Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Tissue death due to loss of adequate blood supply. Sometimes bacteria invade such tissue and accelerate its decay. Dry gangrene is the death of tissue due to vascular insufficiency without bacterial invasion in which the tissue dies, loses sensation and simply dries up, blackens, and shrivels. Dry gangrene eventually requires amputation. Gas gangrene occurs when body tissue is invaded by…

Known in Europe as Gamma-OH, gamma hydroxybutyrate is a colorless and odorless drug used illicitly for “recreational” purposes and for “date rape.” GBH is a central nervous system depressant. It tends therefore to increase sociability and function as something of a transient antidepressant. Some persons who have sustained adverse effects of GHB have reported being given the drug surreptitiously (e.g., having…

A major class of immunoglobulins found in the blood, including many of the most common antibodies circulating in the blood. Also called immunoglobulin G (IgG).

The development and production of the male and female germ cells required to form a new individual. The male and female germ cells are called gametes. The gametes in human males are produced by the testes, two globe-shaped reproductive organs just below the penis. Male gametes are what most people refer to as sperm. Gametes in human females are…

A technique in which the male and female germ cells required to begin formation of a human embryo are injected into a woman’s fallopian tubes of the female for fertilization. This technique is one of the methods doctors use to overcome infertility, the inability of couples to produce offspring on their own. Gametes (germ cells) in males are the spermatozoa,…

The lack of the enzyme to break down the sugar (galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase) causes the genetic metabolic disease called galactosemia. Galactosemia is an elevated level of galactose in the blood. GALT is also the acronym for the gene that encodes the enzyme. Galactosemia causes liver dysfunction, susceptibility to infections, failure to thrive, ovarian problems, and cataracts.

Stones that form when substances in the bile harden. Gallstones can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. There can be just one large stone, hundreds of tiny stones, or any combination. Gallstones can block the normal flow of bile if they lodge in any of the ducts that carry bile…

An abnormal heart rhythm that pounds in the chest resembling the gallop of a horse when heard during examination with a stethoscope.

This condition, also known as agenesis (failure of development) of the gallbladder, occurs in approximately one out of every 1,000 people. Gallbladder agenesis is an isolated abnormality in more than two-thirds (70%) of people with agenesis. The person with isolated agenesis of the gallbladder is healthy. No treatment is needed. The prognosis (outlook) is excellent. Gallbladder agenesis occurs…

A pear-shaped organ located below the liver that stores the bile secreted by the liver. During and after a fatty meal, the gallbladder contracts, delivering the bile through the bile ducts into the intestines to help with digestion.