Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Glossary of Terms

1. The Grief and Mourning Quiz

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

Airway: The path that air follows to get into and out of the lungs. The mouth and nose are...

American Academy of Pediatrics: AAP. Its member pediatricians "dedicate their efforts and ...

Apnea: The absence of breathing (respiration).

Asphyxia: Impaired breathing.

Autopsy: A postmortem examination. Also known as necropsy.

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

Blood sugar: Blood glucose. See also: High blood sugar; Low blood sugar.

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

Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through ...

Bridge: A set of one or more false teeth supported by a metal framework, used to replace ...

Carbon dioxide: A gas which is the byproduct of cellular metabolism and which collects in ...

Cardiac: Having to do with the heart.

Cardiopulmonary: Having to do with both the heart and lungs.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A life-saving emergency procedure that involves breathing f...

CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US agency charged with tracking a...

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The US agency charged with tracking and invest...

Child health: The care and treatment of children. Child health is the purview of pediatric...

CPR: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Crib death: The sudden and unexpected death of a baby with no known illness, typically aff...

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

Department of Health and Human Services: The United States government's principal agency f...

Developmental delay: A condition in which a child is behind schedule in reaching milestone...

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

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

Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including inform...

Family medicine: Also called family practice. The medical specialty which provides continu...

Forensic: Dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems and legal...

Gastroesophageal: Pertaining to both the stomach and the esophagus, as in the gastroesopha...

Gastroesophageal reflux: The return of stomach contents back up into the esophagus This fr...

Gastrointestinal: Adjective referring collectively to the stomach and small and large inte...

Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic
information.

Grief: The normal process of reacting to a loss. The loss may be physical (such as a death...

Health and Human Services: The United States government's principal agency for "protecting...

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

Heart rate: The number of heartbeats per unit of time, usually per minute. The heart rate ...

Hyperthermia: Overheating of the body, possibly due to extreme weather conditions. Unrelie...

Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease or trait, appears in a pa...

Infant: A young baby, from birth to 12 months of age.

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures, and for preparing chemicals a...

Laryngeal: Having to do with the larynx (voice box).

Life support: 1. A therapy or device designed to preserve someone's life when an es...

Life-support: Pertaining to life support, as in "He is only here because of the life-suppo...

Lungs: The lungs are a pair of breathing organs located with the chest which remove carbon...

Medical history: 1. In clinical medicine, the patient's past and present which may ...

Medical school: A school with a curriculum leading to a medical degree. The mission of eve...

Metabolic: Relating to metabolism, the whole range of biochemical processes that occur wit...

Mortality: A fatal outcome or, in one word, death. The word "mortality" is derived from "m...

Motor: Something that produces or refers to motion. For example, a motor neuron is a nerve...

Mouth: 1. The upper opening of the digestive tract, beginning with the lips and con...

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

Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses electrical and chemical signals to transmit sensory an...

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

Nose: The external midline projection from the face. The purpose of the nose is to warm, c...

Nursing: 1) Profession concerned with the provision of services essential to the maintena...

Obstruction: Blockage of a passageway. See, for example: Airway obstruction; Intestinal o...

Oxygen: The odorless gas that is present in the air and necessary to maintain life. Oxygen...

Pediatric: Pertaining to children.

Pediatrics: The field of medicine that is concerned with the health of infants, children, ...

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

Prematurity: Historically, the definition of prematurity was 2500 grams (about 5 1/2 pound...

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

Pulse: The rhythmic dilation of an artery that results from beating of the heart. Pulse is...

Reflex: An involuntary reaction. For example, the corneal reflex is the blink that occurs ...

Reflux: The term used when liquid backs up into the esophagus from the stomach.

Respiration: The act of inhaling and exhaling air in order to exchange oxygen for carbon d...

Respiratory: Having to do with respiration.

Respiratory rate: The number of breaths per minute or, more formally, the number of moveme...

Resuscitation: The procedure of restoring to life, as in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CP...

RSV: Although several standard medical dictionaries indicate only that RSV stands for Rous...

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

Saliva: a watery secretion in the mouth produced by the salivary glands that aids in the d...

Seizure: Uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain, which may produce a physical conv...

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

Sleep: The body's rest cycle.

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

Symptomatic: 1 With symptoms, as a symptomatic infection. 2 Characteristic o...

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

Trachea: A tube-like portion of the respiratory tract that connects the larynx with the br...

Trigger: Something that either sets off a disease in people who are genetically predispose...

Tummy: 1. "Babytalk" referring to the stomach. The word tummy is derived from stoma...

Viral: Of or pertaining to a virus. For example, if a person has a viral rash, the rash wa...