Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Observable swelling of body tissues due to fluid accumulation that may be demonstrated by applying pressure to the swollen area (such as by depressing the skin with a finger). If the pressing causes an indentation that persists for some time after the release of the pressure, the edema is referred to as pitting edema. Any form…

A condition in which there is sustained involuntary flexion of the body and head to one side and slight rotation of the trunk so the person appears to lean like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Pisa syndrome is an adverse effect (a side-effect) of some medications. It occurs sometimes following the long-term use of narcoleptics (drugs used to treat schizophrenia) or cholinesterase…

Erection of the hair of the skin due to contraction of the tiny arrectores pilorum muscles that elevate the hair follicles above the rest of the skin and move the hair vertically, so the hair seems to ‘stand on end.’

In pharmacy, a medicinal substance in a small round or oval mass meant to be swallowed. Pills often contain a filler and a plastic substance such as lactose that permits the pill to be rolled by hand or machine into the desired form. The pill may then be coated with a varnishlike substance. The word pill is…

The coloring of the skin, hair, mucous membranes, and retina of the eye. Pigmentation is due to the deposition of the pigment melanin, which is produced by specialized cells called melanocytes. Other pigment-related terms include hyperpigmentation (too much pigment), hypopigmentation and underpigmentation (too little pigment), and depigmentation (loss of pigment).

A craving for something that is not normally regarded as nutritive, such as dirt, clay, paper, or chalk. Pica is a classic clue to iron deficiency in children, and it may also occur with zinc deficiency. Pica is also seen as a symptom in several neurobiological disorders, including autism and Tourette’s syndrome, and it is sometimes seen during ‘pregnancy.

One of the meninges, the pia mater is the delicate innermost membrane enveloping the brain and spinal cord. It is known informally as the pia.

In medicine, not a private investigator but a principal investigator, the person who directs a research project or program.

The study of how living organisms function, including such processes as nutrition, movement, and reproduction.

Yellowish staining of the skin and whites of the newborn’s eyes (sclerae) by pigment of bile (bilirubin). In newborn babies a degree of jaundice is normal. It is due to the breakdown of red blood cells (which release bilirubin into the blood) and to the immaturity of the newborn’s liver (which cannot effectively metabolize the bilirubin and prepare it for excretion…