Gallstones Glossary of Terms

Abdomen: The belly, that part of the body that contains all of the structures between the chest and the pelvis. The abdomen is separated anatomically from the chest by the diaphragm, the powerful muscle spanning the body cavity below the lungs.
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Abdominal: Relating to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of the structures between the chest and the pelvis. The abdomen is separated anatomically from the chest by the diaphragm, the powerful muscle spanning the body cavity below the lungs.
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Abdominal pain: Pain in the belly (the abdomen). Abdominal pain can come from conditions affecting a variety of organs. The abdomen is an anatomical area that is bounded by the lower margin of the ribs above, the pelvic bone (pubic ramus) below, and the flanks on each side. Although abdominal pain can arise from the tissues of the abdominal wall that surround the abdominal cavity (the skin and abdominal wall muscles), the term abdominal pain generally is used to describe pain originating from organs within the abdominal cavity (from beneath the skin and muscles). These organs include the stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.
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Acetaminophen: A pain reliever and fever reducer. Brand name: Tylenol. The exact mechanism of action of acetaminophen is not known. Acetaminophen relieves pain by elevating the pain threshold (that is, by requiring a greater amount of pain to develop before it is felt by a person). Acetaminophen reduces fever through its action on the heat-regulating center (the "thermostat") of the brain. Generic is available.

Analysis: A psychology term for processes used to gain understanding of complex emotional or behavioral issues.

Anesthesia: Loss of feeling or awareness. A general anesthetic puts the person to sleep. A local anesthetic causes loss of feeling in a part of the body such as a tooth or an area of skin without affecting consciousness. Regional anesthesia numbs a larger part of the body such as a leg or arm, also without affecting consciousness. The term "conduction anesthesia" encompasses both local and regional anesthetic techniques. Many surgical procedures can be done with conduction anesthesia without significant pain. In many situations, such as a C-section, conduction anesthesia is safer and therefore preferable to general anesthesia. However, there are also many types of surgery in which general anesthesia is clearly appropriate.

Angina: Chest pain due to an inadequate supply of oxygen to the heart muscle. The chest pain of angina is typically severe and crushing. There is a feeling just behind the breastbone (the sternum) of pressure and suffocation.
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Asymptomatic: Without symptoms. For example, an asymptomatic infection is an infection with no symptoms.

Atherosclerosis: A process of progressive thickening and hardening of the walls of medium-sized and large arteries as a result of fat deposits on their inner lining.
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Belching: A normal process to relieve distention from the air that accumulates in the stomach. The upper abdominal discomfort associated with excessive swallowed air may extend into the lower chest, producing symptoms suggesting heart or lung disease.

Bile: Bile is a yellow-green fluid that is made by the liver, stored in the gallbladder and passes through the common bile duct into the duodenum where it helps digest fat. The principal components of bile are cholesterol, bile salts, and the pigment bilirubin.
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Biliary: Having to do with the gallbladder, bile ducts, or bile. The biliary system itself consists of the gallbladder and bile ducts and, of course, the bile.
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Bilirubin: A yellow-orange compound produced by the breakdown of hemoglobin from red blood cells.

Birth control: Birth control is the use of any practices, methods, or devices to prevent pregnancy from occurring in a sexually active woman. Also referred to as family planning, pregnancy prevention, fertility control, or contraception; birth control methods are designed either to prevent fertilization of an egg or implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus.
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Bladder: Any pouch or other flexible enclosure that can hold liquids or gases but usually refers to the hollow organ in the lower abdomen that stores urine -- the urinary bladder. The kidneys filter waste from the blood and produce urine, which enters the bladder through two tubes called ureters. Urine leaves the bladder through another tube, the urethra. In women, the urethra is a short tube that opens just in front of the vagina. In men, it is longer, passing through the prostate gland and then the penis. Infection of the bladder is called cystitis.

Chest: The area of the body located between the neck and the abdomen. The chest contains the lungs, the heart and part of the aorta. The walls of the chest are supported by the dorsal vertebrae, the ribs, and the sternum.
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Chest pain: There are many causes of chest pain. One is angina which results from inadequate oxygen supply to the heart muscle. Angina can be caused by coronary artery disease or spasm of the coronary arteries. Chest pain can also be due to a heart attack (coronary occlusion) and other important diseases such as, for example, dissection of the aorta and a pulmonary embolism. Do not try to ignore chest pain and "work (or play) though it." Chest pain is a warning to seek medical attention.

Chest X-ray: Commonly used to detect abnormalities in the lungs, but can also detect abnormalities in the heart, aorta, and the bones of the thoracic area. Metallic objects, such as jewelry are removed from the chest and neck areas for a chest x-ray to avoid interference with x-ray penetration and improve accuracy of the interpretation.

Chills: feelings of coldness accompanied by shivering. Chills may develop after exposure to a cold environment or may accompany a fever.

Cholecystectomy: Surgical removal of the gallbladder. This procedure may be done by laparoscopy or by open surgery. See: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy; Open cholecystectomy.

Cholecystitis: Inflammation of the gallbladder, a complication of gallstones which are formed by cholesterol and pigment (bilirubin) in bile. (Bile is produced in the liver and stored in the gallbladder). Cholecystitis is frequently associated with infection in the gallbladder. Risk factors for cholesterol gallstones include age, obesity, female gender, multiple pregnancies, birth control pills, and heredity. The most common symptom is pain in the upper abdomen. Diagnosis is usually made with ultrasound of the abdomen. Some patients have no symptoms. Patients with mild and infrequent symptoms may consider oral medication to dissolve gallstones. Surgery (standard or laparoscopic) is considered for patients with severe symptoms and for patient with cholecystitis.

Cholescintigraphy: A diagnostic test in which a two-dimensional picture of a radiation source in the biliary system is obtained by the use of radioisotopes. Cholescintigraphy is done by nuclear medicine physicians to examine the biliary system and diagnose obstruction of the bile ducts (for example, by a gallstone or a tumor), disease of the gallbladder, and bile leaks. For cholescintigraphy, a radioactive chemical is injected intravenously. The chemical is removed from the blood by the liver, and secreted into the bile that the liver makes. The chemical then goes everywhere that the bile goes-into the bile ducts, the gallbladder, and the intestine. By placing a radiation-sensitive camera over the patient's abdomen, a "picture" of the liver, bile ducts, and gallbladder may be obtained that corresponds to where the radioactive bile has migrated.

Cholesterol: The most common type of steroid in the body, cholesterol has gotten something of a bad name. However, cholesterol is a critically important molecule.
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Colic: An attack of crying and apparent abdominal pain in early infancy. This is a common condition, occurring in about 1 in every 10 babies. Colic is characterized by episodes of irritability, loud crying, and what appears to be abdominal pain with the legs drawn up and the abdomen feeling rigid.
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Common bile duct: The duct that carries bile from the gallbladder and liver into the duodenum (the upper part of the small intestine). The common bile duct is formed by the junction of the cystic duct that comes from the gallbladder and the common hepatic duct that comes from the liver.

Complication: In medicine, an additional problem that arises following a procedure, treatment or illness and is secondary to it. A complication complicates the situation.

Contraction: The tightening and shortening of a muscle.

CT scan: Computerized tomography scan. Pictures of structures within the body created by a computer that takes the data from multiple X-ray images and turns them into pictures on a screen. CT stands for computerized tomography.
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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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Diarrhea: A familiar phenomenon with unusually frequent or unusually liquid bowel movements, excessive watery evacuations of fecal material. The opposite of constipation. The word "diarrhea" with its odd spelling is a near steal from the Greek "diarrhoia" meaning "a flowing through." Plato and Aristotle may have had diarrhoia while today we have diarrhea. There are myriad infectious and noninfectious causes of diarrhea.
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Duct: A passage or a tube with well-defined walls suitable for the conveyance of air or liquids, as the bile duct and the pancreatic duct.
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Emergency department: The department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medical and surgical care to patients arriving at the hospital in need of immediate care. Emergency department personnel may also respond to certain situations within the hospital such cardiac arrests.
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Endoscope: A lighted optical instrument used to get a deep look inside the body and examine organs such as the throat or esophagus. An endoscope can be rigid or flexible.
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Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography: Abbreviated ERCP. A procedure done to diagnose and treat problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas, including gallstones, inflammatory strictures (scars), leaks (from trauma and surgery), and cancer. ERCP combines the use of x-rays and an endoscope (a long, flexible, lighted tube). Through it, the physician can see the inside of the stomach and duodenum and inject dye into the bile ducts and pancreas so they can be seen on x-ray. ERCP takes 30 minutes to 2 hours. Possible complications of ERCP include pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), infection, bleeding, and perforation of the duodenum.
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Enzymes: Proteins that act as a catalysts in mediating and speeding a specific chemical reaction.
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ERCP: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

ESWL: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.

Extracorporeal: Outside the body, in the anatomic sense. As in extracorporeal circulation, extracorporeal dialysis, and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. From extra- + corpus, meaning body.

Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy: See: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.

Fasting: going without food or drink. Patients may be advised to fast for a certain period of time prior to surgery, medical procedures, or certain blood tests.

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

Fetus: The unborn offspring from the end of the 8^th week after conception (when the major structures have formed) until birth. Up until the eighth week, the developing offspring is called an embryo.

Fever: Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degrees F. (37 degrees C.), in practice a person is usually not considered to have a significant fever until the temperature is above 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C.).
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Gallbladder: A pear-shaped organ just below the liver that stores the bile secreted by the liver. During a fatty meal, the gallbladder contracts, delivering the bile through the bile ducts into the intestines to help with digestion. Abnormal composition of bile leads to formation of gallstones, a process termed cholelithiasis. The gallstones cause cholecystitis, inflammation of the gallbladder.

Gallstones: Stones that form when substances in the bile harden. Gallstones can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. There can be just one large stone, hundreds of tiny stones, or any combination.
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HDL: High density lipoprotein.
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Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. It is positioned in the chest behind the sternum (breastbone; in front of the trachea, esophagus, and aorta; and above the diaphragm muscle that separates the chest and abdominal cavities. The normal heart is about the size of a closed fist, and weighs about 10.5 ounces. It is cone-shaped, with the point of the cone pointing down to the left. Two-thirds of the heart lies in the left side of the chest with the balance in the right chest.
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Heart attack: The death of heart muscle due to the loss of blood supply. The loss of blood supply is usually caused by a complete blockage of a coronary artery, one of the arteries that supplies blood to the heart muscle. Death of the heart muscle, in turn, causes chest pain and electrical instability of the heart muscle tissue.
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Heart disease: Any disorder that affects the heart. Sometimes the term "heart disease" is used narrowly and incorrectly as a synonym for coronary artery disease. Heart disease is synonymous with cardiac disease but not with cardiovascular disease which is any disease of the heart or blood vessels. Among the many types of heart disease, see, for example: Angina; Arrhythmia; Congenital heart disease; Coronary artery disease (CAD); Dilated cardiomyopathy; Heart attack (myocardial infarction); Heart failure; Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; Mitral regurgitation; Mitral valve prolapse; and Pulmonary stenosis.

Hormone: A chemical substance produced in the body that controls and regulates the activity of certain cells or organs.
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Hypercholesterolemia: High blood cholesterol. This can be sporadic (occurring with no family history) or familial. Hypercholesterolemia is one form of hyperlipidemia.
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Incision: A cut. When making an incision, a surgeon is making a cut.

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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Intestine: The long, tubelike organ in the abdomen that completes the process of digestion. It consists of the small and large intestines.

Jaundice: Yellow staining of the skin and sclerae (the whites of the eyes) by abnormally high blood levels of the bile pigment bilirubin. The yellowing extends to other tissues and body fluids. Jaundice was once called the "morbus regius" (the regal disease) in the belief that only the touch of a king could cure it.
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Kidney: One of a pair of organs located in the right and left side of the abdomen which clear "poisons" from the blood, regulate acid concentration and maintain water balance in the body by excreting urine. The kidneys are part of the urinary tract. The urine then passes through connecting tubes called "ureters" into the bladder. The bladder stores the urine until it is released during urination.

Laparoscopic: 1. Pertaining to the procedure of laparoscopy.
2. Pertaining to a laparoscope, the instrument by which laparoscopy is done.
3. Performed by laparoscopy.
4. Performed with a laparoscope.
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Laparoscopic cholecystectomy: Removal of the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) by laparoscopy.
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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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Lipid profile: Pattern of lipids in the blood. (A lipid profile usually includes the total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, and the calculated low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

Lipoprotein: A complex of lipid and protein, the way lipids travel in the blood.
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Lipoproteins: Complexes of lipid and protein, the way lipids travel in the blood.
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Lithotripsy: A procedure to break a stone into small particles that can be passed in the urine.

Liver: An organ in the upper abdomen that aids in digestion and removes waste products and worn-out cells from the blood. The liver is the largest solid organ in the body. The liver weighs about three and a half pounds (1.6 kilograms). It measures about 8 inches (20 cm) horizontally (across) and 6.5 inches (17 cm) vertically (down) and is 4.5 inches (12 cm) thick.

Liver disease: Liver disease refers to any disorder of the liver. The liver is a large organ in the upper right abdomen that aids in digestion and removes waste products from the blood.
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Marker: A piece of DNA that lies on a chromosome so close to a gene that the marker and the gene are inherited together. A marker is thus an identifiable heritable spot on a chromosome. A marker can be an expressed region of DNA (a gene) or a segment of DNA with no known coding function. All that matters is that the marker can be detected and trailed.
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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.

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. There are three types of muscle in the body. Muscle which is responsible for moving extremities and external areas of the body is called "skeletal muscle." Heart muscle is called "cardiac muscle." Muscle that is in the walls of arteries and bowel is called "smooth muscle."

Nausea: Nausea, is the urge to vomit. It can be brought by many causes including, systemic illnesses, such as influenza, medications, pain, and inner ear disease. When nausea and/or vomiting are persistent, or when they are accompanied by other severe symptoms such as abdominal pain, jaundice, fever, or bleeding, a physician should be consulted.

Obesity: The state of being well above one's normal weight.
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Operating room: A facility equipped for performing surgery. Abbreviated OR.

Operation: Although there are many meanings to the word "operation", in medicine it refers to a surgical procedure.
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Oral cholecystogram: Abbreviated OCG. An x-ray procedure for diagnosing gallstones. The patient takes iodine-containing tablets by mouth for one night or two nights in a row. The iodine is absorbed from the intestine into the bloodstream, removed from the blood by the liver, and excreted by the liver into the bile. The iodine, together with the bile, is highly concentrated in the gallbladder. Iodine is used in an OCG because it is dense and radioopaque (stops x-rays). It outlines the gallstones that are radiolucent (x-rays pass through them) and that are usually invisible on x-ray. The failure to visualize the gallbladder on an OCG is evidence for a diseased gallbladder. The OCG is an excellent procedure for diagnosing gallstones when they are strongly suspected but cannot be seen by ultrasound.

Organ: A relatively independent part of the body that carries out one or more special functions. The organs of the human body include the eye, ear, heart, lungs, and liver.

Overweight: The term "overweight" is used in two different ways. In one sense it is a way of saying imprecisely that someone is heavy. The other sense of "overweight" is more precise and designates a state between normal weight and obesity.
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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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Pancreas: A fish-shaped spongy grayish-pink organ about 6 inches (15 cm) long that stretches across the back of the abdomen, behind the stomach. The head of the pancreas is on the right side of the abdomen and is connected to the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine). The narrow end of the pancreas, called the tail, extends to the left side of the body.

Pancreatitis: Inflammation of the pancreas. Of the many diverse causes of pancreatitis, the most common are alcohol and gallstones.

Pigment: A substance that gives color to tissue. Pigments are responsible for the color of skin, eyes, and hair.

Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs with consolidation. Pneumonia is frequently but not always due to infection. The infection may be bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic. Symptoms may include fever, chills, cough with sputum production, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

Polygenic: Pertaining to two or more genes. As opposed to monogenic.
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Pregnancy: The state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body. This condition can be indicated by positive results on an over-the-counter urine test, and confirmed through a blood test, ultrasound, detection of fetal heartbeat, or an X-ray. Pregnancy lasts for about nine months, measured from the date of the woman's last menstrual period (LMP). It is conventionally divided into three trimesters, each roughly three months long.
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Pregnant: The state of carrying a developing fetus within the body.
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Prognosis: 1. The expected course of a disease.
2. The patient's chance of recovery.
The prognosis predicts the outcome of a disease and therefore the future for the patient. His prognosis is grim, for example, while hers is good.
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Radiate: To spread out from a central area. For example, sciatic pain may radiate outward from the lower back.

Radiation: 1. Rays of energy. Gamma rays and X-rays are two of the types of energy waves often used in medicine. 2. The use of energy waves to diagnose or treat disease. See also: Irradiation.

Radioactive: Emitting energy waves due to decaying atomic nuclei. Radioactive substances are used in medicine as tracers for diagnosis, and in treatment to kill cancerous cells.

Residual: Something left behind. With residual disease, the disease has not been eradicated.

Rib: One of the 12 paired arches of bone which form the skeletal structure of the chest wall (the rib cage). The ribs attach to the building blocks of the spine (vertebrae) in the back. The 12 pairs of ribs consist of:

• True ribs: The first seven ribs attach to the sternum (the breast bone) in the front and are known as true ribs (or sternal ribs).
• False ribs: The lower five ribs do not directly connect to the sternum and are known as false ribs.

Rib cage: The structure formed by the thoracic vertebrae and ribs, the sternum (breastbone), and the costal cartilages (that attach the ribs to the sternum).
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Risk factor: Something that increases a person's chances of developing a disease.

Rule out: A term much used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from consideration. The ACB (albumin cobalt binding) test helps rule out a heart attack in the differential diagnosis of severe chest pain.

Saturated fat: A fat that is solid at room temperature and comes chiefly from animal food products. Some examples are butter, lard, meat fat, solid shortening, palm oil, and coconut oil. These fats tend to raise the level of cholesterol in the blood.

Scan: As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of the body by gathering information with a sensing device.
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Serum: The clear liquid that can be separated from clotted blood. Serum differs from plasma, the liquid portion of normal unclotted blood containing the red and white cells and platelets. It is the clot that makes the difference between serum and plasma.
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Shock: In medicine, shock is a critical condition brought on by a sudden drop in blood flow through the body. There is failure of the circulatory system to maintain adequate blood flow. This sharply curtails the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to vital organs. It also compromises the kidney and so curtails the removal of wastes from the body. Shock can be due to a number of different mechanisms including not enough blood volume (hypovolemic shock) and not enough output of blood by the heart (cardiogenic shock). The signs and symptoms of shock include low blood pressure (hypotension), overbreathing (hyperventilation), a weak rapid pulse, cold clammy grayish-bluish (cyanotic) skin, decreased urine flow (oliguria), and mental changes (a sense of great anxiety and foreboding, confusion and, sometimes, combativeness).
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Shoulder: A structure made up of two main bones: the scapula (shoulder blade) and the humerus (the long bone of the upper arm). The end of the scapula, called the glenoid, is a socket into which the head of the humerus fits, forming a flexible ball-and-socket joint. The scapula is an unusually shaped bone. It extends up and around the shoulder joint at the rear to create a roof called the acromion and around the shoulder joint at the front to constitute the coracoid process. The shoulder joint is cushioned by cartilage that covers the face of the glenoid socket and the head of the humerus. The joint is stabilized by a ring of fibrous cartilage around the glenoid socket that is called the labrum. Ligaments connect the bones of the shoulder and tendons join these bones to surrounding muscles. The biceps tendon attaches the biceps muscle to the shoulder and helps stabilize the joint. Four short muscles that originate on the scapula pass around the shoulder where their tendons fuse together to form the rotator cuff.

Sleep: The body's rest cycle.
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Small intestine: The part of the digestive tract that extends from the stomach to the large intestine.

Statins: A class of drugs that lower cholesterol.
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Stomach: 1. The sac-shaped digestive organ that is located in the upper abdomen, under the ribs. The upper part of the stomach connects to the esophagus, and the lower part leads into the small intestine.
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Surgeon: A physician who treats disease, injury, or deformity by operative or manual methods. A medical doctor specialized in the removal of organs, masses and tumors and in doing other procedures using a knife (scalpel). The definition of a "surgeon" has begun to blur in recent years as surgeons have begun to minimize the cutting, employ new technologies that are "minimally invasive," use scopes, etc.
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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.

Symptomatic: 1 With symptoms, as a symptomatic infection. 2 Characteristic, as behavior symptomatic of Huntington disease. 3 Directed at the symptoms, as symptomatic treatment.

Therapy: The treatment of disease.
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Triglycerides: The major form of fat stored by the body. A triglyceride consists of three molecules of fatty acid combined with a molecule of the alcohol glycerol. Triglycerides serve as the backbone of many types of lipids (fats). Triglycerides come from the food we eat as well as from being produced by the body.
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Tylenol: See: Acetaminophen.

Ultrasound: High-frequency sound waves. Ultrasound waves can be bounced off of tissues using special devices. The echoes are then converted into a picture called a sonogram. Ultrasound imaging, referred to as ultrasonography, allows physicians and patients to get an inside view of soft tissues and body cavities, without using invasive techniques. Ultrasound is often used to examine a fetus during pregnancy. There is no convincing evidence for any danger from ultrasound during pregnancy.

Urine: Liquid waste. The urine is a clear, transparent fluid. It normally has an amber color. The average amount of urine excreted in 24 hours is from 40 to 60 ounces (about 1,200 cubic centimeters). Chemically, the urine is mainly an aqueous (watery) solution of salt (sodium chloride) and substances called urea and uric acid. Normally, it contains about 960 parts of water to 40 parts of solid matter. Abnormally, it may contain sugar (in diabetes), albumen (a protein) (as in some forms of kidney disease), bile pigments (as in jaundice), or abnormal quantities of one or another of its normal components.

X-ray: 1. High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light. X-rays possess the properties of penetrating most substances (to varying extents), of acting on a photographic film or plate (permitting radiography), and of causing a fluorescent screen to give off light (permitting fluoroscopy). In low doses X-rays are used for making images that help to diagnose disease, and in high doses to treat cancer. Formerly called a Roentgen ray. 2. An image obtained by means of X-rays.