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birth defects

(Encyclopedia)birth defects, abnormalities in physical or mental structure or function that are present at birth. They range from minor to seriously deforming or life-threatening. A major defect of some type occurs...

brier

(Encyclopedia)brier or briar, name sometimes given any thorny plant, more specifically the sweetbrier, and the greenbrier. French brier, or brierroot, is a name for the root of the European white heath so widely us...

Health and Human Services, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Health and Human Services, United States Department of, federal executive department charged with administering government health programs. Successor to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfar...

Health, Education, and Welfare, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Health, Education, and Welfare, United States Department of: see Education, United States Department of; Health and Human Services, United States Department of. ...

sun dance

(Encyclopedia)sun dance, ceremony typical of the Plains Indians of North America. The ceremony was performed in the summer and lasted from two to eight days. Some of the ceremony was secret. Smoking, fasting, and o...

hypertension

(Encyclopedia)hypertension or high blood pressure, elevated blood pressure resulting from an increase in the amount of blood pumped by the heart or from increased resistance to the flow of blood through the small a...

menopause

(Encyclopedia)menopause klīmăkˈtərĭk, klīˌmăktĕrˈĭk [key], transitional phase in a woman's life when the ovaries stop releasing eggs, ovarian production of estrogen and other hormones tapers off, and men...

Ciudad Guzmán

(Encyclopedia)Ciudad Guzmán syo͞o-ᵺäᵺˈ go͞osmänˈ [key], city, Jalisco state, SW Mexico. ...

COVID-19

(Encyclopedia)COVID-19, contagious viral disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus that is genetically related to SARS-CoV, which causes SARS. Symptoms generall...

herbal medicine

(Encyclopedia)herbal medicine, use of natural plant substances (botanicals) to treat and prevent illness. The practice has existed since prehistoric times and flourishes today as the primary form of medicine for pe...