Category: Ga-Gh

  • Gas chromatography (GC)

    A type of automated chromatography (a technique used to separate mixtures of substances) in which the mixture to be analyzed is vaporized and carried by an inert gas through a special column and thence to a detection device. The special column can contain an inert porous solid (in gas-solid chromatography) or a liquid coated on…

  • Garlic

    A perennial herb of the lily family cultivated for its pungent, edible bulbs. Garlic has been used with the intention of lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Preliminary studies suggest that garlic consumption may reduce the risk of developing several types of cancer, especially cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. Side effects include breath and body odor, heartburn, upset stomach, and allergic…

  • Gangrene

    Tissue death due to loss of adequate blood supply. Sometimes bacteria invade such tissue and accelerate its decay. Dry gangrene is the death of tissue due to vascular insufficiency without bacterial invasion in which the tissue dies, loses sensation and simply dries up, blackens, and shrivels. Dry gangrene eventually requires amputation. Gas gangrene occurs when body tissue is invaded by…

  • Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB)

    Known in Europe as Gamma-OH, gamma hydroxybutyrate is a colorless and odorless drug used illicitly for “recreational” purposes and for “date rape.” GBH is a central nervous system depressant. It tends therefore to increase sociability and function as something of a transient antidepressant. Some persons who have sustained adverse effects of GHB have reported being given the drug surreptitiously (e.g., having…

  • Gamma globulin

    A major class of immunoglobulins found in the blood, including many of the most common antibodies circulating in the blood. Also called immunoglobulin G (IgG).

  • Gametogenesis

    The development and production of the male and female germ cells required to form a new individual. The male and female germ cells are called gametes. The gametes in human males are produced by the testes, two globe-shaped reproductive organs just below the penis. Male gametes are what most people refer to as sperm. Gametes in human females are…

  • Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT)

    A technique in which the male and female germ cells required to begin formation of a human embryo are injected into a woman’s fallopian tubes of the female for fertilization. This technique is one of the methods doctors use to overcome infertility, the inability of couples to produce offspring on their own. Gametes (germ cells) in males are the spermatozoa,…

  • GALT

    The lack of the enzyme to break down the sugar (galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase) causes the genetic metabolic disease called galactosemia. Galactosemia is an elevated level of galactose in the blood. GALT is also the acronym for the gene that encodes the enzyme. Galactosemia causes liver dysfunction, susceptibility to infections, failure to thrive, ovarian problems, and cataracts.

  • Gallstones

    Stones that form when substances in the bile harden. Gallstones can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. There can be just one large stone, hundreds of tiny stones, or any combination. Gallstones can block the normal flow of bile if they lodge in any of the ducts that carry bile…

  • Gallop rhythm

    An abnormal heart rhythm that pounds in the chest resembling the gallop of a horse when heard during examination with a stethoscope.