Category: Ia-In

An international unit (IU) is an internationally accepted amount of a substance. This type of measure is used for the fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D and E) and certain hormones, enzymes, and biologicals (such as vaccines). All international units are officially defined by the International Conference for Unification of Formulae.

A system established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee on Thrombosis and Hemostasis for reporting the results of blood coagulation (clotting) tests. Abbreviated INR. Under the INR system, all results are standardized. For example, a person taking the anticoagulant warfarin (brand name: Coumadin) would regularly have blood tested to measure the INR. The INR permits patients on anticoagulants to travel and…

The medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and medical treatment of adults. A physician who specializes in internal medicine is referred to as an internist. Subspecialties of internal medicine include allergy and immunology, cardiology (heart diseases), endocrinology (hormone disorders), hematology (blood disorders), infectious diseases, gastroenterology (diseases of the gut), nephrology (kidney diseases), oncology (cancer), pulmonology (lung disorders), and rheumat-ology (arthritis and musculoskeletal disorders).

A surgical procedure that stabilizes and joins the ends of fractured (broken) bones by mechanical devices such as metal plates, pins, rods, wires or screws. Internal fixation is as opposed to external fixation of a fracture by a splint or cast.

Bleeding inside the body that is not seen from the outside. Internal bleeding occurs when damage to an artery or vein allows blood to escape the circulatory system and collect inside the body. The internal bleeding may occur within tissues, organs, or in cavities of the body including the head, chest, and abdomen. Examples of other potential sites of bleeding include…

In medicine, a doctor who has completed medical school and is engaged in a year of additional training at a hospital before residency. An intern may, for example, be in pediatrics or internal medicine. The internship year is often quite rigorous.

An aching, crampy, tired, and sometimes burning pain in the legs that comes and goes — it typically occurs with walking and goes away with rest — due to poor circulation of blood in the arteries of the legs. In very severe claudication the pain is also felt ar rest. Intermittent claudication may occur in one or both legs and often…

A disease that intervenes during the course of another disease. A patient with AIDS may develop an intercurrent bout of pneumonia.

A mobile DNA element that can capture and carry genes, particularly those responsible for antibiotic resistance. Integrons do this by site-specific recombination. There are at least three classes of integrons based upon which integrase gene they contain. The antibiotic resistance genes that integrons capture are located on gene cassettes. These cassettes can exist as free circular DNA.…

A natural hormone made by the pancreas that controls the level of the sugar?glucosein the blood. Insulin permits cells to use glucose for energy. Cells cannot utilize glucose without insulin.