CML
CNA Certified nurse aide. See nurse assistant.
CNA Certified nurse aide. See nurse assistant.
CML Chronic myeloid leukemia. See leukemia, chronic myeloid.
CME Continuing medical education, education that physicians are required to obtain in order to earn CME credits to retain their medical licenses. They may do so by taking courses, attending medical conferences where they learn about new developments, or by reading and taking tests.
cM Centimorgan.
cluttering A speech disorder characterized by the unwanted repetition of entire words. It resembles stuttering, in which only sounds or parts of words are repeated. See also speech disorder.
cluster headache A distinctive episodic syndrome of headaches. The most common cluster headache pattern, acute cluster headache, is characterized by one to three short attacks of pain each day around the eyes, clustered over a stretch of 1 to 2 months, and followed by a pain-free period that averages 1 year. The other main pattern…
cluster An aggregation of cases of a disease or another health-related condition, such as a cancer, birth defect, or headaches, closely grouped in time and place. See also cluster headache.
clubfoot A common malformation of the foot that is evident at birth. The foot is turned in sharply so that the person seems to be walking on his or her ankle. Clubfoot can sometimes be corrected with a combination of surgery, bracing, and physical therapy. Also known as talipes equinovarus.
clot-dissolving medication An agent such as plasminogen-activator (t-PA) or streptokinase that is effective in dissolving clots and reopening arteries. For example, clot-dissolving medications may be used in the treatment of heart attacks, to reestablish blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium). Also known as thrombolytic agents.
Clostridium welchii See Clostridium perfringens.
Clostridium perfringens A bacterium that is the most common cause of gas gangrene, a lethal infection of soft tissue, especially muscle. C. perfringens bacteria are toxin- and gas-producing bacteria. Before the introduction of antibiotics, a significant percentage of battlefield injuries were complicated by gas gangrene. C. perfringens also causes food poisoning and a fulminant form…
Clostridium difficile A bacterium that is one of the most common causes of infection of the colon in the US. Patients taking antibiotics are at risk of becoming infected with C. difficile as antibiotics can disrupt the normal bacteria of the bowel, allowing C. difficile to become established in the colon. In some people, a…