Category: Fr-Fz

This is trench mouth, a progressive painful infection with ulceration, swelling and sloughing off of dead tissue from the mouth and throat due to the spread of infection from the gums. Certain germs (including fusiform bacteria and spirochetes) have been thought to be involved, but the full story behind this long- known disease is still not clear. This…

Formed like a spindle: wider in the middle and tapering toward the ends. For example, a fusiform aneurysm is a vascular outpouching that is shaped like a spindle.

Is also known as a “boil.” A boil is a tender, dome-shaped skin lesion caused by an infection around a hair follicle with Staphylococcus aureus. Antibiotics are often not very helpful in treating abscesses. The main treatments include hot packs and draining (“lancing”) the abscess, but only when it is soft and ready to drain. If you develop an abscess and.…

A single-celled or multicellular organism. Fungi can be true pathogens (such as histoplasmosis and coccidioidomycosis) that cause infections in healthy persons or they can be opportunistic pathogens (such as aspergillosis, candidiasis, and cryptococcosis) that cause infections in immunocompromised persons (including cancer patients, transplant recipients, and persons with AIDS). An example of a common fungus is the yeast organism which causes thrush and diaper rash (diaper dermatitis).…

Pertaining to a fungus. For example, a fungal skin infection.

The interior lining of the eyeball, including the retina (the light-sensitive screen), optic disc (the head of the nerve to the eye), and the macula (the small spot in the retina where vision is keenest). The fundus is the portion of the inner eye that can be seen during an eye examination by looking through the pupil. “Fundus” is the Latin word…

In medicine, the bottom or base of an organ. For example, the fundus of the eye is the retina. However, the fundus of the stomach is inexplicably the upper portion. From the Latin for ‘the bottom.’

FTA-ABS stands for fluorescent treponemal antibody absorbed, a blood serum screening test for syphilis designed to demonstrate the presence or absence of specific antibodies directed against the organism (Treponema pallidum) responsible for syphilis. FTA-ABS detects the majority but not all cases of the disease. It is thus a way of screening for the disease. A negative FTA-ABS test result is…

Abbreviation for foot, a measure of length.

A sugar that occurs naturally in fruits and honey. Fructose has 4 calories per gram.