| fish venoms | Venoms produced by fishes, including sharks and sting rays, usually delivered by spines. They contain various substances, including very labile toxins that affect the heart specifically and all muscles generally. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| flying fish | <zoology> A fish which is able to leap from the water, and fly a considerable distance by means of its large and long pectoral fins. These fishes belong to several species of the genus Exocoetus, and are found in the warmer parts of all the oceans. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lance fish | <zoology> A slender marine fish of the genus Ammodytes, especially Ammodytes tobianus of the English coast. Synonym: sand lance. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| forage fish | <marine biology> Fish species that as adults are small enough to be prey of larger species, often nongame fish. (03 Apr 1998) |
| achlorhydric anaemia | A form of chronic hypochromic microcytic anaemia associated with achlorhydria or achylia gastrica; observed most frequently in women in the third to fifth decades. Synonym: Faber's anaemia, Faber's syndrome. (05 Mar 2000) |
| achrestic anaemia | A form of chronic progressive macrocytic anaemia that can be fatal in which the changes in bone marrow and circulating blood closely resemble those of pernicious anaemia, but in which there is only transient or no response to therapy with vitamin B12; glossitis, gastrointestinal disturbances, central nervous system disease, and pyrexia are not observed, and there is only little bleeding or haemolysis. Origin: G. A-priv. + chresis, a using (05 Mar 2000) |
| acquired haemolytic anaemia | Nonhereditary acute or chronic anaemia associated with or caused by extracorpuscular factors, e.g., certain infectious agents, chemicals (including autoantibodies or therapeutic agents), burns, toxic materials from higher plant and animal forms (including snake venoms). (05 Mar 2000) |
| addisonian anaemia | <haematology> A form of anaemia (low red blood cell counts) that results when the bone marrow fails to produce adequate numbers of red blood cells due to a deficiency in vitamin B12. Intrinsic factor, necessary for normal B12 absorption, may be the underlying cause for B12 deficiency if is not produced in the gastric glands (in the stomach). Origin: Gr. Haima = blood (27 Sep 1997) |
| Addison's anaemia | <haematology> A form of anaemia (low red blood cell counts) that results when the bone marrow fails to produce adequate numbers of red blood cells due to a deficiency in vitamin B12. Intrinsic factor, necessary for normal B12 absorption, may be the underlying cause for B12 deficiency if is not produced in the gastric glands (in the stomach). Origin: Gr. Haima = blood (27 Sep 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, 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 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, haemolytic | Anaemia due to decreased life span of erythrocytes. (12 Dec 1998) |