Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A procedure in which a balloon is inflated within the esophagus or stomach, to apply pressure on bleeding blood vessels, compress the vessels, and stop the bleeding. It is used in the treatment of bleeding veins in the esophagus (esophageal varices) and stomach. Also known as esophagogastric tamponade.

Coronary angioplasty is accomplished using a balloon-tipped catheter inserted through an artery in the groin or arm to enlarge a narrowing in a coronary artery. Coronary artery disease occurs when cholesterol plaque builds up (atherosclerosis) in the walls of the arteries to the heart. Angioplasty is successful in opening coronary arteries in 90% of patients. 40% of patients with successful coronary angioplasty…

A joint in which the round end of a bone fits into the cavity of another bone. The hip joint is a ball-and-socket joint.

Patchy baldness. Also referred to as alopecia areata. Alopecia means baldness and areata means occurring in patches. This process typically begins with patchy hair loss on the scalp and sometimes progresses to complete baldness and even loss of body hair. The hair loss tends to be rather rapid and asymmetrical and is different than male pattern baldness. Alopecia areata affects both males and females. It tends…

Medically known as alopecia. There are many types of baldness, each with a different cause. Baldness may be localized to the front and top of the head, as in the very common type of male-pattern baldness; baldness may be patchy, a condition called alopecia areata; or a variant of alopecia areata may involve the entire head: alopecia capitis totalis.…

A genus of protozoa with cilia that includes Balantidium coli (B. coli). B. coli is the largest protozoan and the only ciliate parasite to infect humans. The disease that B. coli causes is called balantidiasis. Clinical features, when present, include persistent diarrhea, occasionally dysentery, abdominal pain, and weight loss. Symptoms can be severe in debilitated persons. B. coli…

The disease caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Balantidium.

In the uncircumcised male, balanitis (inflammation of the glans, the rounded head of the penis) and posthitis (inflammation of the foreskin) usually occur together as balanoposthitis: inflammation of both the glans and foreskin. Circumcision prevents balanoposthitis. Without a foreskin, there can of course be no posthitis and hence no balanoposthitis. An uncircumcised boy should be taught to clean…

A form of skin inflammation around the penis in males with Reiter’s syndrome. The skin around the shaft and tip (glans) penis can become inflamed and scale. This inflammation around the penis can be helped by cortisone creams (such as TOPICORT). Reiter’s syndrome is a systemic rheumatic disease, systemic since it can affect the system (the body) far from…

Inflammation of the rounded head (the glans) of the penis. Inflammation of the foreskin is called posthitis. In the uncircumcised male, balanitis and posthitis generally occur together as balanoposthitis: inflammation of both the glans and foreskin.