Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) amniocentesis ămˌnēōˌsĕntēˈsĭs [key], diagnostic procedure in which a sample of the amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus is removed from the uterus by means of a fine needle inserted through th...

(Encyclopedia) medicine, the science and art of treating and preventing disease. Modern medicine, characterized by growing specialization and a complex diagnostic and therapeutic technology, faces problems in the...

(Encyclopedia) Lemieux, Mario ləmyöˈ [key], 1965–, Canadian ice hockey player, b. Montreal. A star for the Pittsburgh Penguins, he was the team's first pick in the 1984 National Hockey League (NHL) draft and wa...

(Encyclopedia) naturopathy or naturopathic medicine, branch of alternative medicine concerned with holistic and noninvasive methods of treating illness and maintaining health. Centered on the use of natural substanc...

(Encyclopedia) nitrogen mustard, any of various poisonous compounds originally developed for military use (see poison gas). Like mustard gas and lewisite, it is a vesicant (blistering agent). In the form of its crys...

(Encyclopedia) orphan drug, drug developed under the U.S. Orphan Drug Act (1983) to treat a disease that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. The orphan drug law offers tax breaks and a seven-year...

(Encyclopedia) diuretic dīˌyərĕtˈĭk [key], drug used to increase urine formation and output. Diuretics are prescribed for the treatment of edema (the accumulation of excess fluids in the tissues of the body), ...

(Encyclopedia) Charcot, Jean Martin zhäN märtăNˈ shärkōˈ [key], 1825–93, French neurologist. At the Salpêtrière in Paris he developed the greatest clinic of his time for diseases of the nervous system. He...

(Encyclopedia) hydrocortisone hīˌdrəkôrˈtĭzōnˌ [key], another name for the steroid hormone cortisol, more especially used to refer to preparations of this hormone used medicinally. Hydrocortisone, introduced...

(Encyclopedia) injection, introduction of a fluid into the body, usually by means of a needle and syringe. The material injected may be a test substance (as in determining allergic sensitivity or immunity to a disea...