Category: Aq-Ar

Artemisinin: Artemisia (Artemisia annua), also known as sweet Annie or annual wormwood, is an annual herb native to China, where it is known as qinghao. Artemisia is mentioned in the Chinese Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency Treatments of 340 AD for treatment of fevers. Artemisinin, pronounced ar-te-mis’-in-in with the accent on the mis, was first isolated in…

Artemidorus of Daldis. Greek physician who wrote Oneirocritica, a work dedicated to the interpretation of dreams, in the middle of the second century C.E. Artemidorus gathered evidence during interviews with thousands of people about their dreams. While his work has often been dismissed as mere divination, the careful study of dreams by modern psychiatrists has…

Treatment that suppresses or stops a retrovirus. One of the retrovirus is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. Retroviruses are so named because they carry their genetic information in the form of RNA rather than DNA so that the information must be transcribed in “reverse” direction — from RNA into DNA.

A colorless highly toxic gas and one of the simplest compounds of arsenic. Arsine has a garlic-like or fishy odor. Because arsine is nonirritating and produces no immediate symptoms, persons exposed to hazardous levels of it may be unaware of its presence. Arsine is water soluble. It is generally shipped in cylinders as a liquefied compressed gas. Exposure…

A metallic element that forms a number of poisonous compounds, arsenic is found in nature at low levels mostly in compounds with oxygen, chlorine, and sulfur. These are called inorganic arsenic compounds. Arsenic in plants and animals combines with carbon and hydrogen. This is called organic arsenic. Organic arsenic is usually less harmful than inorganic…

Acute radiation syndrome.

Abnormal rapid heart rhythms (arrhythmias) that originate in the lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles). Ventricular arrhythmias include ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. Both are life threatening arrhythmias most commonly associated with heart attacks or scarring of the heart muscle from previous heart attack.

Abnormally slow heart rhythms, medically termed bradycardia.

Abnormally rapid heart rhythms, medically termed tachycardia.

Abnormal heart rhythm due to electrical disturbances in the atria (the upper chambers of the heart) or the AV node “relay station”, leading to fast heart beats. Examples of atrial arrhythmias includes atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (PAT).