Medications

Gastric cancer: Cancer of the stomach, the major organ that holds food for digestion. Worldwide, stomach cancer is the second most frequent cancer and the second leading cause of death from cancer. It can develop in any part of the stomach and spread...

Gastric banding - Medical

Gastric banding: A surgically implanted device used to help a person lose weight. In a surgical procedure, a band is placed around the upper part of the stomach, creating a small pouch that can hold only a small amount of food. The narrowed opening b...

Gastric atrophy - Medical

Gastric atrophy: A condition in which the stomach muscles shrink and become weak. It results in a lack of digestive juices. Gastritis: Inflammation of the stomach.Last Editorial Review: 4/27/2011 5:27:15 PM...

Gastric - Medical

Gastric: Having to do with the stomach.Last Editorial Review: 4/27/2011 5:27:15 PM...

Gastrectomy - Medical

Gastrectomy: Surgery to remove part of all of the stomach. Last Editorial Review: 4/27/2011 5:27:15 PM...

Gas, laughing - Medical

Gas, laughing: Nitrous oxide, a gas capable of causing general anesthesia. Today nitrous oxide is sometimes given in the company of other anesthetic agents but is no longer used as the sole anesthetic agent because the concentration of nitrous oxid...

Gas, intestinal - Medical

Gas, intestinal: The complaint referred to as "intestinal gas" is a common one and the discomfort can be quite significant. Everyone has gas and eliminates it by burping or passing it through the rectum. In many instances people think th...

Gas exchange - Medical

Gas exchange: The primary function of the lungs involving the transfer of oxygen from inhaled air into the blood and the transfer of carbon dioxide from the blood into the exhaled air. Last Editorial Review: 10/9/1999 9:02:00 PM Lungs: The lun...

Gas chromatography (GC) - Medical

Gas chromatography (GC): A type of automated chromatography (a technique used to separate mixtures of substances) in which the mixture to be analyzed is vaporized and carried by an inert gas through a special column and thence to a detection device....

Garlic - Medical

Garlic: A perennial herb of the lily family cultivated for its pungent, edible bulbs. Garlic has been used with the intention of lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Allergic reactions, skin inflammation, and stomach upset have been reported ...

Gargoylism - Medical

Gargoylism: From the French gargouille (waterspout), the word conveys the often-grotesque image of the medieval cathedral gargoyle. The term gargoylism was once applied to a condition today called Hurler syndrome. Last Editorial Review: 4/...

Gareis-Mason syndrome - Medical

Gareis-Mason syndrome: An inherited (genetic) syndrome with characteristic features including (1) neurologically: mental retardation and aphasia (lack of speech); (2) limbs: adducted (clasped) thumbs, absent extensor pollicis longus and/or bre...

Gap junction beta 2 - Medical

Gap junction beta 2: See: GJB2.Last Editorial Review: 7/21/2004 GJB2: A gene that provides instructions to make a protein called gap junction beta 2. Mutations in the GJB2 gene are responsible for autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive forms o...

Gap junction - Medical

Gap junction: An organized collections of protein channels in cell membranes that allows ions and small molecules to pass between adjacent cells. The protein channels that make up gap junctions consist of two connexons. One connexon resides in the me...

Gangrene - Medical

Gangrene: The death of body tissue due to the loss of blood supply to that tissue, sometimes permitting bacteria to invade it and accelerate its decay. The word "gangrene" comes from the Greek "ganggraina" denoting "an eating sore that ends in morti...

Ganglion - Medical

Ganglion: The celebrated 2nd century Greek physician Galen ((c. 130-201 A.D.) who lived and worked in Rome first used the word ganglion to denote a nerve complex. Ganglion still is used to refer to an aggregation of nerve cell bodies. Another use o...

Ganglia, basal - Medical

Ganglia, basal: A region located at the base of the brain composed of 4 clusters of neurons, or nerve cells. This area of the brain is responsible for body movement and coordination. The groups of neurons most prominently and consistently affected...

Gamma-OH - Medical

Gamma-OH:A European name for gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a colorless and odorless drug used illicitly for "recreational" purposes and for "date rape." GBH is a central nervous system depressant. It tends therefore to increase sociability and functio...

Gamma ray - Medical

Gamma ray: High-energy electromagnetic radiation emitted by certain radionuclides when their nuclei transition from a higher to a lower energy state. Gamma rays have high energy and a short wave length. All gamma rays emitted from a given isotope hav...

Gamma linolenic acid - Medical

Gamma linolenic acid: See: Gamma-linolenic acid.Last Editorial Review: 9/9/2004 Gamma-linolenic acid: Abbreviated GLA. An essential polyunsaturated fatty acid contained in some plant seed oils including evening primrose oil, black currant oil, and ...

Gamma knife - Medical

Gamma knife: A type of radiosurgery ( radiation therapy) machine that acts by focusing low-dosage gamma radiation from many sources on a precise target. Areas adjacent to the target receive only slight doses of radiation, while the target gets the fu...

Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) - Medical

Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB): Known in Europe as Gamma-OH, gamma hydroxybutyrate is a colorless and odorless drug used illicitly for "recreational" purposes and for "date rape." GBH is a central nervous system depressant. It tends therefore to increas...

Gamma globulin - Medical

Gamma globulin: A major class of immunoglobulins found in the blood, including many of the most common antibodies circulating in the blood. Also called immunoglobulin G (IgG). Last Editorial Review: 8/4/2002 12:19:01 PM...

Gametophobia - Medical

Gametophobia: An abnormal and persistent fear of being married. Sufferers of gametophobia experience undue anxiety even though they may rationally realize that the married state itself poses no threat to them. They may fear the challenge of living w...

Gametogenesis - Medical

Gametogenesis: The development and production of the male and female germ cells required to form a new individual. The male and female germ cells are called gametes. The gametes in human males are produced by the testes, two globe-shaped reproducti...

Gametic selection - Medical

Gametic selection: Preferential selection of gametes (germ cells -- sperm or eggs). Gametic selection is a mechanism of transmission distortion. Last Editorial Review: 4/13/2004 Transmission distortion: Distortion in the transmission of genes or ch...

Gametic - Medical

Gametic: Pertaining to the gamete (the sperm or eggs).Last Editorial Review: 4/13/2004 Gamete: The sperm or the egg. Each human gamete normally has 23 chromosomes, the haploid number of chromosomes, half the number of chromosomes contained in most...

Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) - Medical

Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT): A technique in which the male and female germ cells required to begin formation of a human embryo are injected into a woman's fallopian tubes of the female for fertilization. This technique is one of the m...

Gamete - Medical

Gamete: The sperm or the egg. Each human gamete normally has 23 chromosomes, the haploid number of chromosomes, half the number of chromosomes contained in most types of cells in the body.Last Editorial Review: 4/27/2011 5:27:15 PM...

Galton, Sir Francis - Medical

Galton, Sir Francis: English advocate of eugenics, the idea of improving the physical and mental makeup of the human species by selective parenthood. Galton coined the word "eugenics" to denote scientific endeavors to increase the proportion of p...