Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

ACE inhibitor.

An essential regulator of heart function. Also may be involved in the embryonic development of the heart. The ACE2 gene has been mapped to the X chromosome (band Xp22).

French for a woman who is an obstetrician (a physician skilled in the art and science of managing pregnancy, labor and the time after delivery) or a midwife (today a non-physician trained to assist a woman during childbirth). The ending “-euse” is feminine and indicates that the accoucheuse is a woman.

A male obstetrician. An accoucheuse is a woman obstetrician, or sometimes a midwife.

In medicine, the ability of the eye to change its focus from distant to near objects (and vice versa). This process is achieved by the lens changing its shape. Accommodation is the adjustment of the optics of the eye to keep an object in focus on the retina as its distance from the eye varies. It is…

The process of adapting to the decrease in oxygen concentration at a specific altitude. A number of changes must take place for the body to operate with decreased oxygen. These changes include increasing the depth of respiration; increasing the pressure in the pulmonary arteries, forcing blood into portions of the lung that are normally not used…

A condition in which there is an extra placenta that is separate from the main placenta. Also known as a succenturiate or supernumerary placenta.

A disease of the accessory nerve, paralysis of which prevents rotation of the head away from one or both sides and causes the shoulder to droop. Damage can be confined to the accessory nerve, or it may also involve the ninth and tenth cranial nerves, which exit the skull through the same opening.

The eleventh cranial nerve, which emerges from the skull and receives an additional (accessory) root from the upper part of the spinal cord. It supplies the sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles.

(ADU) A separate housing arrangement within a single-family home. The ADU is defined by Medicare as a complete living unit and includes a private kitchen and bath.