Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A unique stretch of DNA within a coding region of a gene that is useful for identifying full-length genes and serves as a landmark for mapping. An EST is a sequence tagged site (STS) derived from cDNA. An STS is a short segment of DNA which occurs but once in the genome and whose location and base sequence…

Uncontrollable shaking (tremor) of the hands and arms and sometimes other parts of the body. Essential tremor is the most common of all movement disorders and is estimated to affect up to 5% of people in the US. In approximately half of cases, essential tremor is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Several different genetic defects may play a role in…

An unsaturated fatty acid that is essential to human health, but cannot be manufactured in the body. Abbreviated EFA. There are three types of EFAs: arachnoidic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid. When linoleic acid is obtained in the diet, it can be converted to both arachnoidic and linolenic acid. Linoleic acid is commonly found in cold-pressed…

In medicine, of unknown cause, as in essential hypertension (high blood pressure of unknown cause). Also known as idiopathic.

Abbreviation for erythrocyte sedimentation rate, a blood test that detects and monitors inflammation in the body. It measures the rate at which red blood cells (RBCs) in a test tube separate from blood serum over time, becoming sediment in the bottom of the test tube. The sedimentation rate increases with more inflammation. Also commonly called the sed rate.

The tube that connects the pharynx (throat) with the stomach. The esophagus lies between the trachea (windpipe) and the spine. It passes down the neck, pierces the diaphragm just to the left of the midline, and joins the cardiac (upper) end of the stomach. In an adult, the esophagus is about 25 centimeters (10 inches) long. When a person swallows, the muscular walls of the…

A procedure in which a balloon is inflated within the esophagus and stomach to apply pressure on bleeding blood vessels, compress the vessels, and stop the bleeding. Used in the treatment of bleeding veins in the esophagus (esophageal varices) and stomach. The balloon used in the esophagus is shaped like a sausage while that in the stomach is rounded. Esophagogastric…

Inflammation of the esophagus.

Full term for E. coli, the colon bacillus.

The scab formed when a wound or skin is sealed by the heat of cautery or burning. Also the dark crusted ulcer (tache noire) at the site of the chigger (mite larva) bite in scrub typhus.