Walking for Fitness Glossary of Medical Terms

What It Takes to Get an Olympic Body Slideshow

These are medical definitions of medical terms from the MedTerms.com medical dictionary that appear in the Walking for Fitness article.

Abs: Commonly used slang for the abdominal muscles, the muscles running up and down in the abdominal wall. The "abs" contain the rectus abdominus muscle, "rectus" meaning straight."
See the entire definition of Abs

Aerobic: Oxygen-requiring. Aerobic bacteria need oxygen to grow. Aerobic exercise requires the heart and lungs to work harder to meet the body's increased oxygen demand.
See the entire definition of Aerobic

Ankle: The ankle joint is complex. It is made up of two joints: the true ankle joint and the subtalar joint:
See the entire definition of Ankle

Arms: An appendage in anatomy and in clinical trials . See: Arm .
See the entire definition of Arms

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 ".
See the entire definition of Blood pressure

BMI: Body mass index .
See the entire definition of BMI

Body mass index: A key index for relating a person's body weight to their height. The body mass index (BMI) is a person's weight in kilograms (kg) divided by their height in meters (m) squared.
See the entire definition of Body mass index

Calf: The belly or fleshy hind part of the leg below the knee. The calf is made up mainly of the gastrocnemius muscle (which comes from the Greek "gastroknemia" meaning calf of the leg, from "gaster" (gastr-), belly, + "kneme," leg).
See the entire definition of Calf

Cardiac: Having to do with the heart.
See the entire definition of Cardiac

Cardiac rehabilitation: A program for people with heart disease designed to reduce future heart risks. Cardiac rehabilitation usually consists of nutritional counseling; management of lipid levels, hypertension , weight, and diabetes ; smoking cessation; psychosocial interventions; physical activity counseling; and exercise training. Cardiac rehabilitation reduces the risks of subsequent heart attacks and death from other causes. Cardiac rehabilitation is safe and beneficial when patients are evaluated and selected for it. Contraindications for cardiac rehabilitation include unstable angina , serious arrhythmias, congestive heart failure , previous cardiac arrest during exercise, and extremely low activity level.
See the entire definition of Cardiac rehabilitation

Cardiovascular: The circulatory system comprising the heart and blood vessels which carries nutrients and oxygen to the tissues of the body and removes carbon dioxide and other wastes from them.
See the entire definition of Cardiovascular

Cell: The basic structural and functional unit in people and all living things. Each cell is a small container of chemicals and water wrapped in a membrane .
See the entire definition of Cell

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."
See the entire definition of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Chest: The area of the body located between the neck and the abdomen . The chest contains the lungs , the heart and part of the aorta . The walls of the chest are supported by the dorsal vertebrae , the ribs , and the sternum .
See the entire definition of Chest

Cholesterol: The most common type of steroid in the body, cholesterol has gotten something of a bad name. However, cholesterol is a critically important molecule.
See the entire definition of Cholesterol

Consultant: An individual to whom one refers for expert advice or services. The use of consultants is common in medicine.
See the entire definition of Consultant

Cross training: Doing two or more aerobic activities such as jogging, bicycling, and swimming on a regular basis.
See the entire definition of Cross training

Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. Cures are easy to claim and, all too often, difficult to confirm.
2. A time without recurrence of a disease so that the risk of recurrence is small, as in the 5-year cure rate for malignant melanoma .
3. Particularly in the past, a course of treatment. For example, take a cure at a spa.
See the entire definition of Cure

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.
See the entire definition of Department of Health and Human Services

Diabetes: Refers to diabetes mellitus or, less often, to diabetes insipidus . Diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus share the name "diabetes" because they are both conditions characterized by excessive urination (polyuria).
See the entire definition of Diabetes

Elbow: The juncture of the long bones in the middle portion of the arm. The bone of the upper arm (humerus) meets both the ulna (the inner bone of the forearm) and radius (the outer bone of the forearm) to form a hinge joint at the elbow. The radius and ulna also meet one another in the elbow to permit a small amount of rotation of the forearm. The elbow therefore functions to move the arm like a hinge (forward and backward) and in rotation (outward and inward). The biceps muscle is the major muscle that flexes the elbow hinge, and the triceps muscle is the major muscle that extends it. The primary stability of the elbow is provided by the ulnar collateral ligament, located on the medial (inner) side of the elbow. The outer bony prominence of the elbow is the lateral epicondyle, a part of the humerus bone. Tendons attached to this area can be injured, causing inflammation or tendonitis (lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow). The inner portion of the elbow is a bony prominence called the medial epicondyle of the humerus. Additional tendons from muscles attach here and can be injured, likewise causing inflammation or tendonitis (medial epicondylitis, or golfer's elbow). See also: Elbow bursitis ; Elbow pain ; Nursemaid's elbow.
See the entire definition of Elbow

Fracture: A break in bone or cartilage. Although usually the result of trauma, a fracture can be caused by an acquired disease of bone such as osteoporosis or by abnormal formation of bone in a disease such as osteogenesis imperfecta ("brittle bone disease"). Fractures are classified according to their character and location as, for example, a greenstick fracture of the radius.
See the entire definition of Fracture

Glucose: The simple sugar (monosaccharide) that serves as the chief source of energy in the body. Glucose is the principal sugar the body makes. The body makes glucose from proteins, fats and, in largest part, carbohydrates. Glucose is carried to each cell through the bloodstream. Cells, however, cannot use glucose without the help of insulin . Glucose is also known as dextrose.
See the entire definition of Glucose

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.
See the entire definition of Health and Human Services

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.
See the entire definition of Heart

Hip fracture: Broken bone in the hip, a key health problem among the elderly, usually due to a fall or other kind of trauma involving direct impact to the hip bone which has been weakened by osteoporosis . The part of the hip most often broken is the greater trochanter (the knobby end) of the femur (the thigh bone).
See the entire definition of Hip fracture

Injury: Harm or hurt. The term "injury" may be applied in medicine to damage inflicted upon oneself as in a hamstring injury or by an external agent on as in a cold injury . The injury may be accidental or deliberate, as with a needlestick injury . The term "injury" may be synonymous (depending on the context) with a wound or with trauma .
See the entire definition of Injury

JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. JAMA began publication in 1883. It now bills itself as "the world's best-read medical journal". However one defines "best-read", JAMA clearly ranks as one of the two leading general medical journals published in the United States. (The other is the New England Journal of Medicine.)
See the entire definition of JAMA

Knee: The knee is a joint which has three parts. The thigh bone (the femur) meets the large shin bone (the tibia) to form the main knee joint. This joint has an inner (medial) and an outer (lateral) compartment. The kneecap (the patella) joins the femur to form a third joint, called the patellofemoral joint. The patella protects the front of the knee joint.
See the entire definition of Knee

Leg: In popular usage, the leg extends from the top of the thigh down to the foot. However, in medical terminology, the leg refers to the portion of the lower extremity from the knee to the ankle.
See the entire definition of Leg

Longevity: Lifespan. (With increasing longevity, women will soon be postmenopausal for one third of their lives).
See the entire definition of Longevity

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.
See the entire definition of Medical school

Metabolism: The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within us (or any living organism). Metabolism consists both of anabolism and catabolism (the buildup and breakdown of substances, respectively). The term is commonly used to refer specifically to the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy.
See the entire definition of Metabolism

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."
See the entire definition of Muscle

Pelvic: Having to do with the pelvis, the lower part of the abdomen, located between the hip bones.
See the entire definition of Pelvic

Pharmacy: A location where prescription drugs are sold. A pharmacy is, by law, constantly supervised by a licensed pharmacist.
See the entire definition of Pharmacy

Postmenopausal: After the menopause . Postmenopausal is defined formally as the time after which a woman has experienced twelve (12) consecutive months of amenorrhea (lack of menstruation ) without a period.
See the entire definition of Postmenopausal

Posture: The carriage of the body as a whole, the attitude of the body, or the position of the limbs (the arms and legs).
See the entire definition of Posture

Public health: The approach to medicine that is concerned with the health of the community as a whole. Public health is community health. It has been said that: "Health care is vital to all of us some of the time, but public health is vital to all of us all of the time."
See the entire definition of Public health

Random: The process by which an outcome is determined solely by chance, for example, by a coin flip.
See the entire definition of Random

Range of motion: The range through which a joint can be moved, usually its range of flexion and extension. Due to an injury, the knee may for example lack 10 degrees of full extension.
See the entire definition of Range of motion

Rehabilitation: The process of restoration of skills by a person who has had an illness or injury so as to regain maximum self-sufficiency and function in a normal or as near normal manner as possible. For example, rehabilitation after a stroke may help the patient walk again and speak clearly again.
See the entire definition of Rehabilitation

Sweat: A colorless transparent acidic fluid with a distinctive odor secreted by the small tubular sudoriferous (sweat) glands situated within the skin and under it in the subcutaneous tissue . The sweat glands discharge their fluid through tiny openings in the surface of the skin.
See the entire definition of Sweat

Treadmill: A machine with a moving strip on which one walks without moving forward. A treadmill was originally a wide wheel turned by the weight of people climbing on steps around its edge, used in the past to provide power for machines or as a punishment in prisons.
See the entire definition of Treadmill

Weight loss: Weight loss is a decrease in body weight resulting from either voluntary ( diet , exercise ) or involuntary (illness) circumstances. Most instances of weight loss arise due to the loss of body fat, but in cases of extreme or severe weight loss, protein and other substances in the body can also be depleted. Examples of involuntary weight loss include the weight loss associated with cancer , malabsorption (such as from chronic diarrheal illnesses ), and chronic inflammation (such as with rheumatoid arthritis ).
See the entire definition of Weight loss