Narcotic Abuse Glossary of Medical Terms

These are medical definitions of medical terms from the MedTerms.com medical dictionary that appear in the Narcotic Abuse article.

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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Acute: Of abrupt onset, in reference to a disease. Acute often also connotes an illness that is of short duration, rapidly progressive, and in need of urgent care.
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Addiction: A chronic relapsing condition characterized by compulsive drug-seeking and abuse and by long-lasting chemical changes in the brain . Addiction is the same irrespective of whether the drug is alcohol , amphetamines, cocaine , heroin , marijuana , or nicotine . Every addictive substance induces pleasant states or relieves distress. Continued use of the addictive substance induces adaptive changes in the brain that lead to tolerance, physical dependence, uncontrollable craving and, all too often, relapse . Dependence is at such a point that stopping is very difficult and causes severe physical and mental reactions from withdrawal. The risk of addiction is in part inherited. Genetic factors, for example, account for about 40% of the risk of alcoholism . The genetic factors predisposing to addiction are not yet fully understood.
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Alcohol: An organic chemical in which one or more hydroxyl (OH) groups are attached to carbon (C) atoms in place of hydrogen (H) atoms. Common alcohols include ethyl alcohol or ethanol (found in alcoholic beverages), methyl alcohol or methanol (can cause blindness) and propyl alcohol or propanol (used as a solvent and antiseptic ). Rubbing alcohol is a mixture of acetone , methyl isobutyl ketone, and ethyl alcohol. In everyday talk, alcohol usually refers to ethanol as, for example, in wine, beer, and liquor. It can cause changes in behavior and be addictive.
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Analgesia: The inability to feel pain while still conscious. From the Greek an-, without + algesis, sense of pain.
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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.
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Antagonist: In biochemistry, an antagonist acts against and blocks an action. For example, insulin lowers the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood, whereas another hormone called glucagon raises it; therefore, insulin and glucagon are antagonists.
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Anxiety: A feeling of apprehension and fear characterized by physical symptoms such as palpitations , sweating, and feelings of stress . Anxiety disorders are serious medical illnesses that affect approximately 19 million American adults. These disorders fill people's lives with overwhelming anxiety and fear. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event such as a business presentation or a first date, anxiety disorders are chronic, relentless, and can grow progressively worse if not treated.
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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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Brain: That part of the central nervous system that is located within the cranium ( skull ). The brain functions as the primary receiver, organizer and distributor of information for the body. It has two (right and left) halves called "hemispheres."
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Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through the mouth or nose due to muscle contraction, and then exhaled due to muscle relaxation.
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Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, in some cases, to metastasize (spread).
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Chronic: This important term in medicine comes from the Greek chronos, time and means lasting a long time.
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Coma: A state of deep unarousable unconsciousness.
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Condition: The term "condition" has a number of biomedical meanings including the following:

An unhealthy state, such as in "this is a progressive condition."
A state of fitness, such as "getting into condition."
Something that is essential to the occurrence of something else; essentially a "precondition."
As a verb: to cause a change in something so that a response that was previously associated with a certain stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus; to condition a person, as in behavioral conditioning.

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Constipation: Infrequent (and frequently incomplete) bowel movements. The opposite of diarrhea , constipation is commonly caused by irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulosis , and medications (constipation can paradoxically be caused by overuse of laxatives). Colon cancer can narrow the colon and thereby cause constipation. The large bowel (colon) can be visualized by barium enema x-rays, sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy. Barring a condition such as cancer, high-fiber diets can frequently relieve the constipation.
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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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Depression : An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts, that affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be wished away. People with a depressive disease cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people with depression.
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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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Dysfunction: Difficult function or abnormal function.
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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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Euphoria: Elevated mood. Euphoria is a desirable and natural occurrence when it results from happy or exciting events. An excessive degree of euphoria that is not linked to events is characteristic of hypomania or mania, abnormal mood states associated with bipolar disorders.
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Gooseflesh: A temporary local change in the skin when it becomes rougher due to erection of little muscles, as from cold , fear, or excitement.
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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 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 .
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Heart valves: There are four heart valves. All are one-way valves. Blood entering the heart first passes through the tricuspid valve and then the pulmonary valve. After returning from the lungs, the blood passes through the mitral (bicuspid) valve and exits via the aortic valve.
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Heroin: Semisynthetic drug derived from morphine. Discovered in 1874, it was introduced commercially in 1898 by the Bayer company in Germany. The name heroin was coined from the German heroisch meaning heroic, strong. Heroin is stronger (more potent) than morphine.
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Hospital: It may seem unnecessary to define a "hospital" since everyone knows the nature of a hospital. A hospital began as a charitable institution for the needy, aged, infirm, or young.
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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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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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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.

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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.

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Lungs: The lungs are a pair of breathing organs located with the chest which remove carbon dioxide from and bring oxygen to the blood. There is a right and left lung.
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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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Menstrual: Pertaining to menstruation (the menses), as in last menstrual period , menstrual cramps , menstrual cycle , and premenstrual syndrome . From the Latin menstrualis, from mensis meaning month.
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Menstrual cycle: The monthly cycle of changes in the ovaries and the lining of the uterus (endometrium), starting with the preparation of an egg for fertilization. When the follicle of the prepared egg in the ovary breaks, it is released for fertilization and ovulation occurs. Unless pregnancy occurs, the cycle ends with the shedding of part of the endometrium, which is menstruation. Although it is actually the end of the physical cycle, the first day of menstrual bleeding is designated as "day 1" of the menstrual cycle in medical parlance.
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Methadone: A synthetic opiate . The most common medical use for methadone is as a legal substitute for heroin in treatment programs for drug addiction. It is usually administered to participating addicts daily in the form of a green, tasteless liquid at a drug treatment clinic. See also: Methadone treatment program .
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Morphine: A powerful narcotic agent with strong analgesic (painkilling) action and other significant effects on the central nervous system . It is dangerously addicting. Morphine is a naturally occurring member of a large chemical class of compounds called alkaloids.
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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."
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Naloxone: A drug that antagonizes morphine and other opiates. Naloxone is a pure opiate antagonist and prevents or reverses the effects of opioids including respiratory depression, sedation and hypotension . Sold under the brand name of Narcan and in combination with buprenorphine as Suboxone .
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Naltrexone: A derivative of naloxone used as an orally active and long-acting potent pure narcotic antagonist . Naltrexone is an alternative to methadone in the treatment of addiction to heroin and other opiates. See also: Naltrexone treatment program .
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Narcan: Brand name for naloxone .
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Narcotic: 1. A drug that causes insensibility or stupor. A narcotic induces narcosis, from the Greek "narke" for "numbness or torpor."
2. A drug such as marijuana which is subject to regulatory restrictions comparable to those for addictive narcotics.
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Nasal: Having to do with the nose. Nasal drops are intended for the nose, not (for example) the eyes. The word "nasal" came from the Latin "nasus" meaning the nose or snout.
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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.
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Neonatal: Pertaining to the newborn period which, by convention, is the first four weeks after birth.
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Neurological: Having to do with the nerves or the nervous system.
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Nose: The external midline projection from the face.
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Opioid: 1. A synthetic narcotic that resembles the naturally occurring opiates. 2. Any substance that binds to or otherwise affects the opiate receptors on the surface of the cell.
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Opium: An addictive narcotic drug derived from the unripe seedpods of the opium poppy. Preparations of opium were called laudanum. Derivatives of laudanum include paregoric (a drug to treat diarrhea ), morphine and heroin .
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Oxycodone: Oxycodone is the active ingredient in OxyContin. Oxycodone is an opioid, a close relative of morphine, heroin, codeine , fentanyl, and methadone.
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Oxygenation: The addition of oxygen to any system, including the human body. Oxygenation may also refer to the process of treating a patient with oxygen, or of combining a medication or other substance with oxygen.
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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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Pharmacy: A location where prescription drugs are sold. A pharmacy is, by law, constantly supervised by a licensed pharmacist.
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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.
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Pregnant: The state of carrying a developing fetus within the body.
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Respiratory: Having to do with respiration, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. From the Latin re- (again) + spirare (to breathe) = to breathe again.
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Respiratory rate: The number of breaths per minute or, more formally, the number of movements indicative of inspiration and expiration per unit time. In practice, the respiratory rate is usually determined by counting the number of times the chest rises or falls per minute. By whatever means, the aim is to determine if the respirations are normal, abnormally fast ( tachypnea ), abnormally slow (bradypnea), or nonexistent ( apnea ).
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Resuscitation: The procedure of restoring to life, as in cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( CPR ).
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Runny nose: Rhinorrhea is the medical term for this common problem. From the Greek words "rhinos" meaning "of the nose" and "rhoia" meaning "a flowing."
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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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Substance: 1. Material with particular features, as a pressor substance .
2. The material that makes up an organ or structure. Also known in medicine as the substantia.
3. A psychoactive drug as, for example, in substance abuse .
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Substance abuse: The excessive use of a substance, especially alcohol or a drug. (There is no universally accepted definition of substance abuse.)
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: A part of the U.S. Public Health Service, SAMHSA works to improve the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services. Provides funding through block grants to states for direct substance abuse and mental health services, including treatment for over 340,000 Americans with serious substance abuse problems. Helps improve substance abuse treatment through its Knowledge Development and Applications grant program. Monitors prevalence and incidence of substance abuse and mental illness. Established: 1992. (A predecessor agency, the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, was established in 1974.) Headquarters: Rockville, MD.
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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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Sweating: The act of secreting fluid from the skin by the sweat (sudoriferous) glands. These are small tubular glands situated within and under the skin (in the subcutaneous tissue). They discharge by tiny openings in the surface of the skin.
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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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Therapy: The treatment of disease .
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Unconscious: 1. Interruption of awareness of oneself and one's surroundings, lack of the ability to notice or respond to stimuli in the environment. A person may become unconscious due to oxygen deprivation, shock, central nervous system depressants such as alcohol and drugs, or injury.
2. In psychology, that part of thought and emotion that happens outside everyday awareness.
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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.
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Withdrawal symptoms: Abnormal physical or psychological features that follow the abrupt discontinuation of a drug that has the capability of producing physical dependence. Common withdrawal symptoms include sweating, tremor , vomiting, anxiety , insomnia , and muscle pain .
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Yawning: Involuntary opening of the mouth with respiration, breathing first inward, then outward. Yawning is often caused by the power of suggestion. Repeated yawning may be a sign of drowsiness. It can also sometimes be a sign of depression .
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