Category: An-An

Monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), a potent class of medications used to treat depression. This group of antidepressants have many serious drug interactions, which may limit their use.

Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression. The available antidepressant drugs include the SSRIs or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, MAOIs or monoamine oxidase inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, tetracyclic antidepressants, and others. Antidepressants should not be used unless the depression is severe and/or other treatments have failed. As with all drugs, the use of antidepressants requires monitoring for side effects, and suicide should be considered…

A medication used to control (prevent) seizures (convulsions) or stop an ongoing series of seizures. There are a large number of anticonvulsant drugs today including, but not limited to: phenobarbital, phenytoin (Dilantin), carbamazepine, levetiracetam (Keppra), ethosuximide (Zarontin), clonazepam (Klonopin), diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), and midazolam (Versed). Anticonvulsant drugs taken during pregnancy put the baby at risk of major birth defects — growth retardation, microcephaly (a small head) and deformities of the face and fingers — a condition known as anticonvulsant…

A medication used to prevent the formation of blood clots and to maintain open blood vessels. Anticoagulants are called blood “thinners,” but they do not thin the blood, they only prevent or reduce clots, or thrombi. Anticoagulants have various uses. Some are used for the prophylaxis (prevention) or the treatment of thromboembolic disorders, such as stroke, heart attack (myocardial infarction) and deep…

An agent that is used to prevent the formation of blood clots. Anticoagulants have various uses. Some are used for the prevention or treatment of disorders characterized by abnormal blood clots and emboli. Examples of diseases and conditions that require anticoagulant treatment to reduce the risk of blood clots include heart attack, stroke, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and atrial fibrillation. There are different…

The normal mourning that occurs when a patient or family is expecting a death. Anticipatory grief has many of the same symptoms as those experienced after a death has occurred. It includes all of the thinking, feeling, cultural, and social reactions to an expected death that are felt by the patient and family. Anticipatory grief includes depression, extreme concern for…

The progressively earlier appearance and increased severity of a disease from generation to generation. The phenomenon of anticipation was once thought to be an artifact, but a biological basis for it has been discovered in a number of genetic disorders, such as myotonic dystrophy and Huntington disease.

Opposing the actions of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Anticholinergic drugs inhibit the transmission of parasympathetic nerve impulses, thereby reducing spasms of smooth muscles (for example, muscles in the bladder). Side effects of anticholinergic medications include dry mouth and related dental problems, blurred vision, tendency toward overheating (hyperpyrexia), and in some cases, dementia-like symptoms.

An immune response in which antibody, by coating target cells, makes them vulnerable to attack by immune cells. Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity is commonly abbreviated ADCC.

An antibody directed against thyroglobulin which is a key protein in the thyroid gland essential to the production of thyroid hormones (thyroxine and triiodothyronine). Antithyroglobulin antibodies can damage the thyroid gland and affect its function. Testing for antithyroglobulin antibodies in the blood is useful in the diagnosis of some thyroid and other disorders. Conditions in…