Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

This is trench mouth, a progressive painful infection with ulceration, swelling and sloughing off of dead tissue from the mouth and throat due to the spread of infection from the gums. Certain germs (including fusiform bacteria and spirochetes) have been thought to be involved, but the full story behind this long-known disease is still not…

A heart attack. The term “myocardial infarction” focuses on the heart muscle, which is called the myocardium,and the changes that occur in it due to the sudden deprivation of circulating blood. This is usually caused by arteriosclerosis with narrowing of the coronary arteries, the culminating event being a thrombosis (clot). The main change is death (necrosis) of myocardial tissue. The word…

A quickly progressive malignant disease in which there are too many immature blood-forming cells in the blood and bone marrow, the cells being specifically those destined to give rise to the granulocytes or monocytes, both types of white blood cells that fight infections. In AML, these blasts do not mature and so become too numerous. AML can…

Abbreviated AML. Also called acute myeloid leukemia or acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL). A quickly progressive malignant disease in which there are too many immature blood-forming cells in the blood and bone marrow, the cells being specifically those destined to give rise to the granulocytes or monocytes, both types of white blood cells that fight infections. In AML, these blasts do not…

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is the effect on the body of being in a high altitude environment. AMS is common at high altitudes, that is above 8,000 feet (2,440 meters). Three-quarters of people have mild symptoms of AMS over 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). The occurrence of AMS depends on the altitude, the rate of ascent, and individual…

A progressive and painful infection of the mouth and throat due to the spread of infection from the gums. Symptoms include ulceration, swelling, and sloughing off of dead tissue from the mouth and throat. Certain germs (including fusiform bacteria and spirochetes) have been thought to be involved, but the actual cause is not yet known.…

An acute (sudden onset), rapidly progressing form of leukemia that is characterized by the presence in the blood and bone marrow of large numbers of unusually immature white blood cells destined to become lymphocytes. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is also called acute lymphocytic leukemia and is abbreviated ALL (spoken not as the word “all”, but as the three letters A-L-L).…

An acute (sudden onset), rapidly progressing form of leukemia that is characterized by the presence in the blood and bone marrow of large numbers of unusually immature white blood cells destined to become lymphocytes. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is also called acute lymphocytic leukemia and is abbreviated ALL (spoken not as the word “all”, but as the three letters A-L-L).…

Cancer of the blood cells that characteristically comes on suddenly and, if not treated, progresses quickly. In acute leukemia, the leukemic cells are not able to mature properly.

Sudden and often temporary loss of kidney function. Also called acute kidney failure. As opposed to chronic renal failure. More recently also called acute kidney injury. Many times this is reversible but depending on the cause and severity, it may be irreversible and lead to chronic renal failure or chronic kidney disease. Normally, the kidneys filter the blood and remove…