Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Condition due to the production of too much growth hormone by the pituitary gland after the end of adolescence. When there is secretion of too much growth hormone before the end of adolescence, gigantism results. People with pituitary gigantism can truly be giants; they can sometimes end up over 7 or 8 feet in height. When too much growth…

Pain in the extremities (the hands and feet).

An historic model for the therapy of genetic disease. In an era (the 1950s) when inherited disorders were usually seen as hopeless, this progressive hereditary (autosomal recessive) disease of children was found treatable. Acrodermatitis enteropathica is characterized by the simultaneous occurrence of skin inflammation (dermatitis) and diarrhea. The skin on the cheeks, elbows and knees and tissue about the mouth and…

Blueness of the hands and feet, usually due to inadequate circulation.

A small tag of skin that may have a stalk (a peduncle). An acrochordon may appear on skin anywhere although the favorite locales are the eyelids, neck, armpits (axillae), upper chest, and groin. Invariably benign, this tiny tumor of the skin usually causes no symptoms unless repeatedly irritated as, for example, by the collar. Treatment may be…

An inherited disorder causing abnormalities of the skull and face and the hands and feet. In acrocephalosyndactyly there is closure too-early of some of the sutures of the skull (craniosynostosis). This results in an abnormally shaped head, which is unusually tall and peaked, and an abnormally shaped face with shallow eye sockets and underdevelopment of the midface. There is fusion…

A chromosome in which the centromere is located quite near one end of the chromosome. Humans normally have five pairs of acrocentric chromosomes. Down syndrome is caused by an extra acrocentric chromosome (chromosome21).

A form of malignant lentigo melanoma that occurs in palms, soles and subungual areas.

A genetic change that occurs in a single cell after the conception of an individual. That change is then passed along to all cells descended from that cell. Acquired mutations are involved in the development of cancer.

AIDS is a disease due to infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Also referred to as acquired immunodeficiency disease.