malady
malady A disease or an illness, from the French maladie, meaning “illness.”
malady A disease or an illness, from the French maladie, meaning “illness.”
malacia Softening. For example, osteomalacia is softening of bone, usually due to deficiency of calcium and vitamin D.
malabsorption Poor intestinal absorption of nutrients. Malabsorption can occur from diseases that injure the bowels, such as Crohn’s disease, Whipple’s disease, celiac disease, and many others.
major histocompatability complex A cluster of genes on chromosome 6 that encode a class of cell surface molecules that are important for antigen production and are critical in organ transplantation. Abbreviated MHC. The MHC includes the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes.
major In general, something that is more than something else. For example, the teres major muscle is larger than the teres minor muscle.
maintenance therapy Treatment designed to help the original primary treatment to succeed. Maintenance therapy may be given to patients who have cancer that is in remission to prevent a relapse.
Maimonides’ Daily Prayer of a Physician See Daily Prayer of a Physician.
magnetic resonance imaging A procedure that uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer to create pictures of areas inside the body. Abbreviated MRI. An MRI is painless and has the advantage of avoiding x-ray radiation exposure. There are no known risks of an MRI. The benefits of an MRI relate to its precise accuracy in…
magnesium excess Too much magnesium in the body. Persons with impaired kidney function should be especially careful about their magnesium intake because they can accumulate dangerous levels of magnesium. Also known as hypermagnesemia. See also magnesium.
magnesium deficiency See deficiency, magnesium.
magnesium A mineral that is involved in many processes in the body, including nerve signaling, the building of healthy bones, and normal muscle contraction. All unprocessed foods contain magnesium. High concentrations of magnesium are found in nuts, unmilled grains, and legumes, such as peas and beans. See also deficiency, magnesium; magnesium excess.
mad cow disease A nickname for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that results from infection by a transmissible agent. The most widely accepted theory is that the agent is a modified form of a normal cell surface component known as a prion. Evidence indicates that BSE has been transmitted to…