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Gaucher's disease

(Encyclopedia)Gaucher's disease gōshāzˈ [key], rare genetic disease involving a deficiency of an enzyme, glucocerebrosidase, which normally breaks down certain body glycolipids (i.e., lipids (fats) that have a s...

fever

(Encyclopedia)fever, elevation of body temperature above the normal level, which in humans is about 98℉ (37℃) when measured orally. Fever is considered to be a symptom of a disorder rather than a disease in its...

food poisoning

(Encyclopedia)food poisoning, acute illness following the eating of foods contaminated by bacteria, bacterial toxins, natural poisons, or harmful chemical substances. It was once customary to classify all such illn...

multiple sclerosis

(Encyclopedia)multiple sclerosis (MS), chronic, slowly progressive autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks the protective myelin sheaths that surround the nerve cells of the brain and spinal co...

congenital heart disease

(Encyclopedia)congenital heart disease, any defect in the heart present at birth. There is evidence that some congenital heart defects are inherited, but the cause of most cases is unknown. One known cause is infec...

scopolamine

(Encyclopedia)scopolamine hīˈəsēnˌ, –sĭn [key], alkaloid drug obtained from plants of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), chiefly from henbane, Hyoscyamus niger. Structurally similar to the nerve substance ...

paranoia

(Encyclopedia)paranoia prˌənoiˈə [key], in psychology, a term denoting persistent, unalterable, systematized, logically reasoned delusions, or false beliefs, usually of persecution or grandeur. In the former ca...

sphere of influence

(Encyclopedia)sphere of influence, term formerly applied to an area over which an outside power claims hegemony with the intention of subsequently gaining more definite control, as in colonization, or with the inte...

blood test

(Encyclopedia)blood test, examination of blood routinely or as an aid in diagnosing a suspected disease. Tests may be performed on whole blood or on the plasma portion only. Blood typing identifies the proteins at ...

ladybird beetle

(Encyclopedia)ladybird beetle or ladybug, member of a cosmopolitan beetle family with over 4,000 species, including 350 species in the United States. Ladybird beetles are mostly under 1⁄4 in. (6 mm) long and are ...