Hey all you Hardy Boys fans! As you know, many of the stories featured on MOONSTAR have mentioned quite a few medical terms. As some might not be familiar with these terms, so we have complied a list of some of the more frequently used medical terms.

Please note: These terms are given for information purposes only. They are not intended for diagnosis, treatment, etc. Contact your doctor for a proper diagnosis. If this is an emergency, call the emergency medical service immeditately.

Ambu bag - This bag, usually blue, is self-inflating after a person squeezes it. It's used during resuscitation. Typically it's connected to a breathing tube and is designed to blow a consistant amount of air. (Dictionary.com)

Anaphylaxis - This is also known as anaphylactic shock. It's a severe allergic reaction to anything. Nuts, seafood, insect bites/stings, strawberries, chemicals, perfume, etc. all can cause a severe reaction to a person. Sometimes a person is allergic but doesn't know it until they are exposed for the first time. A severe allergic reaction can cause swelling in the throat, wheezing, hives, shortness of breath, severe swelling on the skin, etc. Sometimes an allergic reaction can be so severe it can cause a person to stop breathing.

Artic Sun - Water chilled pads to slow the metabolism by cooling the body. Then the body is warmed. It's been found that cooling the body during a heart attack increases a patient's chance for survival.

Aspirator - an instrument for evacuating fluid by suction.(Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000)

Antibiotic - A substance made from bacteria or fungus that's used to treat disease and infection. Antibiotics do not work on viral infections. The medications work best if the prescribed course of medication is finished. A drawback to using antibiotics is that they are used to treat viral infections causing a person to build up a resistance to the antibiotic. Another drawback is that the person doesn't finish the medication and the disease or infection being treated becomes resistant to the drug and spreads to others. A serious problem can occur if a person is allergic or becomes allergic to the antibiotic.

Antiviral Medication - A substance use to treat disease and infections caused by viruses. These do not work on diseases and infections caused by bacteria.

Autopulse - A device used to take the place of a pair of hands pumping on the human chest during CPR. It keeps a constant pulsing action.

Barcodes - Barcodes are now being placed on surgical instruments. Each instrument's barcode is scanned before and after use to ensure nothing is left behind in the patient's body.

Bionics - Artificial limbs are now becoming more state of the art. Replacements for legs are now coming in a wide-variety of types to allow an amputee to try different sports. Running, swimming, jumping, diving are just some of the different artifical legs now on the market. There are legs being created that are so sensitive to movement that it allows amputee helicopter pilots to go to work again in the cockpit.

For amputated arms and hands, there was only one kind that allow two degrees of freedom, open and closing a claw. Now the limbs are being made with real life-like looking arms and hands. Advances now allow the hand four and five degrees of freedom. That is they open and close and have the ability to flex the mechanized thumb and fingers enough to grip a cup or apple. A real human hand has 25 degrees of freedom.

In the works is an artifical limb that can sense heat and cold through sensors in the "fingers" and along the "arm". Just like real nerves use electrical impulses to send signals to the brain, which tell the brain if something is hot or cold, the artifical ones will do the same thing.

The arm replacements are now being designed to work on biological energy, that is energy from the person's own body. Right now the limbs work on replaceable lithium batteries.

For those who are deaf, there are artificial implants that are available that allow some deaf people to hear like a non-deaf person.

Cardiac Arrest - When the heart stops beating suddenly and respiration (breathing) and other body functions stop as a result. (Source: WebMD)

CT Scan ("Cat Scan") - A computed tomography (CT) scan is a special type of X-ray that can produce detailed pictures of structures inside of the body. A CT scan is also called a computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan. A CT scanner directs a series of X-rays through the body that are analyzed by a computer to produce a detailed picture of a "slice" of an organ or area being studied. Each X-ray pulse lasts only a fraction of a second, and it takes only a few seconds for the machine to record each slice. A CT scan produces clearer pictures of internal organs (such as the liver) than regular X-rays. Information from a CT scan can be saved and stored on a computer for further study. Photographs of selected views can also be made. (Source: WebMD)

A better, faster version of the CT scanner is called the Dimension Scanner. The patient doesn’t have to take medicine to slow down their heartrate. Two X-ray beams take pictures of the person in less time, exposing the person to lest radiation. The pictures are then assembled by computer to give an accurate 3D image of the person’s heart, chest, etc.

Catheter - a flexible or rigid hollow tube employed to drain fluids from body cavities or to distend body passages, esp. one for passing into the bladder through the urethra to draw off urine or into the heart through a leg vein or arm vein for diagnostic examination. (Source: Dictionary.com)

Coma - A state of unconsciousness in which a person is unresponsive to external stimuli. The deepest comas, a person's breathing stops. A respirator must be used to continue the breathing. Comas may last for a few days, or in rare cases for years. Coma is also the state in which electrical activity can no longer be detected in the brain (Called the brain-death syndrome) A coma can be caused by oxygen deprivation (like in cardiac arrest), stroke, drug overdose, or abnormal metabolism. (Other things, like severe trauma, can cause a coma) (Definition provided by Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia)

The Glasgow Coma scale is used to determine the level of consciousness after a severe brain injury / coma. It uses three factors: Eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. These three scores add up to the level. Sometimes a doctor will break apart the score because there are things that prevent a true reading such as the patient having their eyes bandage or a tube in their throat.

With some injuries and trauma, the doctor may induce a coma with medicines. A coma can induce total relaxation, allowing the organs to be nearly at rest so the body can concentrate on healing itself. The body's metabolic rate, that is how much oxygen, blood, etc, needed by the organs goes down, so there's less chance of injury to them. The coma is used especially with head trauma because when brain activity goes down, it will hopefully reduce the pressure and allow it to heal.

Concussion - A concussion occurs when the head sustains a hard blow and the impact jars or shakes the brain inside the skull. The rapid movement interrupts the brain's normal activities. Although there may be cuts or bruises on the head or face, there may be no other signs of a brain injury.

Symptoms of a concussion usually include: Brief loss of consciousness, amnesia, confusion, repeatly asking the same questions, dizziness, vertigo, lightheadedness, or unsteadiness that prevents, standing or walking, blurred or double vision, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), and / or unable to remember before or after the injury.

Symptoms of concussion can be mild to severe, depending on the severity of the injury. If the injury is more serious, symptoms will usually develop within the first 24 hours after the accident. Symptoms may last for days, weeks, or even months following the injury. (Source: WebMD)

Convulsions - See seizure

CPR - Cardiopulmonary Recusitation (CPR): A technique designed to temporarily circulate oxygenated blood through the body of a person whose heart has stopped. It involves assessing the airway; if necessary breathing for the person; determining if the person is without a pulse; and if necessary, applying pressure to the chest to circulate blood. (Source: WebMD)

* The Red Cross is an excellent source to learn how to perform CPR correctly.

Cyanosis - A blue tint to the skin, indicating the body is not receiving enough oxygen-rich blood. (Source: WebMD)

Defibrillator - A machine that is used to administer an electric shock to the heart in order to re-establish normal heart rhythm. (Source: WebMD)

Dual and 3-in-1 pills - Patients with diseases, transplanted organs, and illneses, sometimes have to take multiple pills in many doses during the day. This can sometimes lead to confusion and patients missing or skippipng doses. Drug makers have now created dual and 3-in-1 pills combining different medications into one pill. This allows the person to better manage their medication and stay on course with the dosing schedule.

Two kinds are available right now. A 3-in-1 HIV pill and a pill that treats high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

EKG - Electrocardiography, is a procedure by which the doctor gets a tracing of the electrical activity of the heart. The rhythmic beating of the heart is maintained by an orderly series of discharges originating through the sinus node of the right atrium and proceeding through the atrioventricular node and the bundle of neuromuscular fibers to the ventricles. By attaching electrodes (via patches attached to wires) to various parts of the body, a record of this current can be obtained. This is called an electrocardiogram, or ECG or EKG for short. (Definition provided by Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia)

EDTA - This is acronym for an acid called ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. That is a mouthful but EDTA is beneficial for people suffering from heavy metal poisoning. It binds to the metals in the person's system and flushes it from the body. This is a long process because heavy metals do serious damage to the human body. The process has to be carefully administered and watched so the person isn't made worse.

EDTA is used to treat arsonic, lead, mercury, and other heavy metal poisonings. EDTA is also used to treat a disease called hypercalcernia.

Gangrene - the death of body tissue, generally in considerable mass, usually associated with loss of vascular (nutritive) supply, and followed by bacterial invasion and putrefaction. Although it usually affects the extremities, gangrene sometimes may involve the internal organs. Symptoms depend on the site and include fever, pain, darkening of the skin, and an unpleasant odor. If the condition involves an internal organ, it is generally attended by pain and collapse. Treatment includes correcting the causes and is frequently successful with modern medications and surgery.

The three major types of gangrene are moist, dry, and gas gangrene. Moist and dry gangrene result from loss of blood circulation due to various causes; gas gangrene occurs in wounds infected by anaerobic bacteria, among which are various species of Clostridium, which break down tissue by gas production and by toxins. Moist gangrene is caused by sudden stoppage of blood, resulting from burning by heat or acid, severe freezing, physical accident that destroys the tissue, a tourniquet that has been left on too long, or a clot or other embolism. At first, tissue affected by moist gangrene has the color of a bad bruise, is swollen, and often blistered. The gangrene is likely to spread with great speed. Toxins are formed in the affected tissues and absorbed. (Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000)

Heart Massage - the action of pumping the chest to "restart" the heart (Source: WebMD). Internal cardiac massage involves the opening of the chest and the doctor physically pumping the heart with one or both hands. (Source: TRAUMA.ORG)

Hypothermia - a chilling of the entire body, but the extremities can withstand temperatures as much as 20 to 30 degrees lower than the torso, where vital organs are located. When the core temperature drops even a few degrees, physiologic changes can lead to fatal cardiac arrhythmias and respiratory failure. Symptoms range from mild shivering and complaints of feeling chilled to loss of consciousness, absence of reflexes, and barely detectable pulse and respirations. (Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000)

Doctors and Scientists are now using hypothermia as a form of treatment. It's been found that the extreme cold slows down the body's metabolic rate and decreases the need for the brain to receive oxygenated blood. When the brain doesn't need as much blood, it can stop brain damage from occuring. The state of hypothermia can slow down bleeding, can help save a patient during a heart attack and is starting to be used during delicate brain and heart operations as a means of protecting the patient. Doctors are also studying if hypothermia works during cases of extreme trauma.

Infection - This is caaused by bad germs that cause disease, injuries, tissue death, organ shutdown, or in rare cases, death. Infections in the body are caused by either bacteria or viruses and are treated with appropriate medication. Many things can cause infections including: illness, dirty medical equipment, bad food, contaminated water, injury, sunburn, etc.

Sometimes a doctor will not prescribe antibiotics because the infection is caused by a virus or will go away on its own. Superbacteria have resulted from the overuse of antibiotics.

Integra - An artifical skin made for victims who suffer third degree burns. It's made to take place of standard skin grafts so the victim doesn't have the scars from the grafting and leaves sites on the body in tact in case grafting is needed later. This keeps the person from losing fluids through the wounds. A plus with this new replacement is that allows the body to generate its own skin to replace the damaged stuff while having the benefit of covering the wounds. This keeps infections down. It allows the person to go through physical therapy sooner, so their recovery time is shorter. There's less scarring, and it's biodegradable.

As of now Integra is not readily available to all burn units. (Discovery Health)

Intubation - This is a term for inserting a hollow tube into a hollow organ or body passage. It's mostly used for the process of inserting a breathing tube into the throat down to the trachea. This breathing tube is then connected to an ambu bag or breathing device. (Dictionary.com)

IV - (intravenous) administration of fluids into a vein by means of a steel needle or plastic catheter (tube). This method of fluid replacement is used most often to maintain fluid and electrolyte balance, or to correct fluid volume deficits after excessive loss of body fluids, in patients unable to take sufficient volumes orally. Besides these uses, many medications are administered by intravenous infusion; An additional use is for prolonged nutritional support of patients. (Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000)

Laryngoscope - A medical device that consists of a handle, curved tongue depressor, light source, and a magnification source. It's typically used so a person can move aside the victim's tongue and open the throat. This exposes the larynx, and allows the doctor to insert a breathing tube (Intubate) or perform other procedures. It's typical made of surgical medical, allows it to be rigid and be sterlized as needed. (Dictionary.com)

Mouth-to-mouth Resuscitation - Keeping the victim's head back and chin up, pinch the nose. Form an air-tight seal with your mouth on the victim's mouth and give two slow breaths. The amount of breaths varies with the situation and size of the person. (Source: WebMD)

* The Red Cross is an excellent source to learn Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging - high frequency radio waves are beamed into the brain in a highly magnetized field that causes the protons that form in the nuclei of the hydrogen atoms in the brain to reemit the radio waves. The reemitted radio waves are analyzed by a computer to create thin cross-sectional views of the brain. The MRI provides the most detailed images of the brain and is safer than most imaging methods like X-rays, but the process is lengthy. Also people with peacemakers and metallic implants cannot use the MRI because those objects are adversely affected by the magnetic field. (Definition provided by Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia)

MRI Coil - Magnetic Resonance Imaging Coil - This is a smaller version of the MRI where if the doctor needs to look at the fingers, hands, or wrists, the doctor can use this instead of the larger machine. It's a small hollow tube that the doctor can bring to the patient's bed.

NG Tube (nasogastric tube) - a tube of soft rubber or plastic that is inserted through a nostril and into the stomach. The tube may be inserted for the purpose of instilling liquid foods or other substances, or for gastric decompression. Medications and feedings can be given through the tube. (Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000)

Organ Transplants - Transplanting organs isn't new, but the success rate is getting higher, and the amount of organs that can be transplanted continues to increase. Now doctors have successfully transplanted a face. They lifted the skin, lips, nose, and some muscles from the face of one person and transplanted it to another face. While the facial features do not come out looking like the donor's face, it's not to replace cosmetic surgery. It's being used to help patients with a face that's been disfigured through injury, defect or disease. Right now what can be transplanted are: bone marrow, cornea, muscle, tissue, skin, heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, lungs, ligaments, and intestine.

Doctors are now increasing the chance that the patient's body will take the organ, by giving the person a bone-marrow transplant from the donor. The bone marrow takes over a person's immune system and turns it into a duplicate of the donor's immune system. The organ isn't rejected because the blood tells the body the organ is still in the donor.

Pneumonia - inflammation of the lung with consolidation and exudation. One type of pneumonia is Bronchial Pneumonia (Bronchopneumonia). Bronchopneumonia is a less dramatic form of pneumonia that is more prevalent than lobar pneumonia. The area affected is usually smaller than in the lobar type. The inflammation is localized in or around the bronchi, and causes the lung to be spotted with clusters of infected tissue. The symptoms appear gradually and are usually milder than in lobar pneumonia. The temperature rises more slowly and does not go as high, and there is no crisis as in lobar pneumonia.

Lobar Pneumonia affects a segment or an entire lobe of the lung is called lobar pneumonia. When both lungs are affected, the disease is called bilateral, or double, pneumonia. Whole sections of the lung tissue become solidified by inflammatory material, so that air cannot enter the alveoli. A chest x-ray is usually made to confirm the diagnosis and determine the extent of the disease. Sputum cultures may be done to identify the causative organism. Lobar pneumonia strikes suddenly. The symptoms are a cough, sharp chest pains (due to accompanying "pleurisy" PLEURISY), blood-streaked or brownish sputum, and a high fever that generally starts with a chill. Pulse and respiration increase to almost twice their normal rates. There are other forms of pneumonia as well. (Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000)

For more information on pneumonia, click here.

Pulse - The number of heartbeats per minute. The resting pulse rate for an average adult is between 60 and 80 beats per minute. (Source: WebMD)

RotaGlide - This is an emulsion that is made of olive oil, egg yolk, phospholipids, glycerin, sodium hydroxide, water and some other safe things to act as a sterile lubricant. This allows the doctor, mostly working with heart patients, to insert catheters or stents for heart procedures, to insert them with less friction. This soluton hasn't been tested in other procedures but helps the doctor do his / her job better and faster.

Respirator - can mean a special mask, but in medical terms its' a device for administering long-term artificial respiration (Dictionary.com)

Respiratory Arrest - the lungs stop functioning voluntarily (Source:WebMD)

Safe Return Braclets - A system for monitoring patients with memory imparied diseases like dementia. The ID bracelet lets people around the person know their name and gives an ID number and phone number to call should that person become disoriented or lost.

Seizure - The brain controls how the body moves by sending out small electrical signals through the nerves to the muscles. Seizures, or convulsions, occur when the normal signals from the brain are changed. Seizures are different from person to person. Some people have only slight shaking of a hand and do not lose consciousness. Other people may become unconscious and have violent shaking of the entire body.

Shaking of the body, either mild or violent, does not always occur with seizures. Some people with seizures briefly lose touch with their surroundings and appear to stare into space. Although awake, the person does not respond normally. Afterwards, the person does not remember the episode. (Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000)

Shock - 1. a sudden disturbance of mental equilibrium. 2. a condition of acute peripheral circulatory failure due to derangement of circulatory control or loss of circulating fluid. It is marked by hypotension and coldness of the skin, and often by tachycardia and anxiety. Untreated shock can be fatal. (Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000)

Low-Volume (hypovolemic) Shock - This is a common form of shock that occurs when blood or plasma is lost in such quantities that the remaining blood cannot fill the circulatory system despite constriction of the blood vessels. The blood loss may be external, as when a vessel is severed by an injury, or the blood may be "lost" into spaces inside the body where it is no longer accessible to the circulatory system, as in severe gastrointestinal bleeding from ulcers, fractures of large bones with hemorrhage into surrounding tissues, or major burns that attract large quantities of blood fluids to the burn site outside blood vessels and capillaries. The treatment of low-volume shock requires replacement of the lost volume. (Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000)

For more information on shock, click here.

Stryker bed - This is also known the roto-rest bed. It allows the patient to be strapped in and turned around so they're lying on their stomach without having to be bodily moved onto the stomach. This bed is like being strapped between two beds. The first bed is underneith the patient, allowing the person to be faceup. The second bed is on the front of the person and it covers that person from just below the neck to below their feet. The person can be "turned over" to their stomach because the beds are connected to "rings" that move them. The head and neck are strapped to the back bed to keep both supported.

This is good for a person with long-term injuries that will confine them to a bed for a while. It allows the circulation to move through the body and help to allivate pressure on one side. It helps to keep blood clots and pressure sores at bay.

Sympathetic Ophthalmia - This is a rare but possible condition that afflicts someone who has had a severe eye injury to one eye. If the person loses sight in one eye because it's severely damaged but that eye is not removed. Because the 'bad eye' is still inside the body, the immune system triggers a response to 'get rid' of the 'bad eye' but in doing so attacks the good eye, and can cause total blindness. This is an extremly rare condition but is something a ophthalmologist will monitor for. If the disease is diagnosed, the person can either take immunosupressant drugs, steriods, or have the damaged eye removed and replaced with an artifical one.

Transfusion - the introduction of whole blood or blood components directly into the blood stream. Among the elements transfused are packed red blood cells, plasma, platelets, granulocytes, and cryoprecipitate, a plasma protein rich in antihemophilic Factor VIII. The current trend is to transfuse blood components rather than whole blood because by so doing the utility of each unit of blood can be extended and the treatment provided more nearly meets the specific needs of the patient. (Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000)

Unconscious - to be not conscious, asleep but lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory awareness (Source: Dictionary.com)

Vital signs - respiration, pulse, and blood pressure rates; can include pupil (eye) response to light, (Soure: WebMD)