Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A yeast-like fungal organism found in small amounts in the normal human intestinal tract. Normally kept in check by the body’s own helpful bacteria, C. albicans can increase in numbers when this balance is disturbed to cause candidiasis of the intestinal tract, or yeast infections of other parts of the body. C. albicans causes thrush. Also called Monilia albicans.

An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, in some cases, to metastasize (spread). Cancer is not one disease. It is a group of more than 100 different and distinctive diseases. Cancer can involve any tissue of the body and have many different forms in each body area. Most…

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.