Category: Fa-Fe

Called shin bone fever because it characteristically causes fever and pain in the legs, this disease is also known as trench fever. It is a disease borne by body lice that was first recognized in the trenches of World War I, when it is estimated to have affected more than a million people in Russia and on…

A small sore situated on the face or in the mouth that causes pain, burning, or itching before bursting and crusting over. The favorite locations are on the lips, chin or cheeks and in the nostrils. Less frequented sites are the gums or roof of the mouth (the palate). Fever blisters are caused by herpes simplex virus type 1. It…

Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 F (37 C), in practice a person is usually not considered to have a significant fever until the temperature is above 100.4 F (38 C). Fever is part of the body’s own disease-fighting arsenal: rising body temperatures apparently are capable of killing…

An unborn offspring, from the embryo stage (the end of the eighth week after conception, when the major structures have formed) until birth.

A device used to obtain information about a fetus within the uterus. There are two types of fetoscopes: A fiberoptic scope for looking directly at the fetus within the uterus and a stethoscope designed for listening to the fetal heart beat.

Fetishism is a problem in which a person has sexual urges associated with non-living objects. The person becomes sexually aroused by wearing or touching the object. For example, the object of a fetish could be an article of clothing, such as underwear, rubber clothing, women’s shoes, or women’s underwear or lingerie. The fetish may replace sexual…

Compromise of a fetus during the antepartum period (before labor) or intrapartum period (during the birth process). The term fetal distress is commonly used to describe fetal hypoxia (low oxygen levels in the fetus), which can result in fetal damage or death if it is not reversed or if the fetus is not promptly delivered. Fetal distress can be…

The blood circulation in the fetus (an unborn baby). Before birth, blood from the fetal heart that is destined for the lungs is shunted away from the lungs through a short vessel called the ductus arteriosus and returned to the aorta. When this shunt is open, it is said to be a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The PDA usually closes at or shortly after…

The process of combining the male gamete, or sperm, with the female gamete, or ovum. The product of fertilization is a cell called a zygote.

The ability to conceive and bear children, the ability to become pregnant through normal sexual activity.