Category Archives: Glossary

A dialysis machine serves as an artificial kidney.  The kidney removes toxins that are constantly given off as all our body’s cells use oxygen and nutrition to produce the energy they need to function.  If the kidneys don’t work well, toxins accumulate, the immune system weakens causing immunocompromise, and the person eventually dies (see KidneyContinue reading “Dialysis”

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), invented in the early 1980s, uses an enormous magnet instead of radiation to see structures inside the body.  It often shows better detail than CT Scans, and is the only way to visualize nerves bundles in and around the brain and spinal cord.  But it takes lots longer to perform (andContinue reading “MRI”

Love is what we all love

No Way means what it says.

Howdy means Hi

Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) tell us how well the lung is working, and also help determine what kind of disease might be present.  We order them for patients with chronic lung symptoms, mainly shortness of breath, and also maybe for cough. PFTs are performed with special equipment in a pulmonary laboratory. Standard PFTs include threeContinue reading “Pulmonary Function Tests (& Peak Flow)”

Germs are formally called microbes, or micro-organisms, which mean “tiny living things you can only see with a microscope.”  Most germs are harmless, but some cause disease (Infections).  Our noses, and also the entire gastrointestinal tube that runs from mouth and throat to esophagus, stomach, bowel, and rectum, are full of germs.  These bacteria onlyContinue reading “Germs: Differences Among Them”

All sorts of medications get sold for allergies, most now over-the-counter.  The following ones are the best: 1.  Histamine-2 Receptor Blockers (H2RBs) — Antihistamines that you only have to take one time a day, & don’t make you sleepy.  Generic (& some brand®) names include loratadine (Clariten®), cetirizine (Zyrtec®), & fexofenadine (Allegra®).  They can beContinue reading “Allergy Medicines”