Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

toxemia

(Encyclopedia)toxemia tŏksēˈmēə [key], disease state caused by the presence in the blood of bacterial toxins or other harmful substances. The effects of the bacterial toxins known as endotoxins are relatively ...

neostigmine

(Encyclopedia)neostigmine nēˌōstĭgˈmēn, –mĭn [key], drug used to mimic the effects of stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system. Along with several other drugs that have a similar mode of action, i...

tetanus

(Encyclopedia)tetanus tĕtˈnəs, –ənəs [key] or lockjaw, acute infectious disease of the central nervous system caused by the toxins of Clostridium tetani. The organism has a widespread distribution and is com...

tetany

(Encyclopedia)tetany tĕtˈənē [key], condition of mineral imbalance in the body that results in severe muscle spasms. Tetany occurs when the concentration of calcium ions (Ca++) in extracellular fluids such as p...

shock

(Encyclopedia)shock, any condition in which the circulatory system is unable to provide adequate circulation to the body tissues, also called circulatory failure or circulatory collapse. Shock results in the slowin...

Tay-Sachs disease

(Encyclopedia)Tay-Sachs disease tāˈ-săksˈ [key], rare hereditary disease caused by a genetic mutation that leaves the body unable to produce an enzyme necessary for fat metabolism in nerve cells, producing cent...

syphilis

(Encyclopedia)syphilis sĭfˈəlĭs [key], contagious sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum (described by Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffmann in 1905). Syphilis was not widely reco...

court system in the United States

(Encyclopedia)court system in the United States, judicial branches of the federal and state governments charged with the application and interpretation of the law. The U.S. court system is divided into two administ...

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...

brain

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Brain brain, the supervisory center of the nervous system in all vertebrates. It also serves as the site of emotions, memory, self-awareness, and thought. Brain research, now often referred ...