| cancer, multiple myeloma | A bone marrow cancer involving a type of white blood cell called a plasma (or myeloma) cell. The tumour cells can form a single collection (a plasmacytoma) or many tumours (multiple myeloma). Plasma cells are part of the immune system and make antibodies. Because patients have an excess of identical plasma cells, they have too much of one type of antibody. As myeloma cells increase in number, they damage and weaken the bones, causing pain and often fractures. When bones are damaged, calcium is released into the blood leading to hypercalcaemia (excess calcium in the blood) and that causes loss of appetite, nausea, thirst, fatigue, muscle weakness, restlessness, and confusion. Myeloma cells prevent the bone marrow from forming normal plasma cells and other white blood cells important to the immune system so patients may not be able to fight infections. The cancer cells can also prevent the growth of new red blood cells, causing anaemia. Excess antibody proteins and calcium may prevent the kidneys from filtering and cleaning the blood properly Cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: A lymphoma is a cancer that develops in the lymphatic system. The most common symptom of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas is a painless swelling in the lymph nodes in the neck, underarm, or groin. Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are diagnosed with a biopsy of an enlarged lymph node. Follow-up examinations are important after lymphoma treatment. Most relapses occur in the first 2 years after therapy. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| chromosomes in multiple miscarriages | Couples who have had more than one miscarriage (spontaneous abortion) have about a 5% chance that one member of the couple is carrying a chromsome translocation responsible for the miscarriages. (12 Dec 1998) |
| miscarriages, multiple, chromosomes in | Couples who have had more than one miscarriage have about a 5% chance that one member of the couple is carrying a chromsome translocation responsible for the miscarriages. (12 Dec 1998) |
| multiple | Manifold, occurring in or affecting various parts of the body at once. Origin: L. Multiplex (18 Nov 1997) |
| multiple alcohol | An alcohol containing more than one OH group. (05 Mar 2000) |
| multiple amputation | Amputation of two or more limbs or parts of limbs performed at the same operation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| multiple anchorage | Anchorage in which more than one type of resistance unit is utilised. Synonym: reinforced anchorage. (05 Mar 2000) |
| multiple birth offspring | The offspring in multiple pregnancies (pregnancy, multiple): twins, triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, etc. (12 Dec 1998) |
| multiple carboxylase deficiency | Abnormalities in carbohydrate and branched-chain amino acid catabolism that are responsive to biotin therapy. It may be due to deficiency of propionyl-CoA carboxylase, methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase, biotinidase, or propionyl-CoA carboxylase, methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase, and pyruvate carboxylase. (12 Dec 1998) |
| multiple chemical sensitivity | An acquired disorder characterised by recurrent symptoms, referable to multiple organ systems, occurring in response to demonstrable exposure to many chemically unrelated compounds at doses far below those established in the general population to cause harmful effects. No single widely accepted test of physiologic function can be shown to correlate with symptoms. (cullen mr. The worker with multiple chemical sensitivities: an overview. Occup med 1987;2(4):655-61) (12 Dec 1998) |
| multiple cloning site | Region of a phage or plasmid vector that has been engineered to contain a series of restriction sites that are usually unique within the entire vector. This makes it particularly easy to insert or excise (subclone) DNA fragments. (18 Nov 1997) |
| multiple drug resistant tuberculosis | A strain of TB that does not respond to two or more standard anti-TB drugs. MDR-TB usually occurs when treatment is interrupted thus allowing mutations in the organism to occur that confer drug resistance. (09 Oct 1997) |
| multiple ego states | Various psychological organizational state's reflecting different personas or life experiences. (05 Mar 2000) |
| multiple embolism | Embolism caused by the arrest of a number of small emboli. (05 Mar 2000) |
| multiple endocrine adenomatosis | The presence of functioning tumours in more than one endocrine gland, commonly the pancreatic islets and parathyroid glands, which may be associated with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome; dominant inheritance. Synonym: multiple endocrine adenomatosis. (05 Mar 2000) |