Category: Mb-Mf

Uterine bleeding at irregular intervals, particularly between the expected menstrual periods. Metrorrhagia may be a sign of an underlying disorder, such as hormone imbalance, endometriosis, uterine fibroids or, less commonly, cancer of the uterus. Metrorrhagia may cause significant anemia.

3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), best known on the street as “Ecstasy.” An illicit drug, considered a recreational or party drug. It acts as both a stimulant and a hallucinogen. Ecstasy achieves its high by preventing the brain from reabsorbing the chemical serotonin, thereby prolonging its effects in the body.

Staphylococcus aureus (a type of staph bacteria) resistant to the antibiotic methicillin. Abbreviated MRSA. MRSA first appeared among people in hospitals and other health facilities, especially among the elderly, the very sick, and those with an open wound, an IV catheter, or a urinary catheter. MRSA has since been found to cause illness in the community outside of hospitals…

A semisynthetic penicillin-related antibiotic, also known as Staphcillin, that once was effective against staphylococci (staph) resistant to penicillin because they produce the enzyme penicillinase. Rarely used now, methicillin has been largely superceded by Vancomycin. Over the past 50 years, staph bacteria have become resistant to various antibiotics, including the commonly used penicillin-related antibiotics, including methicillin. These resistant bacteria are…

The presence in the blood of methemoglobin, a form of hemoglobin that is useless for carrying oxygen and delivering it to tissues throughout the human body. A small amount of methemoglobin is normally present in blood but the conversion of a larger fraction of hemoglobin into methemoglobin, which does not function well as an oxygen carrier, results…

A synthetic opiate. The most common medical use for methadone is as a legal substitute for heroin in treatment programs for drug addiction.

Abbreviated MDI. A device that delivers a measured amount of medication as a mist the patient can inhale. A MDI consists of a pressurized canister of medication in a case with a mouthpiece. MDIs are portable, efficient and convenient. People with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis, and emphysema.

1. The process by which cancer spreads from the place at which it first arose as a primary tumor to distant locations in the body.2. The cancer resulting from the spread of the primary tumor. For example, someone with melanoma may have a metastasis in their brain, while a person with colon cancer might, fortunately, have no metastases. Metastasis depends on the cancer…

The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within a living organism. Metabolism consists of anabolism (the buildup of substances) and catabolism (the breakdown of substances). The term metabolism is commonly used to refer specifically to the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy.

A constellation of conditions that place people at high risk for coronary artery disease. These conditions include type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and a poor lipid profile with elevated LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, elevated triglycerides. All of these conditions are associated with high blood insulin levels. The fundamental defect in the metabolic syndrome is insulin resistance in both adipose tissue and muscle. Drugs that decrease insulin resistance also…