Category: Gi-Gs

That part of the healing process in which lumpy, pink tissue containing new connective tissue and capillaries forms around the edges of a wound. Granulation of a wound is normal and desirable.

A type of white blood cell filled with microscopic granules (tiny sacs) containing enzymes that digest microorganisms. Granular leukocytes — they are better known as granulocytes — are part of the innate immune system and have somewhat non specific, broad-based activity. They do not respond exclusively to specific antigens, as do B-cells and T-cells. Neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils are…

A formal meeting at which physicians discuss the clinical case of one or more patients. Grand rounds originated as part of residency training wherein new information was taught and clinical reasoning skills were enhanced. Grand rounds today are an integral component of medical education. They present clinical problems in medicine by focusing on current or interesting cases.…

The term “multipara” applies to any woman who has given birth 2 or more times. A woman who has given birth 5 or more times is called a grand multipara. For a pregnancy to count as a “birth”, it must go to at least 20 weeks’ gestation (the mid-point of a full-term pregnancy) or yield an…

A form of epilepsy characterized by tonic-clonic seizures. involving two phases — the tonic phase in which the body becomes rigid, and clonic phase in which there is uncontrolled jerking. Tonic-clonic seizures may or may not be preceded by an aura, and are often followed by headache, confusion, and sleep. They may last for mere seconds, or continue…

Gram-positive bacteria retain the color of the crystal violet stain in the Gram stain. This is characteristic of bacteria that have a cell wall composed of a thick layer of a particular substance (called peptidologlycan). The Gram-positive bacteria include staphylococci (“staph”), streptococci (“strep”), pneumococci, and the bacterium responsible for diphtheria (Cornynebacterium diphtheriae) and anthrax (Bacillus anthracis). The Danish bacteriologist J.M.C. Gram (1853-1938)…

Gram-negative bacteria lose the crystal violet stain (and take the color of the red counterstain) in Gram’s method of staining. This is characteristic of bacteria that have a cell wall composed of a thin layer of a particular substance (called peptidoglycan). The Gram-negative bacteria include most of the bacteria normally found in the gastrointestinal tract that can be responsible…

A unit of food energy. The word calorie is ordinarily used instead of the more precise, scientific term kilocalorie. A kilocalorie represents the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a liter of water 1′ centigrade at sea level. Technically, a kilocalorie represents 1,000 true calories of energy.

A unit of measurement of weight and mass in the metric system. In weight, a gram is equal to a thousandth of a kilogram. In mass, a gram is equal to a thousandth of a liter (one cubic centimeter) of water at 4 degrees centigrade. The word “gram” comes from the Late Latin “gramma” meaning a small weight via the…

Healthy skin, bone, kidney, liver, or other tissue that is taken from one part of the body to replace diseased or injured tissue removed from another part of the body. For example, skin grafts can be used to cover areas of skin that have been burned.