Glossary of medicine

B

• vertebral column runs the length of the back and creates a central area of recession. The breadth of the back is created by the shoulders at the top and the pelvis
  at the bottom.
• feet, and may include numbness,^[54]
  or weakness in the legs and arms.
• Barotrauma – is injury caused by a pressure difference between tissues and a gas filled space.
• Basal
  • Anatomy: In the direction of the base. Antonym apical.
  • Physiology: Lowest sustained level or minimum level required, as in basal metabolic rate.
• type II diabetes, beta-cell mass and function are diminished, leading to insufficient insulin secretion and hyperglycemia.^[57]
• supinates the forearm. Both these movements are used when opening a bottle with a corkscrew: first biceps unscrews the cork (supination), then it pulls the cork out (flexion).^[58]
• supinates the forearm. Both these movements are used when opening a bottle with a corkscrew: first biceps unscrews the cork (supination), then it pulls the cork out (flexion).^[58]
• intestine
  .
• conjugated bilirubin. Some components are synthesised by hepatocytes (liver cells), the rest are extracted from the blood
  by the liver.
• Binge eating disorder – (BED), is an eating disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent binge eating episodes with associated negative psychological and social problems, but without subsequent purging episodes (e.g. vomiting). BED is a recently described condition,^[59] which was required to distinguish binge eating similar to that seen in bulimia nervosa but without characteristic purging. Individuals who are diagnosed with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder exhibit similar patterns of compulsive overeating, neurobiological features of dysfunctional cognitive control and food addiction, and biological and environmental risk factors.^[60] Indeed, some consider BED a milder version of bulimia, and that the conditions are on the same spectrum.^[61]
• Biological engineering – or bioengineering, or bio-engineering, is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products.^[62] Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number of pure and applied sciences,^[63] such as mass and heat transfer, kinetics, biocatalysts, biomechanics, bioinformatics, separation and purification processes, bioreactor design, surface science, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and polymer science. It is used in the design of medical devices, diagnostic equipment, biocompatible materials, renewable bioenergy, ecological engineering, agricultural engineering, and other areas that improve the living standards of societies.
• Biology – is the natural science that studies life and living organisms, including their physical structure, chemical processes, molecular interactions, physiological mechanisms, development and evolution.^[64]
• Biochemistry – sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms.^[65]
• information engineering, mathematics and statistics
  to analyze and interpret biological data.
• tissues
  for examination to determine the presence or extent of a disease.
• fishery; the collection, summarization, and analysis of data from those experiments; and the interpretation of, and inference from, the results. A major branch is medical biostatistics, which is exclusively concerned with medicine and health.^[66]
• Bipolar disorder – is a mental disorder that causes periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood^[67][68][69]
• Birth control – also known as contraception and fertility control, is a method or device used to prevent pregnancy.^[70]
• spread to other parts of the body.^[72][73] Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain with urination, and low back pain.^[71]
• mmHg), above the surrounding atmospheric pressure
  .
• Blood vessel – The blood vessels are the part of the circulatory system, and microcirculation, that transports blood throughout the human body.^[74]
• organ that constitutes part of the vertebrate skeleton. Bones support and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, and enable mobility. Bones come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have a complex internal and external structure. They are lightweight yet strong and hard, and serve multiple functions
  .
• marrow adipose tissue, and supportive stromal cells. In adult humans, bone marrow is primarily located in the ribs, vertebrae, sternum, and bones of the pelvis.^[77] On average, bone marrow constitutes 4% of the total body mass of humans; in an adult having 65 kilograms of mass (143 lb), bone marrow typically accounts for approximately 2.6 kilograms (5.7 lb).^[78]
• biceps, and, with the use of a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff) often used to measure the blood pressure
  .
• Brachial plexus – is a network of nerves formed by the ventral rami of the lower four cervical nerves and first thoracic nerve (C5, C6, C7, C8, and T1). This plexus extends from the spinal cord, through the cervicoaxillary canal in the neck, over the first rib, and into the armpit. It supplies afferent and efferent nerve fibers to the chest, shoulder, arm and hand.
• triceps brachii muscle
  .
• supination, depending on the position of the forearm. It is attached to the distal styloid process of the radius by way of the brachioradialis tendon, and to the lateral supracondylar ridge of the humerus
  .
• Bradycardia –is a condition typically defined wherein an individual has a resting heart rate of under 60 beats per minute (BPM) in adults.^[79]
• organ of the human nervous system, and with the spinal cord makes up the central nervous system. The brain consists of the cerebrum, the brainstem and the cerebellum. It controls most of the activities of the body, processing, integrating, and coordinating the information it receives from the sense organs, and making decisions as to the instructions sent to the rest of the body. The brain is contained in, and protected by, the skull bones of the head
  .
• tumors: malignant or cancerous tumors and benign tumors.^[80]
• Brain metastasis – is a cancer that has metastasized (spread) to the brain from another location in the body and is therefore considered a secondary brain tumor.^[81] The metastasis typically shares a cancer cell type with the original site of the cancer.^[82]
• ventral region of the torso of primates. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secretes milk to feed infants.^[83] Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. At puberty, estrogens, in conjunction with growth hormone, cause breast development
  in female humans and to a much lesser extent in other primates. Breast development in other primate females generally only occurs with pregnancy.
• dimpling of the skin, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a red or scaly patch of skin.^[85] In those with distant spread of the disease, there may be bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.^[86]
• Broca's area – or the Broca area, is a region in the frontal lobe of the dominant hemisphere, usually the left, of the brain^[87] with functions linked to speech production.
• conducting zone of the respiratory system
  . The bronchioles divide further into smaller terminal bronchioles which are still in the conducting zone and these then divide into the smaller respiratory bronchioles which mark the beginning of the respiratory region.
• Bronchus – A bronchi is a passage of airway in the respiratory system that conducts air into the lungs. The first bronchi to branch from the trachea are the right main bronchus and the left main bronchus. These are the widest and enter the lungs at each hilum, where they branch into narrower secondary bronchi known as lobar bronchi, and these branch into narrower tertiary bronchi known as segmental bronchi. Further divisions of the segmental bronchi are known as 4th order, 5th order, and 6th order segmental bronchi, or grouped together as subsegmental bronchi.^[88][89] The bronchi when too narrow to be supported by cartilage are known as bronchioles. No gas exchange takes place in the bronchi.
• turbulent flow of blood in an artery due to either an area of partial obstruction or a localized high rate of blood flow through an unobstructed artery.^[91]
• Bulimia nervosa – also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging.^[92] Binge eating refers to eating a large amount of food in a short amount of time.^[92] Purging refers to the attempts to get rid of the food consumed.^[92]
• gluteus medius muscles
  . Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to be taken off the feet while sitting.