Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

An abnormal, irrational and persistent fear of women. Sufferers experience anxiety even though they realize they face no threat. “Gynephobia” is derived from the Greek “gyne” (woman) and “phobos” (fear). Alternate spelling: “gynaephobia.” The prefix “gyne-” (or gyn-, gyno-, gynec-, gyneco-, gynaec-, or gynaeco-) enters into a number of biomedical terms such as, for examples,…

Excessive development of the male breasts. Temporary enlargement of the breasts is not unusual or abnormal in boys during adolescence or during recovery from malnutrition. Gynecomastia may be abnormal as, for example, in Klinefelter’s syndrome.

A physician who specializes in treating diseases of the female reproductive organs and providing well-woman health care that focuses primarily on the reproductive organs.

The gynecoid pelvis is one that is generally characteristic of a woman in its bone structure and therefore its shape. Gynecoid means like a woman, womanly, female. The gynecoid pelvis is more delicate, wider than, and not as high as the male pelvis. The angle of the female pubic arch is wide and round. The female sacrum is wider than the male’s…

Combining form pertaining to women. From the Greek gyno, gynaikos meaning woman.

An abnormal and persistent fear of nudity. Sufferers of this phobia experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. They may worry about seeing others naked or being seen naked, or both. Their fear may stem from anxiety about sexuality in general, from a fear that their bodies are physically inferior, or from a…

A simple screening blood test for phenylketonuria (PKU). The Guthrie test was the original impetus to newborn metabolic screening. In 1958-59 Dr. Robert Guthrie (1916-95) was asked if he might to develop a simple method to monitor the blood phenylalanine (phe) level. He developed a test in 3 days. It was a “bacterial inhibition assay.” A spot of blood on a…

Sweating on the forehead, face, scalp, and neck occurring soon after ingesting food. Some gustatory sweating is normal after eating hot, spicy foods. Otherwise, gustatory sweating is most commonly a result of damage to a nerve that goes to the parotid gland, the large salivary gland in the cheek. In this setting, referred to as Frey syndrome, the sweating…

The esophagus. The words esophagus and gullet differ in origin. Esophagus comes from the Greek whereas gullet is a diminutive of the Latin gula meaning throat. The idea was that the esophagus, being narrower than the throat, was the little throat.