Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Glossary of Terms

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Abnormal: Not normal. Deviating from the usual structure, position, condition, or behavior. In referring to a growth, abnormal may mean that it is cancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer).

Airway: The path air follows to get into and out of the lungs. The mouth and nose are the normal entry and exit ports. Entering air then passes through the back of the throat (pharynx), continues through the voice box (larynx), down the trachea, and finally out the branching tubes known as bronchi.

American Academy of Pediatrics: AAP. Its member pediatricians "dedicate their efforts and resources to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults." According to the Academy, it had as of 1998 some 53,000 members in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Over 34,000 of them were board-certified and called Fellows of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP).
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Apnea: An apnea is a period of time during which breathing stops or is markedly reduced. There are two types of apneas, the more common obstructive sleep apnea and the less common central sleep apnea.
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Asphyxia: Impaired or impeded breathing.

Autopsy: A postmortem examination. Also called a necropsy.
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Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is produced primarily by the contraction of the heart muscle. It's measurement is recorded by two numbers. The first (systolic pressure) is measured after the heart contracts and is highest. The second (diastolic pressure) is measured before the heart contracts and lowest. A blood pressure cuff is used to measure the pressure. Elevation of blood pressure is called "hypertension".

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

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."

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.

Bridge: A set of one or more false teeth supported by a metal framework, used to replace one or more missing teeth.
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Carbon dioxide: A gas which is the byproduct of cellular metabolism and which collects in the tissues, is cleared from the tissues by the blood within the veins, is carried by the hemoglobin in the red blood cells, and removed from the body via the lungs in the exhaled air. Abbreviated CO2.

Cardiac: Having to do with the heart.

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

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: The emergency substitution of heart and lung action to restore life to someone who appears dead. The two main components of conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are chest compression to make the heart pump and mouth-to-mouth ventilation to breath for the victim. Hands-only CPR is a form of resuscitation that involves continuous, rapid chest compressions only, and although effective, it is not as beneficial as conventional CPR in a patient who is not breathing.
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CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US agency charged with tracking and investigating public health trends. The stated mission of the CDC is "To promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability." The CDC is a part of the U.S. Public Health Services (PHS) under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The US agency charged with tracking and investigating public health trends. The stated mission of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, commonly called the CDC, is "To promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability."
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Child health: Child health is the purview of pediatrics.
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CPR: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Also cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation and computer-based patient records.

Crib death: The sudden and unexpected death of a baby with no known illness, typically affecting infants from 2 weeks to 6 months of age while sleeping. Crib death is now called Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Babies at an increased risk for SIDS include those with a brother or sister who died of SIDS; children whose mothers smoked or used heroin, methadone, or cocaine during pregnancy; infants born weighing less than 4.4 pounds (2000 grams); children with an abnormal breathing pattern with long periods without taking a breath (apnea); and babies who sleep on their stomachs. Since babies who sleep on their stomachs are at least 3 times more likely to die of SIDS than babies who sleep on their backs, children's health authorities such as the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend always placing infants on their backs to sleep.

Dehydration: Excessive loss of body water. Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract that cause vomiting or diarrhea may, for example, lead to dehydration. There are a number of other causes of dehydration including heat exposure, prolonged vigorous exercise (e.g., in a marathon), kidney disease, and medications (diuretics).
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Department of Health and Human Services : The United States government's principal agency for "protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves." Also known as DHHS and HHS.
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Developmental delay: Behind schedule in reaching milestones of early childhood development.

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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Electrolyte: An electrolyte is a substance that will dissociate into ions in solution and acquire the capacity to conduct electricity. The electrolytes include sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium and phosphate. Informally, called lytes. (The clue to the word electrolyte is in the lyte which comes from the Greek lytos meaning that may be dissolved.)

Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including information about diseases in family members.
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Family medicine: Also called family practice. The medical specialty which provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family. It is the specialty in breadth which integrates the biological, clinical, and behavioral sciences. The scope of family practice encompasses all ages, both sexes, each organ system, and every disease entity. (From the American Academy of Family Physicians)

Forensic: Dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems and legal proceedings as, for example, in forensic anthropology, forensic dentistry, forensic experts, forensic medicine (legal medicine), forensic pathology, forensic science, etc.
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Gastroesophageal: Pertaining to both the stomach and the esophagus, as in the gastroesophageal junction, the place where the esophagus connects to the stomach.

Gastroesophageal reflux: The return of stomach contents back up into the esophagus This frequently causes heartburn because of irritation of the esophagus by stomach acid.
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Gastrointestinal: Adjective referring collectively to the stomach and small and large intestines.
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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), social (such as divorce), or occupational (such as a job). Emotional reactions of grief can include anger, guilt, anxiety, sadness, and despair. Physical reactions of grief can include sleeping problems, changes in appetite, physical problems, or illness.
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Health and Human Services : The United States government's principal agency for "protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves." Also known as DHHS and HHS.
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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 rate: The number of heart beats per unit time, usually per minute. The heart rate is based on the number of contractions of the ventricles (the lower chambers of the heart). The heart rate may be too fast (tachycardia) or too slow (bradycardia). The pulse is bulge of an artery from the wave of blood coursing through the blood vessel as a result of the heart beat. The pulse is often taken at the wrist to estimate the heart rate.

Hyperthermia: Overheating of the body. This may be due to extreme weather conditions. Unrelieved hyperthermia can lead to collapse and death, particularly in the elderly. Prevention via air conditioning, ventilation, and drinking extra water is the key for vulnerable persons. In emergency cases, injections of saline solution and rapid cooling of the body may be needed. Also known as heatstroke or heat prostration.

Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease, appears in a particular population or area. In disease epidemiology, the incidence is the number of newly diagnosed cases during a specific time period. The incidence is distinct from the prevalence which refers to the number of cases alive on a certain date.

Infant: A child up to 2 years (24 months) of age.
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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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Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures and preparing chemicals, etc. Although "laboratory" looks very like the Latin "laboratorium" (a place to labor, a work place), the word "laboratory" came from the Latin "elaborare" (to work out, as a problem, and with great pains), as evidenced by the Old English spelling "elaboratory" designating "a place where learned effort was applied to the solution of scientific problems."

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

Life support: 1. A therapy or device designed to preserve someone's life when an essential bodily system is not doing so. Life support may, for example, involve enteric feeding (by a tube), total parenteral nutrition, mechanical ventilation, a pacemaker, defibrillator, heart/lung machine, or dialysis.
2. Something that sustains life, as in "The earth is the ultimate life support system."
3. A product, program or company being propped up, as in "Medicare is on life support."

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

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.

Medical history: 1. In clinical medicine, the patient's past and present which may contain clues bearing on their health past, present, and future. The medical history, being an account of all medical events and problems a person has experienced, including psychiatric illness, is especially helpful when a differential diagnosis is needed.
2. The history of medicine.

Medical school: A school with a curriculum leading to a medical degree. The mission of every medical school includes medical teaching, research, and patient care. All medical schools share the goal of preparing students in the art and science of medicine, and providing them with the background necessary to enter the period of graduate medical education. The years of medical school preceding graduate medical education are typically divided into a preclinical phase and a clinical phase.
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Metabolic: Relating to metabolism, the whole range of biochemical processes that occur within us (or any living organism). Metabolism consists of anabolism (the buildup of substances) and catabolism (the breakdown of substances).
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Mortality: A fatal outcome or, in one word, death. The word "mortality" is derived from "mortal" which came from the Latin "mors" (death). The opposite of mortality is, of course, immortality. Mortality is also quite distinct from morbidity (illness).
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Motor: In medicine, having to do with the movement of a part of the body. Something that produces motion or refers to motion. For example, a motor neuron is a nerve cell that conveys an impulse to a muscle causing it to contract. The term "motor" today is also applied to a nerve that signals a gland to secrete. Motor is as opposed to sensory.

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."

Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses chemical and electrical signals to transmit sensory and motor information from one body part to another. See: Nervous system.

Neurotransmitter: A chemical that is released from a nerve cell which thereby transmits an impulse from a nerve cell to another nerve, muscle, organ, or other tissue. A neurotransmitter is a messenger of neurologic information from one cell to another.

Nose: The external midline projection from the face.
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Nursing: 1) Profession concerned with the provision of services essential to the maintenance and restoration of health by attending the needs of sick persons. 2) Feeding a infant at the breast.

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

Oxygen: A colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that makes up about 20% of the air we breathe (and at least half the weight of the entire solid crust of the earth) and which combines with most of the other elements to form oxides. Oxygen is essential to human, animal and plant life.
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Pediatric: Pertaining to children.

Pediatrics: "Pediatrics is concerned with the health of infants, children and adolescents, their growth and development, and their opportunity to achieve full potential as adults." (Richard E.Behrman in Nelson's Textbook of Pediatrics)
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Pharmacy: A location where prescription drugs are sold. A pharmacy is, by law, constantly supervised by a licensed pharmacist.

Prematurity: Historically, the definition of prematurity was 2500 grams (about 5 1/2 pounds) or less at birth. The current World Health Organization definition of prematurity is a baby born before 37 weeks of gestation, counting from the first day of the Last Menstrual Period (LMP).

Prescription: A physician's order for the preparation and administration of a drug or device for a patient. A prescription has several parts. They include the superscription or heading with the symbol "R" or "Rx", which stands for the word recipe (meaning, in Latin, to take); the inscription, which contains the names and quantities of the ingredients; the subscription or directions for compounding the drug; and the signature which is often preceded by the sign "s" standing for signa (Latin for mark), giving the directions to be marked on the container.

Pulse: The rhythmic contraction and expansion of an artery due to the surge of blood from the beat of the heart. The pulse is most often measured by feeling the arteries of the wrist. There is also a pulse, although far weaker, in veins.

Reflex: A reaction that is involuntary. The corneal reflex is the blink that occurs with irritation of the eye. The nasal reflex is a sneeze.

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

Respiration: 1. The act of inhaling and exhaling air in order to exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide. Synonymous with breathing and ventilation. 2. The cellular metabolic process by which oxygen is taken in, substances are oxidized, energy is released, and carbon dioxide and oxidized products are given off.

Respiratory: Having to do with respiration, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. From the Latin re- (again) + spirare (to breathe) = to breathe again.

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).

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

RSV: Although several standard medical dictionaries indicate only that RSV stands for Rous sarcoma virus, RSV in clinical medicine is the abbreviation for respiratory syncytial virus. See: Respiratory syncytial virus.

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.

Saliva: a watery secretion in the mouth produced by the salivary glands that aids in the digestion of food. Saliva also serves to moisten and cleanse the mouth, including the tongue and teeth, and contains substances that can play a role in the prevention of infection. Saliva aids digestion by moistening food and contains enzymes that begin the digestion process. Also known as spit.

Seizure: Uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain, which may produce a physical convulsion, minor physical signs, thought disturbances, or a combination of symptoms.
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Serotonin: A hormone, also called 5-hydroxytryptamine, in the pineal gland, blood platelets, the digestive tract, and the brain. Serotonin acts both as a chemical messenger that transmits nerve signals between nerve cells and that causes blood vessels to narrow.
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Sleep: The body's rest cycle.
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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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Symptomatic: 1 With symptoms, as a symptomatic infection. 2 Characteristic, as behavior symptomatic of Huntington disease. 3 Directed at the symptoms, as symptomatic treatment.

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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Trachea: A tube-like portion of the breathing or "respiratory" tract that connects the "voice box" (larynx) with the bronchial parts of the lungs.

Trigger: Something that either sets off a disease in people who are genetically predisposed to developing the disease, or that causes a certain symptom to occur in a person who has a disease. For example, sunlight can trigger rashes in people with lupus.

Tummy: 1. Babytalk for the stomach. The word tummy is derived from stomach.
2. Slang for a paunch. A big tummy raises the risk of diabetes.

Viral: Of or pertaining to a virus. For example, "My daughter has a viral rash."