What Is Peritoneum?

The peritoneum (Greek peritonaion = stretched across) is an abdominal membrane consisting of two sheets: the parietal peritoneum (Latin parietalis = belonging to walls) that covers the inner side of the abdominal wall and the visceral peritoneum (Latin viscera = internal organs) that covers certain abdominal organs.

Picture of peritoneal cavity, parietal and visceral peritoneum

Peritoneal Cavity, Intraperitoneal and Retroperitoneal Organs

Abdominal organs that are totally surrounded by visceral peritoneum are called intraperitoneal organs and include: the liver, spleen, stomach, gallbladder, a part of the duodenum, small intestine, transverse and sigmoid colon, uterus, Fallopian tubes and ovaries.

continue reading Peritoneal Cavity, Diseases of Parietal and Visceral Peritoneum, Video

Definition of Disease

Disease (Latin dis- = lack of, opposite of + ease = convenience, comfort) literally means lack of strength or satisfaction. 

In medicine, disease means impairment in structure or function of a certain body part or mind with identifiable symptoms or signs. Morbus is a Latin word for disease.

Illness, Sickness, Malady

When referring to patient’s personal experience of a disease, synonyms illness and sickness are usually used. Ailment refers to minor or chronic illness. Malady (French malady = disease) refers to chronic or deep-seated disease.

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What Is Infection?

An infection is an invasion and multiplying of pathogenic microbes in the body tissues in which they are not usually present (1). Pathogenic means capable of causing disease. Infection does not always cause a disease.

Definitions of Infection-Related Terms

A colonization is the usual presence of non-pathogenic and even potentially pathogenic microbes on the skin, in the nose, mouth, bowel, penile or vaginal mucosa, as a part of normal human flora, in the amount not harmful for the body – this is not an infection. An example is the presence of Lactobacilus acidophilus bacteria in the colon.

A contamination is the presence of germs which do not multiply, for example, in a contaminated (not infected)wound. Infected or septic wound contains multiplying microbes. Contamination also refers to presence of pathogenic microbes on medical equipment, in the water, food etc.

continue reading Infection – Definition, Causes, Transmission, Symptoms, Signs

What Is Sepsis?

Sepsis (Greek sepsis= putrefaction, decay) is an exaggerated response of body’s immune system to an infection, like severe pneumonia or cellulitis, which has spread to the blood; it is also called blood infection. If treatment does not start promptly, sepsis may be deadly.

NOTE: Bacteremia, viremia, fungemia or parasitemia refer only to a presence of microbes in the blood, which by themselves rarely causes any symptoms, while sepsis is always a serious condition with detectable inflammation in the blood and obvious symptoms. Check what septic means.

continue reading Blood Infection or Sepsis – Causes, Symptoms, Signs, Treatment

Ischemia is the medical term for an inadequate blood supply to a specific area of the body. This results in a reduced oxygen supply as blood has difficulty in reaching the target tissues or organs. Ischemia can be partial or complete. Partial ischemia may cause hypoxia, which is too little oxygen reaching the area. Complete ischemia results in anoxia, where no oxygen reaches the target area, and if this is not corrected quickly, it will eventually lead to an infarct.

Example : Coronary artery disease results in narrowing of the blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle. Less oxygen is able to reach the heart muscle resulting in ischemia which is sometimes experienced as chest pain, known as angina.

continue reading Medical Terminology : Ischemia and Infarct

Septic (pronounced septik, from Greek sepein = to rot, putrefy), literally means rotten.

In medicine, a term septic may have different meanings:

1. Septic - contaminated by microbes, as opposed to aseptic – microbes free, sterile.
2. Septic system, including septic tank, is a system for wastewater and sewage disposal.
3. Septic infection is an infection with localized pus collection in particular organ. Examples are septic wound, septic arthritis, septic meningitis, septic pleural effusion, etc.
4. Septicemia may, to some, mean bacteremia, and to others sepsis, what may be quite confusing, so finding out exact meaning of septicemia from the context of particular health text is important.
5. Sepsis or blood infection is a serious health condition, in which microbes invade the blood (usually from existing severe infection, like pneumonia) and trigger high fever, rapid breathing and heartbeat.
6. Septic shock is a life threatening condition with a sudden, severe drop in blood pressure during sepsis. 

Septicemia Is Not Clearly Defined

A term septicemia may cause a lot of confusion; for some it refers to bacteremia (presence of bacteria in the bloodstream) and for others it refers to sepsis (bacteremia + blood inflammation). Since a term septicemia is still widely used, a reader should be aware of its two possible meanings in different health articles.

Blood Poisoning Is Not An Appropriate Term

To ad to the confusion, a term blood poisoning is often used as a synonym for septicemia (or sepsis). Poisoning can be caused by substances other than those released by microbes, while sepsis is always caused by microbes, so a term blood infection is preferable as an informal name for sepsis.

What Is a Drug?

Broadly speaking, a drug is any substance other than food intended to affect the structure or any function of the body (1).

Drug As a Medication

According to the United States Federal Drug Agency (FDA), a drug is an article (substance) intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation (lessening), treatment or prevention of disease, recognized in the official United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) (2), Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or official National Formulary (1).

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Inflammation is an acute (short term) response by living tissue to any injury. It is usually followed by repair and regeneration after the injury, provided that the tissue was not severe enough to cause cell death (necrosis). Inflammation is a life sustaining mechanism to help the body cope during and just after an injury but inflammation often prevents proper regeneration and repair. Chronic inflammation may persist long term as seen in many chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and should be treated if there is no direct threat to living tissue.

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What Is Medical Diagnosis?

A medical diagnosis (Greek dia = apart; gnosis = knowledge, insight), short Dx, is the physician’s conclusion about which disease, disorder, injury or state his patient is affected by.

Only a registered physician can give a medical diagnosis. Other health workers (nurses, technicians) and non-medical specialists, even those with Dr. or PhD in their titles, can not and may not give a medical diagnosis.

Diagnostic procedure includes asking a patient for symptoms by taking a medical history, finding signs of the disease by a physical examination, checking results of medical investigations and making conclusion from obtained data.

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