Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) Glossary of Terms

1. Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) Slideshow Pictures
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3. What's Causing Your Pelvic Pain Slideshow Pictures

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

Aerobic: Oxygen-requiring. Aerobic bacteria need oxygen to grow. Aerobic exercise requires...

Aerobic exercise: Brisk exercise that promotes the circulation of oxygen through the blood...

Alprazolam: A benzodiazepine sedative that causes dose-related depression of the central n...

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

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

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

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

Birth control: Birth control is the use of any practices, methods, or devices to prevent p...

Brain: The portion of the central nervous system that is located within the skull. It func...

Breast pain: Pain in the breast or mammary gland, known medically as mastalgia. From the G...

Caffeine: A stimulant compound found naturally in coffee, tea, cocoa (chocolate), and kola...

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

Cholesterol: The most common type of steroid in the body. Cholesterol has a reputation for...

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

Clinical trials: Trials to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of medications or medical...

Constipation: Infrequent and frequently incomplete bowel movements. Constipation is the op...

Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. 2. A time withou...

Depression: An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the way...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

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

Dizziness: Painless head discomfort with many possible causes including disturbances of ...

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

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

Estrogen: A female steroid hormone that is produced by the ovaries and, in lesser amounts,...

Evening primrose oil: A natural source of essential fatty acids (EFOs).

Fatigue: A condition characterized by a lessened capacity for work and reduced efficiency ...

Headache: A pain in the head with the pain being above the eyes or the ears, behind the he...

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

Herbal: 1. An adjective, referring to herbs, as in an herbal tea.
2. A...

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

Hot flashes: A sudden wave of mild or intense body heat caused by rushes of hormonal chang...

Hysterectomy: An operation to remove the uterus. Hysterectomies are most commonly performe...

Ibuprofen: A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that is commonly used to treat pa...

Implant: 1. To embed; to set in firmly. In embryology, the fertilized egg implants ...

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

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

Menopause: The time in a woman's life when menstrual periods permanently stop; it is also...

Menstrual: Pertaining to menstruation (the menses), as in last menstrual period, menstrua...

Menstrual cramps: Cramping in the lower abdomen, usually in the first or second day of the...

Menstrual cycle: The monthly cycle of changes in the ovaries and the lining of the uteru...

Menstruation: The periodic blood that flows as a discharge from the uterus. Also called me...

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Neurotransmitter: A chemical that is released from a nerve cell which thereby transmits an...

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

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

Ovary: The female gonad, one of a pair of reproductive glands in women. The ovaries are lo...

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

Palpitations: Unpleasant sensations of irregular and/or forceful beating of the heart. In ...

PMDD: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Postmenopausal: After menopause, the period of time after a woman has experienced 12 conse...

Premenstrual: Just before the start of menstruation. As in a premenstrual headache.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder: An unusually severe form of premenstrual syndrome charact...

Premenstrual syndrome: A combination of physical and mood disturbances that occur in the l...

Prescription: A physician's order for the preparation and administration of a drug or dev...

Progesterone: A female hormone, the principal hormone that prepares the uterus to receive ...

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

Prostaglandin: One of a number of hormone-like substances that participate in a wide range...

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

Red blood cells: The blood cells that carry oxygen. Red cells contain hemoglobin and it is...

Rejection: In transplantation biology, when the body's immune system attacks transplanted ...

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

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor: A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) is...

Sensitivity: 1. In psychology, the quality of being sensitive. As, for example, sen...

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

Sleep: The body's rest cycle.

Sodium: The major positive ion (cation) in the fluid surrounding cells in the body. The ch...

Sperm: A sperm is the male "gamete" or sex cell. It combines with the female &qu...

SSRI: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, one of a family of antidepressant medication...

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

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

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

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

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

Synthesis: Putting together different entities to make a whole which is new and different....

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

Thyroid: 1. The thyroid gland. Also, pertaining to the thyroid gland. 2. A p...

Tiredness: See: Tired.

Uterus: A hollow, pear-shaped organ that is located in a woman's lower abdomen, between th...

Vasomotor: Relating to the nerves and muscles that cause blood vessels to constrict or dil...

Vitamin B6: A group of closely related chemical compounds with related names -- pyridoxine...

Vitamin E: Alpha-tocopherol, an antioxidant vitamin which binds oxygen free radicals that ...

Vitamin therapy: The use of vitamins to prevent or cure disease. Many physicians are now...

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

Water retention: A nonspecific term meaning the accumulation of excess fluids in body tiss...

Xanax: See: Alprazolam.