal absorption of nutrients. Malabsorption can occur from disea...

Nasogastric: Referring to the passage from the nose to the stomach. Abbreviated NG.

Nasogastric tube: A tube that is passed through the nose and down through the nasopharynx ...

NG tube: See: Nasogastric tube.

Nutrition: 1) The science or practice of taking in and utilizing foods. 2) A nourishing ...

Ostomy: An operation to create an opening from an area inside the body to the outside.

PA-C: Physician Assistant - Certified.

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

Parenteral: Not delivered via the intestinal tract. For example, parenteral nutrition is f...

Parenteral nutrition: Intravenous feeding. Also known as parenteral alimentation.

Pediatric: Pertaining to children.

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

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

Proteins: Large molecules composed of one or more chains of amino acids in a specific orde...

Puberty: Adolescence, the period in which the human body first becomes capable of reproduc...

Regional enteritis: Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestine prima...

Sleep: The body's rest cycle.

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

Stoma: An opening into the body from the outside that is created by a surgeon.

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

Stool: The solid matter that is discharged in a bowel movement.

Strain: 1. An injury to a tendon or muscle resulting from overuse or trauma. 2. A heredita...

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

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

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

Taste: A perception that results from stimulation of a gustatory nerve. Taste belongs to t...

Terminal ileitis: Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestine involvi...

Tired: A feeling of a lessened capacity for work and reduced efficiency of accomplishment,...

Total parenteral nutrition: Intravenous feeding that provides patients with all the fluid ...

Ulcer: A lesion that is eroding away the skin or mucous membrane. Ulcers can have various ...

Ulcerative colitis: A bowel disease that is characterized by inflammation with ulcer forma...

Vein: A blood vessel that carries blood that is low in oxygen content from the body back t...

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

Yogurt: A common dish made of milk curdled and fermented with a culture of Lactobacillus (...