| anadidymus | Synonym: duplicitas posterior. Origin: G. Ana, up, + didymos, twin (05 Mar 2000) |
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| anadipsia | Rarely used term for extreme thirst. See: polydipsia. Origin: G. Ana, intensive, + dipsa, thirst (05 Mar 2000) |
| anadrenalism | Complete lack of adrenal function. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anadrom | <zoology> A fish that leaves the sea and ascends rivers. Origin: Cf. F. Anadrome. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| anadromous | Moving from the sea to fresh water for reproduction. (09 Oct 1997) |
| anadromous fish | Anadromous fish means fish which spawn in fresh water and spend a portion of their lives in the ocean. (09 Oct 1997) |
| anaemia | <haematology> Too few red blood cells in the bloodstream, resulting in insufficient oxygen to tissues and organs. Origin: Gr. Haima = blood (16 Dec 1997) |
| anaemia gravis | <haematology> This form of anaemia occurs when the bone marrow ceases sufficient red and white blood cell production. It may be induced by exposures to high levels of toxic chemicals, radiation and certain drugs. It is generally unresponsive to specific therapy, often accompanied by granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia, in which the bone marrow may not necessarily be hypocellular or hypoplastic but fails to produce adequate numbers of peripheral blood elements. The term actually is all inclusive and most probably encompasses several clinical syndromes. Origin: Gr. Haima = blood (29 Sep 1997) |
| anaemia neonatorum | <haematology> A condition which develops in the foetus due to an incompatibility between the mother's blood type (RH factor) and the baby's. Maternal antibodies, which enter the foetal circulation during delivery attack the baby's red blood cells leading to haemolysis (rupture of the cells). Symptoms include an infant with an enlarged liver and spleen, swelling, jaundice and anaemia. (27 Sep 1997) |
| anaemia of chronic disease | <disease> A form of anaemia which develops as the result of a long-term infection or illness. Chronic diseases can interfere with red blood cell production in addition to shortening red blood cell life span in the body. Symptoms are largely due to the underlying disease. Haemoglobin and haematocrit are generally low. Iron studies may be low to normal. Red blood cell indices may usually normal. (27 Sep 1997) |
| anaemia, aplastic | A form of anaemia in which the bone marrow fails to produce adequate numbers of peripheral blood elements. (12 Dec 1998) |
| anaemia, Cooley's | Better known today as thalassaemia (or as beta thalassaemia or thalassaemia major).The clinical picture of this important type of anaemia was first described in 1925 by the paediatrician Thomas Benton Cooley. Another name for the disease is Mediterranean anaemia. The name thalassaemia was coined by the Nobel Prise winning pathologist George Whipple and the professor of paediatrics Wm Bradford at Univ. Of Rochester because thalassa in Greek means the sea (like the Mediterrranean Sea) + -aemia means in the blood so thalassaemia means sea in the blood. Thalassaemia is not just one disease. It is a complex contingent of genetic (inherited) disorders all of which involve underproduction of haemoglobin, the indispensable molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen. The globin part of normal adult haemoglobin is made up of 2 alpha and 2 beta polypeptide chains. In beta thalassaemia, there is a mutation (change) in both beta globin chains leading to underproduction (or absence) of beta chains, underproduction of haemoglobin, and profound anaemia. The gene for beta thalassaemia is relatively frequent in people of Mediterranean origin (for example, from Italy and Greece). Children with this disease inherit one gene for it from each parent. The parents are carriers (heterozygotes) with just one thalassaemia gene, are said to have thalassaemia minor, and are essentially normal. Their children affected with beta thalassaemia seem entirely normal at birth because at birth we still have predominantly foetal haemoglobin which does not contain beta chains. The anaemia surfaces in the first few months after birth and becomes progressively more severe leading to pallor and easy fatiguability, failure to thrive (grow), bouts of fever (due to infections) and diarrhoea. Treatment based on blood transfusions is helpful but not curative. Gene therapy will, it is hoped, be applicable to this disease. (12 Dec 1998) |
| anaemia, dyserythropoietic, congenital | A familial disorder characterised by anaemia with multinuclear erythroblasts, karyorrhexis, asynchrony of nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation, and various nuclear abnormalities of bone marrow erythrocyte precursors. Type II is the most common of the 3 types of congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia; it is often referred to as hempas, based on the hereditary erythroblast multinuclearity with positive acidified serum test. (12 Dec 1998) |
| anaemia, haemolytic | Anaemia due to decreased life span of erythrocytes. (12 Dec 1998) |
| anaemia, haemolytic, autoimmune | Acquired haemolytic anaemia due to the presence of autoantibodies which agglutinate or lyse the patient's own red cells. (12 Dec 1998) |