Copy of `Dorland's Medical Dictionary`

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Dorland's Medical Dictionary Category: Health and Medicine > Medical Dictionary Date & country: 31/12/2010, USA Words: 39128

milieu therapy
psychotherapy that provides an environment and activities appropriate to the patient's emotional and interpersonal needs.

milium
(mil´e-әm) a white nodule in the skin, especially of the face, usually 1 to 4 mm in diameter, a spheroidal epithelial cyst of lamellated keratin just under the epidermis, often associated with vellus hair follicles. Those in the newborn usually appear on the nose and sometimes the cheeks for several weeks after bi...

milk
(milk) a nutrient fluid produced by the mammary gland of many animals for nourishment of young mammals. a liquid (emulsion or suspension) resembling the secretion of the mammary gland. adj., lac´tic, mil´ky., adj.

milk anemia
iron deficiency anemia in infants fed a diet of only milk; see cow's milk anemia and goat's milk anemia.

milk ducts
lactiferous ducts.

milk ejection reflex
milk let-down reflex let-down reflex.

milk fever
a fever said to attend the establishment of lactation after delivery. an endemic fever said to be caused by the use of unwholesome cow's milk.

milk line
mammary ridge.

milk of magnesia
a suspension of magnesium hydroxide, used as an antacid and laxative.

milk poisoning
milk sickness acute, often fatal poisoning in humans who drink milk, or eat milk products or meat, from cattle or sheep that were poisoned by eating plants containing tremetol; the human disease is marked by weakness, anorexia, vomiting, constipation, and sometimes muscular tremors.

milk spots
milky spots whitish spots of fibrous thickening seen on the visceral layer of the pericardium in postmortem examination. aggregations of macrophages in the omentum or the subserous layer of the pleura and peritoneum.

milk tooth
predeciduous tooth. neonatal tooth. deciduous tooth.

milk-alkali syndrome
kidney damage and elevated blood calcium levels owing to prolonged excessive ingestion of milk and absorbable alkali.

milker's node virus
pseudocowpox virus.

milker's nodules
hard circumscribed nodules on the hands of those who milk cows affected with cowpox.

Milkman syndrome
(milk´man) a generalized bone disease marked by multiple transparent stripes of absorption in the long and flat bones.

mill fever
fever and nausea in cotton mill workers, a rare manifestation of byssinosis. Called also cotton-mill fever. byssinosis.

Millard-Gubler paralysis
(me-yahr´ goo-bla´) Millard-Gubler syndrome crossed paralysis, affecting the limbs on one side of the body and the face on the opposite side, together with paralysis of outward movement of the eye; it is due to infarction of the pons, involving the sixth and seventh cranial nerves and the fibers of the corticospina...

Miller disease
(mil´әr) osteomalacia.

Miller Fisher syndrome
(mil´әr fish´әr) Fisher syndrome. (def. 1). one-and-a-half syndrome.

Miller syndrome
(mil´әr) a syndrome of extensive facial and limb defects, characterized by malar hypoplasia, downslanting palpebral fissures, micrognathia, cleft lip and palate, cup-shaped ears, lower lid ectropion, postaxial limb deficiencies, and syndactyly. Less frequently present are heart defects and hearing loss. The ...

Miller-Abbott tube
(mil´әr ab´әt) a double-channel intestinal tube with an inflatable balloon at its distal end, used for diagnosing and treating obstructive lesions of the small intestine. The tube is inserted via a nostril and gently passed through the stomach and into the small intestine. This tube is often used in treatmen...

Miller-Dieker syndrome
(mil´әr de´kәr) an autosomal recessive syndrome characterized by lissencephaly, microcephaly, mental retardation, dysmorphic facial appearance, and sometimes polydactyly, cryptorchidism, heart lesions, kidney defects, and defects of the gastrointestinal system. It is caused by hemizygous deletion of chromosome ...

miller's lung
a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis seen in those who work with grains or flours contaminated with the wheat weevil.

milliamperage
(mil″e-am´per-ij) in radiography, the x-ray tube current during an exposure, measured in milliamperes.

milliampere
(mA) (mil″e-am´pēr) one thousandth (10−3) of an ampere.

milliampere-second
(mAs) a unit of radiographic exposure equal to the product of the milliamperage and the exposure time in seconds.

milliequivalent
(mEq) (mil″e-e-kwiv´ә-lәnt) one thousandth (10−3) of a chemical equivalent (see equivalent weight). Concentrations of electrolytes are often expressed as milliequivalents per liter, which is an expression of the chemical combining power of the electrolyte in a fluid.

milligram
(mg) (mil´ĭ-gram) one thousandth (10−3) of a gram.

milliliter
(mL) (mil´ĭ-le″tәr) one thousandth (10−3) of a liter.

millimeter
(mm) (mil´ĭ-me″tәr) one thousandth (10−3) of a meter; equivalent to 0.039 inch.

millimolar
(mM) (mil´ĭ-mo″lәr) denoting a concentration of 1 millimole per liter.

millimole
(mmol) (mil´ĭ-mōl) one thousandth (10−3) of a mole (see mole1).

Millin operation
a formerly common method of radical retropubic prostatectomy.

milliosmole
(mOsm) (mil″e-os´mōl) one thousandth (10−3) of an osmole.

millirad
(mrad) (mil´ĭ-rad) one thousandth (10−3) of a rad.

millirem
(mrem) (mil´ĭ-rem) one thousandth (10−3) of a rem.

milliroentgen
(mR) (mil´ĭ-rent″gәn) one thousandth (10−3) of a roentgen.

millisecond
(ms) (mil´ĭ-sek″әnd) one thousandth (10−3) of a second.

millivolt
(mV) (mil´ĭ-vōlt) one thousandth (10−3) of a volt.

Millon test
(for proteins and nitrogenous compounds) a solution of 10 g of mercury and 20 g of nitric acid is diluted with water and decanted after standing 24 hours. This reagent gives a red color with proteins and other substances, such as tyrosine, phenol, and thymol, which contain the hydroxyphenyl group.

Mills test
(for tennis elbow) with the wrist and fingers fully flexed and the forearm pronated, complete extension of the elbow is painful.

milrinone
(mil´rĭ-nōn) a cardiotonic used in treatment of congestive heart failure.

Milroy disease
(mil´roi) congenital lymphedema.

Miltown
(mil´toun) trademark for a preparation of meprobamate, an antianxiety agent.

mimesis
(mĭ-me´sis) the simulation of one disease by another.

mimetic
(mĭ-met´ik) pertaining to or exhibiting imitation or simulation, as of one disease for another.

mimetic paralysis
paralysis of the facial muscles.

mimic
(mim´ik) pertaining to imitation or simulation. one who imitates, or that which imitates. to imitate or simulate.

min.
minim; minimum; minute.

Minamata disease
(me″nah-mah´tah) a severe neurologic disorder due to mercury poisoning, leading to severe permanent neurologic and mental disabilities or death; it was formerly common in persons who ate seafood from the contaminated waters of Minamata Bay, Japan.

mind
(mīnd) the organ or seat of consciousness; the faculty by which one is aware of surroundings and by which one is able to experience emotions, remember, reason, and make decisions. the organized totality of an organism's mental and psychological processes, conscious and unconscious. the c...

mind-body medicine
a holistic approach to medicine that takes into account the effect of the mind on physical processes, including the effects of psychosocial stressors and conditioning, particularly as they affect the immune system; many of the therapeutic techniques used have as their purpose increasing the body's natural resistance to di...

miner's lung
coal workers' pneumoconiosis.

mineral
(min´әr-әl) general term for any of numerous nonorganic, homogeneous, solid substances, including some consisting of just one element and others that are chemical compounds. any of the nonorganic substances that are essential to health and must be obtained in the diet. Calcium, iron, and iodine...

mineral oil
a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons from petroleum, available in both light grade (light liquid petrolatum) and heavier grades (liquid or heavy liquid petrolatum). Light mineral oil is used chiefly as a vehicle for drugs, but it may also be used as a cathartic, skin softener, and cleansing agent. Heavy mineral oil is used as a cathartic...

mineralization
(min″er-al-ĭ-za´shun) the addition of mineral matter to the body.

mineralocorticoid
(min″әr-al″o-kor´tĭ-koid) any of a group of hormones elaborated by the adrenal cortex, so called because of their effects on concentrations of sodium, chloride, and potassium in the extracellular fluid. They are the adrenocortical hormones that are essential to the maintenance of adequate fluid volume i...

minification factor
in radiology, the gain in light achieved by a reduction in size of the output phosphor from the input phosphor size.

minim
(m.) (min´im) in the apothecaries' system, the smallest unit of volume (liquid measure), equivalent to 0.0616 mL.

minimal
(min´ĭ-mәl) smallest or least; the smallest possible. In some terms, minimal and minimum are used interchangeably.

minimal access surgery
minimally invasive surgery a surgical procedure done in a manner that causes little or no trauma or injury to the patient, such as through a cannula using lasers, endoscopes, or laparoscopes; compared with other procedures, those in this category involve less bleeding, smaller amounts of anesthesia, less pain, and minimal ...

minimal alveolar concentration
(MAC) the concentration of anesthetic that at a pressure of 1 atmosphere produces immobility in 50 per cent of subjects exposed to a noxious stimulus.

minimal bactericidal concentration
(MBC) the lowest concentration of a given antimicrobial agent required to kill nearly all of a species of microorganism.

minimal change disease
subtle alterations in kidney function demonstrable by clinical albuminuria and the presence of lipid droplets in cells of the proximal tubules; abnormalities of foot processes of the glomerular epithelial cells are present but too subtle to be seen with light microscopy. It is seen primarily in children under 6 but someti...

minimal change nephropathy
minimal change disease.

minimal change nephrotic syndrome
minimal change disease.

minimal dose
the smallest quantity of an agent that is likely to produce an appreciable effect.

minimal erythema dose
(MED) the smallest amount of ionizing radiation that causes erythema in a given individual.

minimal inhibitory concentration
(MIC) the lowest concentration of a given antimicrobial agent that inhibits the growth of almost all members of a given species of microorganism.

minimal residue diet
low residue diet.

minimal response time
in radiology, the shortest possible exposure time for an x-ray film to be exposed automatically.

minimum
(min´ĭ-mәm) the smallest amount or lowest limit. minimal. light minimum(LM) the smallest degree of light perceived by the eye. minimum sensibile threshold of consciousness.

minimum dose
minimal dose.

minimum lethal dose
the amount of toxin that will just kill an experimental animal. the smallest quantity of intravenous diphtheria toxin that will kill a guinea pig within a specified time.

Minipress
(min´e-pres) trademark for a preparation of prazosin hydrochloride, an antihypertensive agent.

minisatellite
(min″e-sat´ә-līt) any of a series of short lengths of DNA made up of tandemly repeated nucleotide sequences, each repeating unit composed of approximately 10 to 60 base pairs. Within a genome, different minisatellites may differ in their repeating unit, but the repeating unit within a minisatellit...

minisatellite DNA
see minisatellite.

Minkowski-Chauffard syndrome
(min-kof´ske sho-fahr´) hereditary spherocytosis.

Minocin
(mĭ-no´sin) trademark for preparations of minocycline hydrochloride, a tetracyclineantibiotic.

minocycline
(mĭ-no-si´klēn) a semisynthetic broad-spectrum antibiotic of the tetracycline group; administered orally or intravenously as the hydrochloride salt

minor amputation
amputation of a hand or foot, or of a part thereof.

minor depressive disorder
a mood disorder closely resembling major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder but with symptoms intermediate in severity between the two and a course less protracted than that of dysthymic disorder.

Minor disease
(me´nor) hematomyelia involving the central parts of the spinal cord.

Minor sign
the method of rising from a sitting position characteristic of the patient with sciatica; the patient leans on the healthy side, balancing on that leg, placing one hand on the back and taking weight off the affected leg.

Minot-von Willebrand syndrome
(mi´not fon vil´ә-brahnt) von Willebrand disease.

minoxidil
(mĭ-nok´sĭ-dil) a potent, long-acting vasodilator, acting primarily on arterioles; administered orally as an antihypertensive agent and topically in treatment of androgenetic alopecia.

minute ventilation
the total volume of gas in liters expelled from the lungs per minute. See also minute volume. Called also total ventilation.

minute volume
(MV) the quantity of gas exhaled from the lungs per minute; tidal volume multiplied by respiration rate.

miopus
(mi´o-pәs) deformed conjoined twins with two fused heads, one face being rudimentary.

miosis
(mi-o´sis) excessive contraction of the pupil.

miotic
(mi-ot´ik) pertaining to, characterized by, or causing miosis (contraction of the pupil). an agent that so acts.

miracidium
(mi-rә-sid´e-әm) the free-swimming larva of a parasitic fluke, which emerges from an egg and penetrates the body of a snail host.

mire
(mēr) a figure on the arm of an ophthalmometer, the image of which is reflected on the cornea; used to measure corneal astigmatism.

Mirizzi syndrome
(me-rēt´se) a rare syndrome of extrahepatic obstruction of the common bile duct owing to impaction of a gallstone in the cystic duct; symptoms include recurring pain, fever, and jaundice.

MIRL
membrane inhibitor of reactive lysis; see protectin.

miRNA
microRNA.

mirror image
the image of light made visible by the reflecting surface of the cornea and lens when illuminated through the slit lamp. an image with right and left relations reversed, as in the reflection of an object in a mirror.

mirror speech
a speech abnormality in which the order of syllables in a sentence is reversed.

mirtazapine
(mir″taz-ә-pēn) an antidepressant that is not structurally related to any of the classes of antidepressants.