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May 23, 2013


Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Glossary of Terms

The following are health and medical definitions of terms that appear in the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) article.

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...

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

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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...

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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...

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

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

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

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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...

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

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

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

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CPR: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Pediatric: Pertaining to children.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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...

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Respiratory: Having to do with respiration.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sleep: The body's rest cycle.

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

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

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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...

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

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

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

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