Dictionary

continuing medical education See CME.

constipation Infrequent and frequently incomplete bowel movements. Constipation is the opposite of diarrhea and is commonly caused by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diverticulosis, and medications. Paradoxically, constipation can also be caused by overuse of laxatives. Colon cancer can also narrow the colon and thereby cause constipation. A high-fiber diet can frequently relieve constipation. If the…

consanguinity Close blood relationship, sometimes used to denote human inbreeding. Mating of closely related persons can cause significant genetic disease in offspring. Everyone carries rare recessive genes that, in the company of other genes of the same type, are capable of causing autosomal recessive diseases. First cousins share a set of grandparents, so for any…

Conor and Bruch disease See typhus, African tick.

connective tissue disease, mixed See mixed connective tissue disease.

connective tissue disease A disease (autoimmune or otherwise) that attacks the collagen or other core components of connective tissue. Lupus is a connective tissue disease.

connective tissue A material consisting of protein fibers that form a framework that provides a support structure for body tissues. See also collagen.

connectionism A theory of information processing that is based on the neurophysiology of the brain. The basic tenets of connectionism are that signals are processed by elementary units (in this case, neurons), processing units are connected in parallel to other processing units, and connections between processing units are weighted. The weights may be hard-wired, learned,…

Conn syndrome Overproduction of the hormone aldosterone by a tumor in the outer portion (cortex) of the adrenal gland. The excessive aldosterone results in low potassium levels (hypokalemia), underacidity of the body (alkalosis), muscle weakness, excessive thirst, excessive urination, and high blood pressure. Also known as aldosteronism and hyperaldosteronism.

conjunctivitis arida See xerophthalmia.

conjunctivitis, allergic Inflammation of the whites of the eyes (the conjunctivae), with itching, redness, and tearing, that is caused by an allergic reaction and frequently accompanied by hay fever.

conjunctivitis Inflammation of the membrane covering the surface of the eyeball. It can be a result of infection or irritation of the eye, or it can be related to systemic diseases, such as Reiter syndrome. Also known as pinkeye.