Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

An inherited disorder causing abnormalities of the skull, face and hands and feet. There is premature closure of some of the sutures of the skull (craniosynostosis) resulting in an abnormally shaped head (which is unusually tall but short from front-to-back) and an abnormally shaped face (with shallow eye sockets and underdevelopment of the midface). There is fusion of fingers and…

A malformation syndrome characterized by a high short skull, underdevelopment of the midface, soft tissue and bony (“mitten glove”) fusion of fingers and toes, fusion of the neck vertebrae, and varying degrees of developmental delay/mental retardation. The frequency of the syndrome rises with the age of the father reflecting the fact that the mutation rate…

Laxative. Something that promotes emptying of the bowels. Laxatives are used to combat constipation. They are sometimes overused, producing diarrhea. Laxatives include milk of magnesia and many others.

A genetic autoimmune disease with an extraordinary array of clinical features but characterized most often by at least 2 of the following 3 findings: hypoparathyroidism — under function of the parathyroid glands which control calcium, candidiasis (yeast infection), and adrenal insufficiency (under function of the adrenal gland). APECED was the first systemic (bodywide) autoimmune disease found due to a…

Aspirin, phenacetin, and caffeine (a pill containing all three). Phenacetin was the first nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to be associated with kidney failure.

Antigen-presenting cell, a cell that can “present” antigen in a form that T cells can recognize it. Among the APCs are B cells and cells of the monocyte lineage including macrophages.

A major gene that is involved in causing colorectal cancer. APC is involved in both sporadic and familial forms of colorectal cancer. A mutation in the APC gene is the earliest detectable molecular abnormality in colorectal cancer. This mutation imitates the neoplastic process 20 to 30 years before the malignancy itself is full-blown. APC is a relatively large gene on chromosome…

APC has several very different meanings in medicine. See each of the following separate entries:1. APC (gene).2. APC (immunology).3. APC (medication).

1. American Psychiatric Association.  2. American Psychological Association.  3. American Podiatry Association.  4. Antiphospholipid antibody.  5. Alkaline phosphatase activity.

An X-ray picture in which the beams pass from front-to-back (anteroposterior). As opposed to a PA (posteroanterior) film in which the rays pass through the body from back-to-front.