Glossary

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B

Bacteria Bacterium

Single-celled organisms containing a simple DNA structure. Bacteria is plural; bacterium is singular.

Barium

An element that, when added to water, is opaque to x-rays and used for examination of the alimentary canal.

Benign

Not cancerous.

Bilateral

On both sides.

Bile

Thick, greenish-brown fluid that aids in digestion.

Biofeedback

A technique where patients are given visual or audio cues to physiological responses such as heart rate. The patients can then learn to control such responses.

Biopsies Biopsy

Surgical removal of a small sample of tissue for examination to detect disease or the presence of certain substances. The word is also used to describe the sample itself.

Bipolar Bipolar disorder

Any of several mood disorders characterised usually by alternating episodes of depression and mania or by episodes of depression alternating with mild nonpsychotic excitement.

Blinding masking

A procedure in which one or more parties to a clnical trial are kept unaware of the treatment assignment(s).

Blood-brain barrier

Referring to a property of blood vessel cells in the central nervous system that keeps certain substances from entering the brain tissue.