Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A unit of food energy. The word calorie is ordinarily used instead of the more precise, scientific term kilocalorie. A kilocalorie represents the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a liter of water 1′ centigrade at sea level. Technically, a kilocalorie represents 1,000 true calories of energy.

Heat, pain, redness, and swelling. The four classical signs of inflammation, originally recorded by the Roman encyclopedist Celsus in the 1st century A.D.

Heat, one of the four classic signs of inflammation together with dolor, rubor, and tumor (pain, redness, and swelling, respectively).

1. A localized firm thickening of the upper layer of skin as a result of repetitive friction. A callus on the skin of the foot has become thick and hard from rubbing (as a result of repetitive friction). Calluses of the feet may lead to other problems such as serious infections. Shoes that fit well can keep calluses…

A metal or plastic tool similar to a compass used to measure the diameter of an object. The skin fold thickness in several parts of the body can be measured with skin calipers to determine the lean body mass.

The belly or fleshy hind part of the back of the leg below the knee. The calf is made up mainly of the gastrocnemius muscle. Pain in the calf is commonly caused by muscle strain, but can be caused by blood clots in veins of the legs.

A stone in the kidney (or lower down in the urinary tract). Also called a kidney stone. The stones themselves are called renal caluli. The word “calculus” (plural: calculi) is the Latin word for pebble. Renal stones are a common cause of blood in the urine and pain in the abdomen, flank, or groin. Kidney stones occur in 1 in 20 people…

The plural of calculus.Medically, a calculus is a stone, for example, a kidney stone.

A low blood level of calcium (hypocalcemia), which can make the nervous system highly irritable, causing spasms of the hands and feet (tetany), muscle cramps, abdominal cramps, overly active reflexes, and so on. Chronic calcium deficiency contributes to poor mineralization of bones, soft bones (osteomalacia) and osteoporosis, and, in children, rickets and impaired growth.

A drug that blocks the entry of calcium into the muscle cells of the heart and the arteries. It is the entry of calcium into these cells that causes the heart to contract and arteries to narrow. By blocking the entry of calcium, calcium channel blocker (CCBs) decrease the contraction of the heart and dilate (widen) the arteries. By…