Dry Eye Syndrome Glossary of Medical Terms

20/20: See; Twenty-twenty .
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Abnormal: Not normal. Deviating from the usual structure, position, condition, or behavior. In referring to a growth, abnormal may mean that it is cancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer ).
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Abrasion: An abrasion or "excoriation" is a wearing away of the upper layer of skin as a result of applied friction force. In dentistry an "abrasion" is the wearing away of the tooth substance.
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Accessory: Additional, extra, supplementary, subsidiary to the main thing. An accessory digestive organ is an organ that helps with digestion but is not part of the digestive tract. The accessory nerve is so-called because it receives an additional (accessory) root from the upper part of the spinal cord. An accessory placenta is an extra placenta separate from the main placenta.
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Antibiotic: A drug used to treat infections caused by bacteria and other microorganisms. Originally, an antibiotic was a substance produced by one microorganism that selectively inhibits the growth of another. Synthetic antibiotics, usually chemically related to natural antibiotics, have since been produced that accomplish comparable tasks.
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Antihistamines: Drugs that combat the histamine released during an allergic reaction by blocking the action of the histamine on the tissue. Antihistamines do not stop the formation of histamine nor do they stop the conflict between the IgE and antigen. Therefore, antihistamines do not stop the allergic reaction but protect tissues from some of its effects. Antihistamines frequently cause mouth dryness and sleepiness. Newer "non sedating" antihistamines are generally thought to be somewhat less effective. Antihistamine side effects that very occasionally occur include urine retention in males and fast heart rate.
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Arthritis: Inflammation of a joint. When joints are inflamed they can develop stiffness, warmth, swelling, redness and pain. There are over 100 types of arthritis . (see osteoarthritis , rheumatoid arthritis , ankylosing spondylitis , psoriatic arthritis , lupus , gout , pseudogout ).
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Autoimmune: Pertaining to autoimmunity, a misdirected immune response that occurs when the immune system goes awry and attacks the body itself.
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Bacteria: Single-celled microorganisms which can exist either as independent (free-living) organisms or as parasites (dependent upon another organism for life).
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Bell's palsy: Paralysis of the facial nerve, the nerve that supplies the facial muscles on one side of the face. Bell's palsy is also called facial nerve paralysis.
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Biopsy: The removal of a sample of tissue for purposes of diagnosis. (Many definitions of "biopsy" stipulate that the sample of tissue is removed for examination under a microscope. This may or may not be the case. The diagnosis may be achieved by other means such as by analysis of chromosomes or genes.)
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Blepharitis: Inflammation of the eyelids.
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Blood: The familiar red fluid in the body that contains white and red blood cells , platelets , proteins , and other elements. The blood is transported throughout the body by the circulatory system . Blood functions in two directions: arterial and venous. Arterial blood is the means by which oxygen and nutrients are transported to tissues while venous blood is the means by which carbon dioxide and metabolic by-products are transported to the lungs and kidneys, respectively, for removal from the body.
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Blurred vision: Lack of sharpness of vision with, as a result, the inability to see fine detail. Blurred vision can occur when a person who wears corrective lens is without them. Blurred vision can also be an important clue to eye disease.
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Conditioning: 1) Exercise and practice to build the body up for either improved normal performance, as in physical therapy, or in preparation for sports performance. 2) A method of educating involving repetitive activities to influence behavior.
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Conjunctiva: A thin clear moist membrane that coats the inner surfaces of the eyelids and the outer surface of the eye.
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Cornea: The clear front window of the eye that transmits and focuses light into the eye.
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Corneal: Pertaining to the cornea , the clear front window of the eye that transmits and focuses light into the eye.
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Corneal abrasion: A scratch or scrape on the cornea , the clear front window of the eye that transmits and focuses light into the eye.
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Corticosteroid: Any of the steroid hormones made by the cortex (outer layer) of the adrenal gland. Cortisol is a corticosteroid.
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Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. Cures are easy to claim and, all too often, difficult to confirm.
2. A time without recurrence of a disease so that the risk of recurrence is small, as in the 5-year cure rate for malignant melanoma .
3. Particularly in the past, a course of treatment. For example, take a cure at a spa.
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Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease ; the identification of an illness. 2 A conclusion or decision reached by diagnosis. The diagnosis is rabies . 3 The identification of any problem. The diagnosis was a plugged IV.
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Doxycycline : Brand name: Vibramycin. A synthetic broad-spectrum antibiotic derived from tetracycline . Doxycycline is used for many different types of infections, including respiratory tract infections due to Hemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, or Mycoplasma pneumoniae. It is also used for the treatment of nongonococcal urethritis (due to Ureaplasma), Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typhus, chancroid, cholera , brucellosis, syphilis, and acne .
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Drain: A device for removing fluid from a cavity or wound. A drain is typically a tube or wick. As a verb, to allow fluid to be released from a confined area.
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Dry eye: A deficiency of tears. The main symptom is usually a scratchy or sandy feeling as if something is in the eye. Other symptoms may include stinging or burning of the eye; episodes of excess tearing that follow periods of very dry sensation; a stringy discharge from the eye; and pain and redness of the eye. Sometimes people with dry eye experience heaviness of the eyelids or blurred, changing, or decreased vision, although loss of vision is uncommon.
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Dysfunction: Difficult function or abnormal function.
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Ear: The hearing organ. There are three sections of the ear, according to the anatomy textbooks. They are the outer ear (the part we see along the sides of our head behind the temples), the middle ear, and the inner ear. But in terms of function, the ear has four parts: those three and the brain. Hearing thus involves all parts of the ear as well as the auditory cortex of the brain. The external ear helps concentrate the vibrations of air on the ear drum and make it vibrate. These vibrations are transmitted by a chain of little bones in the middle ear to the inner ear. There they stimulate the fibers of the auditory nerve to transmit impulses to the brain.
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Epithelial: Relating to the epithelium, the outside layer of cells that covers all the free, open surfaces of the body including the skin, and mucous membranes that communicate with the outside of the body.
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Erythromycin: Erythromycin is a common antibiotic for treating bacterial infection. Sold under many brand names, including EES, Erycin and Erythromia.
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Eyelid: The lid or cover of the eye, a movable fold of skin and muscle that can be closed over the eyeball or opened at will. Each eye has an upper and a lower lid. An eyelid is also called a palpebra.
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Fats: Plural of the word "fat". See the definition of fat .
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FDA: The Food and Drug Administration, an agency within the U.S. Public Health Service, which is a part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
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Film: Slang shortening of X-ray film, an X-ray, a radiograph.
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Flush: (1) A redness of the skin, typically over the cheeks or neck. A flush is usually temporary and brought on by excitement, exercise, fever , or embarrassment. Flushing is an involuntary (uncontrollable) response of the nervous system leading to widening of the capillaries of the involved skin. Also referred to as a blush (or, as a verb, to blush). Flushing may also be caused by medications or other substances that cause widening of the capillaries, such as niacin. (2) Flush also means to wash out a wound or body area.
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Gland: 1. A group of cells that secrete a substance for use in the body. For example, the thyroid gland. 2. A group of cells that removes materials from the circulation. For example, a lymph gland.
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Humidifier: Anything, usually a machine today, that adds moisture to the air.
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Immunology: The study of all aspects of the immune system including its structure and function, disorders of the immune system, blood banking, immunization and organ transplantation.
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Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease, appears in a particular population or area. In disease epidemiology, the incidence is the number of newly diagnosed cases during a specific time period. The incidence is distinct from the prevalence which refers to the number of cases alive on a certain date.
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Infection: The growth of a parasitic organism within the body. (A parasitic organism is one that lives on or in another organism and draws its nourishment therefrom.) A person with an infection has another organism (a "germ") growing within him, drawing its nourishment from the person.
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Inflammation: A basic way in which the body reacts to infection , irritation or other injury, the key feature being redness, warmth, swelling and pain . Inflammation is now recognized as a type of nonspecific immune response .
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Itching: An uncomfortable sensation in the skin that feels as if something is crawling on the skin or in the skin, and makes the person want to scratch the affected area.
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Keratoconjunctivitis: Inflammation of the eye involving both the cornea and the conjunctiva .
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Lacrimal: Pertaining to tears, as in lacrimal gland (tear gland). From the Indo-European dakru meaning a tear (from a weeping eye) which gave rise to the Greek dakry and the Latin lacrima.
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Laser: A powerful beam of light that can produce intense heat when focused at close range. Lasers are used in medicine in microsurgery, cauterization, for diagnostic purposes, etc. For example, lasers are employed in microsurgery to cut tissue and remove tissue.
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Lateral: 1. In anatomy, the side of the body or a body part that is farther from the middle or center of the body. Typically, lateral refers to the outer side of the body part, but it is also used to refer to the side of a body part. For example, when referring to the knee, lateral refers to the side of the knee farthest from the opposite knee. The opposite of lateral is medial .
2. In radiology, slang for a lateral X-ray .
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Lens: The transparent structure inside the eye that focuses light rays onto the retina (the nerve layer that lines the back of the eye, senses light and creates impulses that go through the optic nerve to the brain). The lens was named after the lentil bean because it resembled it in shape and size.
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Lipid: Another word for "fat." (Please see the various meanings of Fat .) A lipid is more formally defined as a substance such as a fat, oil or wax that dissolves in alcohol but not in water. Lipids contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen but have far less oxygen proportionally than carbohydrates .
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Lipids: Another word for "fats." (Please see the various meanings of Fat .) Lipids can be more formally defined as substances such as a fat, oil or wax that dissolves in alcohol but not in water. Lipids contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen but have far less oxygen proportionally than carbohydrates .
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Lupus: A chronic inflammatory condition caused by an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease occurs when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system. Patients with lupus have unusual antibodies in their blood that are targeted against their own body tissues.
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Medical school: A school with a curriculum leading to a medical degree. The mission of every medical school includes medical teaching, research, and patient care. All medical schools share the goal of preparing students in the art and science of medicine, and providing them with the background necessary to enter the period of graduate medical education. The years of medical school preceding graduate medical education are typically divided into a preclinical phase and a clinical phase.
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Medication: 1. A drug or medicine. 2. The administration of a drug or medicine. (Note that "medication" does not have the dangerous double meaning of "drug.")
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Meibomian gland: One of the little glands in the eyelids that make a lubricant called sebum which they discharge through their tiny openings in the edges of the lids.
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Microscope: An optical instrument that augments the power of the eye to see small objects. The name microscope was coined by Johannes Faber (1574-1629) who in 1628 borrowed from the Greek to combined micro-, small with skopein, to view. Although the first microscopes were simple microscopes, most (if not all) optical microscopes today are compound microscopes.
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Mouth: 1. The upper opening of the digestive tract, beginning with the lips and containing the teeth, gums, and tongue. Foodstuffs are broken down mechanically in the mouth by chewing and saliva is added as a lubricant. Saliva contains amylase, an enzyme that digests starch. 2. Any opening or aperture in the body. The mouth in both senses of the word is also called the os, the Latin word for an opening, or mouth. The o in os is pronounced as in hope. The genitive form of os is oris from which comes the word oral.
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Mucus: A thick slippery fluid produced by the membranes lining certain organs such as the nose, mouth, throat, and vagina. Mucus is the Latin word for "a semifluid, slimy discharge from the nose." Note that mucus is a noun while the adjective is mucous.
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Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses chemical and electrical signals to transmit sensory and motor information from one body part to another. See: Nervous system .
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Nose: The external midline projection from the face.
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Occlusion: The act of occluding. See: Occlude .
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Ophthalmic: Pertaining to the eye. An ophthalmic ointment is designed for the eye.
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Ophthalmologist: An eye doctor. A physician practicing ophthalmology. An ophthalmologist is an M.D.
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Ophthalmology: The art and science of eye medicine.
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Osmolarity: The concentration of osmotically active particles in solution, which may be quantitatively expressed in osmoles of solute per liter of solution. See also: Plasma osmolarity .
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Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physical and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it can be more diffuse, as in disorders like fibromyalgia . Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors.
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Palsy: Paralysis, generally partial, whereby a local body area is incapable of voluntary movement (motor function). For example, Bell's palsy is localized paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face. The word "palsy" is a corruption (and contracture) of the French word "paralysie" which means "paralysis."
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Pharmacy: A location where prescription drugs are sold. A pharmacy is, by law, constantly supervised by a licensed pharmacist.
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Prescription: A physician's order for the preparation and administration of a drug or device for a patient. A prescription has several parts. They include the superscription or heading with the symbol "R" or "Rx", which stands for the word recipe (meaning, in Latin, to take); the inscription, which contains the names and quantities of the ingredients; the subscription or directions for compounding the drug; and the signature which is often preceded by the sign "s" standing for signa (Latin for mark), giving the directions to be marked on the container.
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Primary: First or foremost in time or development. The primary teeth (the baby teeth) are those that come first. Primary may also refer to symptoms or a disease to which others are secondary.
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Reflex: A reaction that is involuntary. The corneal reflex is the blink that occurs with irritation of the eye. The nasal reflex is a sneeze.
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Rest: 1. Repose. Relaxation.
2. A fragment of embryonic tissue that has been retained after the period of embryonic development. Also called an embryonic rest.
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Rheumatoid arthritis : An autoimmune disease which causes chronic inflammation of the joints, the tissue around the joints, as well as other organs in the body. Autoimmune diseases occur when the body tissues are mistakenly attacked by its own immune system. The immune system is a complex organization of cells and antibodies designed normally to "seek and destroy" invaders of the body, particularly infections. Patients with these diseases have antibodies in their blood which target their own body tissues, where they can be associated with inflammation. Because it can affect multiple other organs of the body, rheumatoid arthritis is referred to as a systemic illness and is sometimes called rheumatoid disease. While rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic illness (meaning it can last for years) patients may experience long periods without symptoms.
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Rosacea : A chronic skin disease that affects the middle third of the face with persistent redness over the areas of the face and nose that normally blush: mainly the forehead, the chin and the lower half of the nose. The tiny blood vessels in these areas enlarge (dilate) and become more visible through the skin, appearing like tiny red lines (called telangiectasias). Pimples can occur that look like teenage acne .
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Sensation: In medicine and physiology , sensation refers to the registration of an incoming ( afferent ) nerve impulse in that part of the brain called the sensorium , which is capable of such perception. Therefore, the awareness of a stimulus as a result of its perception by sensory receptors. (Sensory is here synonymous with sensation.)
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Sensitivity: 1. In psychology, the quality of being sensitive. As, for example, sensitivity training, training in small groups to develop a sensitive awareness and understanding of oneself and of ones relationships with others. 2. In disease epidemiology, the ability of a system to detect epidemics and other changes in disease occurrence. 3. In screening for a disease, the proportion of persons with the disease who are correctly identified by a screening test. 4. In the definition of a disease, the proportion of persons with the disease who are correctly identified by defined criteria.
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Skin: The skin is the body's outer covering. It protects us against heat and light, injury, and infection. It regulates body temperature and stores water, fat, and vitamin D. Weighing about 6 pounds, the skin is the body's largest organ. It is made up of two main layers; the outer epidermis and the inner dermis.

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Sleep : The body's rest cycle.
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Stevens-Johnson syndrome: A serious systemic (bodywide) allergic reaction with a characteristic rash involving the skin and mucous membranes, including the buccal mucosa (inside of the mouth). The disease is due to a hypersensitive (allergic) reaction to one of a number of immunologic stimuli including drugs and infectious agents. Abbreviated SJS.
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Stroke : The sudden death of some brain cells due to a lack of oxygen when the blood flow to the brain is impaired by blockage or rupture of an artery to the brain. A stroke is also called a cerebrovascular accident or, for short, a CVA.
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Superficial: In anatomy, on the surface or shallow. As opposed to deep. The skin is superficial to the muscles. The cornea is on the superficial surface of the eye.
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Surgery: The word "surgery" has multiple meanings. It is the branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions which require or are amenable to operative procedures. Surgery is the work done by a surgeon. By analogy, the work of an editor wielding his pen as a scalpel is s form of surgery. A surgery in England (and some other countries) is a physician's or dentist's office.
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Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. Anxiety, lower back pain , and fatigue are all symptoms. They are sensations only the patient can perceive. In contrast, a sign is objective evidence of disease. A bloody nose is a sign. It is evident to the patient, doctor, nurse and other observers.
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Syndrome: A set of signs and symptoms that tend to occur together and which reflect the presence of a particular disease or an increased chance of developing a particular disease.
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Tear: A drop of the salty secretion of the lacrimal glands which serves to moisten the conjunctiva and cornea .
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Tear film: The liquid layer bathing the cornea and conjunctiva . It creates a perfectly smooth liquid outer layer that polishes the corneal surface, mechanically traps and flushes out foreign bodies and chemicals, contains bacteriostatic substances that inhibit the growth of microorganisms, and reduces the surface friction associated with eyelid blinking and eye movement.
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Tetracycline: A family of broad-spectrum antibiotics effective against a remarkably wide variety of organisms. Bacteria susceptible to teracycline include H. flu (Hemophilus influenzae), strep (Streptococcus pneumoniae), Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydia psittaci, Chlamydia trachomatis , and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (the cause of gonorrhea ). Tetracycline is also used to treat nongonococcal urethritis (due to Ureaplasma), Rocky mountain spotted fever , typhus , chancroid , cholera , brucellosis , anthrax , and syphilis . It is used in combination with other medications to treat Helicobacter pylori , the bacteria associated with ulcers of the stomach and duodenum .
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Therapy: The treatment of disease .
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Throat: The throat is the anterior (front) portion of the neck beginning at the back of the mouth , consisting anatomically of the pharynx and larynx . The throat contains the trachea and a portion of the esophagus .
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Uveitis: Inflammation of the uvea, the part of the eye that collectively refers to the iris, the choroid of the eye, and the ciliary body. The uvea provides most of the blood supply to the retina. Uveitis as a rule signifies inflammation involving the iris, choroid, and ciliary body -- all three components of the uveal tract.
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