| palliative | 1. Affording relief, but not cure. 2. An alleviating medicine. Origin: L. Palliatus = cloaked (18 Nov 1997) |
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| palliative care | Treatment aimed at relieving symptoms and pain rather than effecting a cure. (13 Nov 1997) |
| palliative care physician | <specialist> A medically qualified specialist in the care of people with incurable disease where the focus is on symptom control and the enhancement of quality of life. (13 Nov 1997) |
| palliative therapy | <procedure> A procedure such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery that is performed to relieve or ease pain or other symptoms. (16 Dec 1997) |
| palliative treatment | <oncology> Treatment to relieve symptoms of the disease but not to cure it. Frequently takes the form of making the patient more comfortable through pain management. (16 Dec 1997) |
| abscopal effect | A reaction produced following irradiation but occurring outside the zone of actual radiation absorption. (05 Mar 2000) |
| additive effect | <biochemistry, chemistry> An additive effect is the overall biological effect two chemicals acting together and which is the simple sum of the effects of the chemicals acting independently. Compare: antagonism. (15 Jan 1998) |
| adverse effect | This is an abnormal or harmful effect to an organism caused by exposure to a chemical. It is indicated by some result such as death, a change in food or water consumption, altered body and organ weights, altered enzyme levels, or visible illness. An effect may be classed as adverse if it causes functional or anatomical damage, causes irreversible change in the homeostasis of the organism, or increases the susceptibility of the organism to other chemical or biological stress. A non-adverse effect will usually be reversed when the organism is no longer being exposed to the chemical. (09 Oct 1997) |
| Anrep effect | A small transient positive inotropic effect of abrupt increases of systolic aortic and left ventricular pressures related to recovery from transient subendocardial ischemia (e.g., cold pressor test). (05 Mar 2000) |
| antagonistic effect | This is the consequence of one chemical (or group of chemicals) counteracting the effects of another chemical, the opposing chemicals cancel out each other's effects. (09 Oct 1997) |
| Arias-Stella effect | Focal, unusual, decidual changes in endometrial epithelium, consisting of intraluminal budding, and nuclear enlargement and hyperchromatism with cytoplasmic swelling and vacuolation; may be associated with ectopic or uterine pregnancy. Synonym: Arias-Stella effect, Arias-Stella reaction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Auger effect | <physics> Transition of an electron in an atom from a discrete electronic level to an ionised continuous level with the same energy. Synonym: autoionisation. (13 Jan 1998) |
| autokinetic effect | In psychology, the apparent drifting about of a small, fixed, spot of light which is being observed in a dark room. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Bernoulli effect | <physics> The decrease in fluid pressure that occurs in converting potential to kinetic energy when motion of the fluid is accelerated, in accordance with Bernoulli's law. Applied in water aspirators, atomisers, and humidifiers in which a gas is accelerated across the end of a narrow, fluid-filled orifice. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Bohr effect | <physiology> Decrease in oxygen affinity of haemoglobin when pH decreases or concentration of carbon dioxide increases. (18 Nov 1997) |