med

• Convulsion


  Involuntary spasm of skeletal muscles characterized by uncontrollable jerking motions of the arms, legs, and head
• COPD


  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Copious


  A lot of; much; an extraordinary amount. Usually used to describe the volume of secretions
• Cor pulmonale


  Failure of the right side of the heart to empty properly as a result of pulmonary hypertension
• Coryza


  Common cold
• Costal breathing


  Respiration produced solely by use of the intercostal muscles
• Croup


  Disease condition of the larynx that is characterized by harsh, raspy cough, a crowing sound, and difficult respiration
• Curaré


  A drug (first used as a poison on arrows) that causes paralysis of muscles; it is now used in refined form to control muscle relaxation during anesthesia
• Cyanosis


  Bluish discoloration of the skin caused by five or more grams (g) of reduced hemoglobin in the bloodstream
• Cylindrical plug


  Thickened mucus that is coughed or suctioned from the lungs and that has assumed the shape of the inside of the tube in which it was formed
• Cyst


  An abnormal collection of fluid within a definite sac or wall
• Cytolysis


  Dissolution of cells in which the cell wall breaks. In the case of the red cell destruction — hemolysis
• Dalton's law


  The pressure of a mixture of gases equals the sum of the partial pressures of all the gases. So long as no chemical change occurs, each gas in a mixture is absorbed by a given volume in proportion to the partial pressure of the gas
• Dead space, anatomic


  The air that is always in the tube system of the lungs, normally 150 mL in the normal adult or approximately 1 mL per pound of body weight
• Dead space, mechanical


  The volume of the apparatus or tubes into and out of which the patient may be forced to breathe and from which carbon dioxide is not effectively removed
• Dead space, physiologic


  Areas of the lung in which oxygen is not exchanged through the alveolar wall as a result of any interference with ventilation or diffusion of blood supply, such as atelectasis or embolism
• Decompensation


  Failure of the heart to circulate the blood properly or at a fast enough rate
• Defibrillation


  Ending the fibrillation (irregular, inefficient contractions of the atria or ventricles) of the heart; usually done with electric shock
• Degeneration


  Breakdown of tissue
• Delirium


  Disordered mental state with excitement and delusions
• Dermatomyositis


  Degenerative changes in skin and muscle that cause weakness and pain, sometimes affects the chest wall
• Desquamation


  To peel off in layers
• Abscess


  Localized collection of pus in a cavity formed by tissue degeneration
• Absorption


  To soak up; as a sponge
• Acapnia


  Reduce carbon dioxide tension in the blood; results from increased pulmonary ventilation
• Acarbia


  Reduced level of carbon dioxide in the blood with a proportional reduction in alkaline bicarbonate
• Acid-base balance


  The human body cannot survive if the bloodstream becomes either markedly acid or alkaline; it must remain in a very narrow range of balance between acidity or alkalinity. Normal range is a pH of 7.35 to 7.45, neutral is a pH of 7, so the body normally is slightly alkaline. pH means the inverse of the log of the hydrogen ion concentration in the bloodstream
• Acidosis


  A condition characterized by the presence of excessive quantities of acids in the blood; used mostly to indicate a decrease in the alkaline reserve below normal levels
• Acute


  Sharp, severe, occurring suddenly
• Adhesive force


  The clinging of the walls of the bronchioles of a diseased lung that has sticky secretions as a result of the disease. This tendency of the bronchioles to stick together on expiration results in air trapping inside the lung
• Adrenalin (epinephrine)


  Medication used as a vasoconstrictor and cardiac stimulant in acute circulatory failure; also used as a local vasoconstrictor to relieve hemorrhage and local congestion and to relax the bronchi in asthmatic paroxysms
• Aerosol


  Liquid droplets suspended in a stream of gas
• Air trapping


  Abnormal condition in which air cannot be expelled from the alveoli during exhalation as a result of collapse of bronchioles or blockage by tenacious mucus
• Airway


  The path air travels from the atmosphere to and from the alveoli. In anesthesia or resuscitation, a mechanical device used to keep the passages of the upper respiratory tract open for the passage of air
• Alcohol


  A colorless, flammable liquid made from the fermentation of carbohydrates by yeast, used primarily for disinfection. In respiratory therapy ethyl alcohol is used to break up the bubbles in pulmonary edema by lowering the surface of tension of the bubbles
• Alkalosis


  A condition in which the alkaline (hydroxyl ion concentration) content in the blood increases above normal limits. A term used most often to indicate an increase in alkaline reserve above normal levels
• Allergy


  A hypersensitive state required through exposure to a particular allergen
• Alveolar


  Pertaining to the alveoli
• Alveoli


  Air sacs located at the end of the respiratory tract that are microscopic in size. The total number of these sacs has been estimated at 300 million (singular: alveolus)
• Ambient


  Pressure equal to the atmosphere around an organism