Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Slang for chemotherapy — drug therapy for cancer. Most anticancer drugs are given IV (into a vein) or IM (into muscle). Some anticancer agents are taken orally (by mouth). Chemotherapy is usually systemic treatment, meaning that the drugs flow through the bloodstream to nearly every part of the body. Patients who need many rounds of IV chemotherapy…

The side of the face, which forms the side wall of the mouth. The cheekbone is part of the temporal bone of the skull, and it provides the prominence of the cheek. The term cheek also refers to something that has the form of the human cheek, particularly with two laterally paired parts, such as a buttock.

Congenital heart disease, a malformation of the heart or the large blood vessels near the heart. The term “congenital” speaks only to time, not to causation; it means “born with” or “present at birth.” Congenital heart disease is the most frequent form of major birth defects in newborns affecting close to 1% of newborn babies (8 per 1,000).…

A practice of heroin use involving heating heroin and then inhaling it. Some heroin users have gone to this practice because they believe erroneously that it will protect them against contracting HIV and other diseases associated with injecting heroin. “Chasing the dragon” carries a risk of untreatable brain damage with death occurring in about 20% of cases. Abnormalities occur…

Slang for a cramp in a muscle in the leg, usually caused by a strain or injury. A charley horse can last anywhere from a few seconds to over a quarter of an hour. It is not uncommon for one to recur before it finally resolves.

The rule that in DNA there is always equality in quantity between the bases A and T and between the bases G and C. (A is adenine, T is thymine, G is guanine, and C is cytosine.) Named for the great Austrian-American biochemist Erwin Chargaff (1905-2002) at Columbia University who discovered this rule. Also known…

Loss of dreaming after a stroke. In more technical terms the syndrome is characterized by visual agnosia and the inability to revisualise images. Named for the French founder of modern neurology Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) and the German neuro-ophthalmologist Hermann Wilbrand.

Dry, cracked or sore lips, usually in cold, windy, dry weather and less often in warm weather. Sun exposure can contribute to chapping of the lips. Licking or biting the lips is often a contributing factor. The lips are more sensitive to chapping than the skin. Unlike the skin, the lips do not produce oils to protect…

The classic painless ulcer of syphilis. The chancre forms in the first (primary) stage of syphilis. It is highly contagious and can last 1-5 weeks. The disease can be transmitted from contact with the ulcer, which is teeming with spirochetes. If the ulcer is outside of the vagina or on the scrotum of the male, the use of condoms may not help…

Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services. CHAMPUS is a US federally funded health program that provides beneficiaries with medical care, supplemental to that available in US military and Public Health Service facilities. All CHAMPUS beneficiaries switch to using Medicare at age 65. CHAMPUS is like Medicare in that the government contracts with private parties…