Dictionary

MPS3 Mucopolysaccharidosis type III. See Sanfilippo syndrome.

MPS2 Mucopolysaccharidosis type II. See Hunter syndrome.

MPS1 Mucopolysaccharidosis type I. See Hurler syndrome.

MPS 1 Mucopolysaccharidosis. 2 Myofascial pain syndrome.

MPH Master of public health, a degree designating successful training in analyzing past, present, and future public health issues.

mouth, trench See acute membranous gingivitis.

mountain sickness See altitude sickness.

motor neuron disease A group of related diseases of the nervous system that are characterized by steadily progressive deterioration of the motor neurons in the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord. Abbreviated MND. Motor neurons are the nerve cells along which the brain sends instructions, in the form of electrical impulses, to the muscles. The degeneration…

motor Something that produces or refers to motion. For example, a motor neuron is a nerve cell that conveys an impulse to a muscle for contraction, which then moves a joint.

motion sickness A disorder of the sense of balance and equilibrium and, hence, the sense of spatial orientation that is caused by repeated motion such as from the swell of the sea, the movement of a car, or the motion of a plane in turbulent air. Motion sickness is due to irritation of a portion…

motility study, antro-duodenal A study for detecting and recording the contractions of the muscles of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine (the duodenum). An antro-duodenal motility study is performed to diagnose problems in the way the muscles of the stomach and small intestine are working. To conduct the study, a tube…

mother 1 The female parent. 2 To produce offspring as a female. 3 A cell or another structure from which similar cells or structures are formed. Such a cell might be referred to as the mother cell. 4 To provide maternal protection, guidance, and nurturing to a child or children.