Glossary
D
- Decongestant
- Drug that constricts blood vessels and thereby reduces swelling and congestion in the nose.
- Defaecation Defecation
- Ejection of solid waste material from the body through the anus.
- Dehydration
- Loss of fluid.
- Dendrite
- One of many projections from the neuron cell body that receive incoming transmissions from other cells.
- Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA
- Genetic material present in all cells responsible for producing proteins.
- Depression
- A mental disorder characterised by severe feelings of sadness, hopelessness and despair, whose severity is out of proportion to any actual event or condition that may have caused them.
- Diabetes
- Any of several metabolic disorders marked by excessive discharge of urine and persistent thirst.
- Dialysis
- Procedure that filters blood and removes waste products by passing blood through a special machine that acts as an "external kidney".
- Diaphragm
- Broad, dome-shaped muscle that separates the thoracic and abdominal cavities and generates most of the work of breathing.
- Diarrhea Diarrhoea
- Loose, watery stools occurring more than three times in one day
