Dictionary

public health 1 Medicine that is concerned with the health of the community as a whole. Community health. 2 In common usage, a facility or a government agency that provides low-income or free health care.

PUBS Percutaneous umbilical blood sampling.

pueperal fever See childbed fever.

pueperium The time immediately after the delivery of a baby.

pulmonary Having to do with the lungs.

pulmonary artery One of the two vessels which are formed as terminal branches of the pulmonary trunk and convey un-aerated blood to the lungs. The two pulmonary arteries differ in length and anatomy. The right pulmonary artery is the longer of the two. It passes transversely across the midline in the upper chest and passes…

pulmonary edema Fluid in the lungs.

pulmonary embolism Sudden closure of a pulmonary artery or one of its branches, caused by a blood-borne clot or foreign material that plugs the vessel.

pseudoparalysis, spastic See CreutzfeldtJakob disease.

pseudotumor cerebri Increased pressure within the brain in the absence of a tumor. Pseudotumor cerebri can cause headache, ringing in the ears, double vision, loss of visual accuracy, and even complete blindness. It is most common in obese woman of childbearing age. Although its cause is usually not known, pseudotumor cerebri is sometimes linked to…

pseudoxanthoma elasticum A disorder that is characterized by deposition of calcium and other minerals in elastic fibers. It can affect elastic fibers in the skin, eyes, and blood vessels, and less frequently other areas. Abbreviated PXE. PXE is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner and is due to mutations in the ABCC6 gene on chromosome…

psilocybin An hallucinogenic compound obtained from certain mushrooms.