| cause of death | Factors which produce cessation of all vital bodily functions. They can be analyzed from an epidemiologic viewpoint. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| cause | That which produces an effect or condition; that by which a morbid change or disease is brought about. Origin: L. Causa (05 Mar 2000) |
| plaque and tartar cause | (12 Dec 1998) |
| constitutional cause | A cause acting from within or through some systemic process or inborn error. (05 Mar 2000) |
| precipitating cause | A factor that brings on the onset of manifestations of a disease process. (05 Mar 2000) |
| predisposing cause | Anything that produces a susceptibility or disposition to a condition without actually causing it. (05 Mar 2000) |
| proximate cause | The immediate cause that precipitates a condition. (05 Mar 2000) |
| specific cause | A cause the action of which definitely produces the condition in question. (05 Mar 2000) |
| necessary cause | An aetiological factor without which a result in question will not occur; the occurrence of the result is proof that the factor is operating. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sufficient cause | An aetiological factor that guarantees that a result in question will occur; non-occurrence of the result is proof that the factor is not operating. (05 Mar 2000) |
| exciting cause | The direct provoking cause of a condition. Synonym: procatarxis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| attitude to death | Conceptual response of the individual to the various aspects of death, which are based on his psychosocial and cultural experience. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Black Death | <disease, organism> Yersinina pestis is a gram-negative, rod-shaped, faculatively anaerobic bacterial species in the family Enterobacteriaceae. It causes bubonic plaque, which is transmitted by rodent fleas. Historically known as the Black Plague, this disease devastated Europe and Asia in the 1300s. It still exists today and is characterised by sudden high fever, chills, excessively swollen and tender lymph nodes (buboes), followed by tissue bleeding and gangrene. Other complications include pneumonia and septicaemia. (12 Nov 1997) |
| brain death | Total cessation of brain function for 24 hours as manifested by absence of spontaneous movement, absence of spontaneous respiration, and absence of all brainstem reflexes. (12 Dec 1998) |
| rate, death | The number of deaths in the population divided by the average population (or the population at midyear) is the crude death rate. In 1994, for example, the crude death rate per 1,000 population was 8.8 in the united states, 7.1 in Australia, etc. A death rate can also be tabulated according to age or cause. (12 Dec 1998) |