Copy of `Making Sense of Health - Secondary students information`

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Making Sense of Health - Secondary students information Category: Health and Medicine Date & country: 15/12/2007, UK Words: 207

Y chromosome
Human sex chromosome causing maleness

X-SCID
Rare genetic disorder in which the immune system doesn`t work (bubble-babies)

X chromosome
Human sex chromosome; males have one, females have two

XY
The pair of sex chromosomes found in human males. The Y chromosome is shorter than the X

Womb
(Uterus) Where a baby develops before birth

XX
The pair of sex chromosomes found in human females

White blood cell
A cell in blood that helps to destroy microorganisms and the toxins they produce

Weight-bearing exercise
Exercise in which the limbs bear all your weight â€` good for bone strength

Vitamin
Substance in food, which we need in small amounts for cells to stay healthy

Ventricles
The two thick-walled lower chambers of the heart

Virus
A microorganism that can only live inside other cells

Vein
A blood vessel that carries blood towards the heart

Valve
This stops blood flowing the wrong way

Vaccinated
(Immunisation) Injected with a weakened disease organism, a vaccine, to make a person immune to that disease

Vagina
Opening of the human female reproductive system

Urine
The liquid containing water, salts and urea excreted by the kidneys

Uterus
(Womb) Where a baby develops before birth

Ultrasound scanner
A device that uses sound signals used to see inside the body

Treatment
Using drugs, chemotherapy, radiotherapy etc. to try to make a patient better

Thorax
The chest; the part of the body which contains the heart and lungs

Termination
(Abortion) Ending a pregnancy

Therapeutic cloning
Cloning of stem cells, e.g. from embryos, cord blood, etc. to provide cells for treating disorders such as diabetes, Parkinson`s and Alzheimer`s

Stimulant
Drug that speeds up the way your body works

Symptom
What a patient feels and describes about a disease, such as a headache or nausea

Stethoscope
Instrument that doctors use to listen to breathing, heartbeat etc.

Stem cells
Immature cells with the potential to develop into specialised cells

Sperm
Male sex cell or gamete

Spinal muscular atrophy
(SMA) Genetic disorder of the nervous system that affects coordination

SMA
(Spinal muscular atrophy) Genetic disorder of the nervous system that affects coordination

Sickle cell disorder
An inherited disorder of the red blood cells caused by a recessive allele

Sexually transmitted infection
(STI) Infection passed on during sexual intercourse or contact

Sexual reproduction
Reproduction in which two gametes join to form a new cell; the offspring produced vary

Sex-linked disorder
A disorder such as haemophilia caused by a gene on the non-paired part of a sex chromosome. The inheritance pattern is different in males and females

Sex cells
(Gametes) Cells that join in sexual reproduction. They have half the normal number of chromosomes

SCID
(Severe Combined Immunodeficiency) A genetic disorder of the immune system

Respiration
The breakdown of food to release energy in living cells

Risk factors
Factors that increase the likelihood of something happening; so smoking is a risk factor for cancer and heart disease

Resistance training
Training to increase muscle size and strength such as weight training

Reproductive cloning
Cloning to produce genetic copies of organisms by dividing early embryos or by replacing the nucleus of a fertilised egg cell with a nucleus from a body cell

Red blood cell
A cell in blood which carries oxygen as oxyhaemoglobin

Recovery time
The time it takes for your pulse rate to fall back to normal after exercise

Pulse rate
The rate of heart beat

Radiotherapy
Using radiation to treat a patient

Recessive allele
An allele that does not show up if the dominant allele is present

Pulse
The stretching of an artery each time your heart beats

Protein
The part of your food that you need for growth and repair

Puberty
When boys and girls start to make sex cells and are able to reproduce

Primary health care
Care in the community at the first point of contact with a health team

Prenatal diagnosis
(PND) Genetic testing of cells obtained by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling

Prescription drug
Drug available only on prescription from a doctor or other authorised person

Pregnant
Expecting a baby

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
(PGD) Used with IVF. Eggs are fertilised outside the body and the embryos are tested for genetic disorders

Pregnancy
The time between fertilisation and the birth of a baby

PND
(Prenatal diagnosis) Genetic testing of cells obtained by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling

Platelets
Bits of cells needed for clotting blood

Placenta
Organ through which a fetus gets food and oxygen and gets rid of waste

Penis
Organ in male reproductive system

PGD
(Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) Used with IVF. Eggs are fertilised outside the body and the embryos are tested for genetic disorders

Penicillin
An antibiotic made by a mould called Penicillium

Passive smoking
Breathing in someone else`s tobacco smoke

Peer pressure
Pressure from people your own age to join in with what they do

Parasite
A living thing that feeds on or in another living thing, e.g. a malaria parasite

Ovum
(Ova (plural)) An egg cell

Oxygenated blood
Blood containing plenty of oxygen as oxyhaemoglobin

Oxyhaemoglobin
Chemical formed when oxygen joins with haemoglobin in red blood cells

Overweight
Someone with large fat stores in the body, but less than obese

Ovary
An organ that makes female sex cells, and the hormones oestrogen and progesterone

Opiate
Drugs derived from the opium poppy, such as heroin, that are both depressants and hallucinogens

Nucleus
The part of a cell that controls what happens in the cell; it contains the chromosomes

Nutrition
Obtaining the materials needed for energy and making new cells

Obese
Someone with excessive fat stores in the body; a risk to health

Nerve impulse
How information passes along a nerve fibre; like a tiny electrical charge

Nicotine
The addictive drug in tobacco

Nerve fibre
Part of a nerve cell that carries nerve impulses

Mutant
(Mutate, Mutation) An organism with a change in a chromosome or a gene

Muscle
Tissue or organ made of muscle cells, which contract to do work

Multi-factorial disorder
Disorder caused by a combination of factors, genetic and environmental/lifestyle, e.g. heart disease

Miscarriage
Loss of an unborn baby - a natural abortion

Mucus
Sticky fluid made by some cells, e.g. in the bronchi to trap microbes and dirt

Mineral
In the diet it is an essential nutrient such as iron or calcium

Microbes
(Microorganisms) Microscopic living things

Microbiologist
Person who does work or research on microorganisms

Menstruation
(Period) Loss of lining of the uterus (womb) about once a month if an egg cell is not fertilised

Meningococcal septicaemia
Life-threatening infection in which meningococcal bacteria release toxins that poison the blood

Menstrual cycle
Monthly cycle controlled by hormones in the human female reproductive system

Meningitis
Inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. Can be cause by bacteria or viruses

Meningococcal meningitis
Meningitis caused by bacteria called meningococci {meningococcal bacteria)

Lungs
Organs for gas exchange between the air and the blood

Malaria
A disease caused by a parasite spread by Anopheles mosquitoes; it kills many people

LDL cholesterol
A fat in the body, sometimes called bad cholesterol because too much in the blood increases the risk of heart disease

Lifestyle
Way of life in terms of diet, exercise, smoking etc.

Iron
Mineral needed for making the haemoglobin in red blood cells

Inherited characteristic
Feature that is inherited, or passed on, from parents

Inherit
(Inheritance) Passing on of genes from parents

Infection
When microorganisms get into your body and cause a disease

Implantation
The settling of an embryo in the lining of the uterus (womb)

In-vitro fertilisation
(IVF) Fertilisation of eggs outside the body (to produce so-called test tube babies)

Immunity
When your body stops you catching a particular infection

Huntington`s disease
An inherited disorder of the nervous system caused by a dominant allele

Human genome project
Project to map the human genome