| vital ultraviolet | Rays necessary or helpful to normal growth; they promote calcium metabolism, are antirachitic in action, and have wavelengths between 3200 and 2900 A |
|---|---|
| noeud vital | A circumscript region in the lower part of the medulla oblongata, near the apex of the calamus scriptorius, interpreted by M. Flourens (1858) as a nerve centre controlling respiration. Synonym: vital knot, vital node. Origin: Fr. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electro-vital | Derived from, or dependent upon, vital processes; said of certain electric currents supposed by some physiologists to circulate in the nerves of animals. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| forced vital capacity | Vital capacity measured with the subject exhaling as rapidly as possible; data relating volume, expiratory flow, and time form the basis for other pulmonary function tests, e.g., flow-volume curve, forced expiratory volume, forced expiratory time, forced expiratory flow. (05 Mar 2000) |
| agitated depression | Depression with excitement and restlessness. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anaclitic depression | Impairment of an infant's physical, social, and intellectual development following separation from its mother or from a mothering surrogate; characterised by listlessness, withdrawal, and anorexia. See: hospitalism. (05 Mar 2000) |
| angle of depression | <orthopaedics> The angle formed by the meeting of a line drawn through the shaft of the femur with one passing through the long axis of the femoral neck; normally it is about 127 |
| major depression | A clinical syndrome that includes a persistent sad mood or loss of interest in activities that persists for at least 2 weeks in the absence of external precipitants. This should not be confused with a grief reaction (death of loved one). Features may include change in eating habits, insomnia, early morning wakening, lack of interest, depressed mood, fatigue and suicidal thoughts. (27 Sep 1997) |
| manic-depression | Alternating moods of abnormal highs (mania) and lows (depression). Called bipolar disease because of the swings between these opposing poles in mood. (12 Dec 1998) |
| reactive depression | A psychological state occasioned directly by an intensely sad external situation (frequently loss of a loved person), relieved by the removal of the external situation (e.g., reunion with a loved person). (05 Mar 2000) |
| clinical depression | <psychiatry> A clinical syndrome that includes a persistent sad mood or loss of interest in activities that persists for at least 2 weeks in the absence of external precipitants. This should not be confused with a grief reaction (death of loved one). Features may include change in eating habits, insomnia, early morning wakening, lack of interest, depressed mood, fatigue and suicidal thoughts. (27 Sep 1997) |
| postdrive depression | <cardiology, physiology> Slowing of the heart, often with a rate-dependent blockade of A-V conduction and/or V-A conduction following rapid atrial stimulation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| pterygoid depression | A depression on the antero-medial side of the neck of the condylar process of the mandible, giving attachment to the lateral pterygoid muscle. Synonym: fovea pterygoidea, pterygoid depression, pterygoid pit. (05 Mar 2000) |
| spreading depression | A decrease of activity evoked by local stimulation of the cerebral cortex and spreading slowly over the whole cortex. (05 Mar 2000) |
| nonreactive depression | <psychiatry> A clinical syndrome that includes a persistent sad mood or loss of interest in activities that persists for at least 2 weeks in the absence of external precipitants. This should not be confused with a grief reaction (death of loved one). Features may include change in eating habits, insomnia, early morning wakening, lack of interest, depressed mood, fatigue and suicidal thoughts. (12 Mar 1998) |