Dictionary

pressure, intraocular See intraocular pressure.

pressure, low blood See hypotension.

prevalence The proportion of individuals in a population having a disease or characteristic. Prevalence is a statistical concept referring to the number of cases of a disease that are present in a particular population at a given time, whereas incidence refers to the number of new cases that develop in a given period of time.

preventive medicine Medical practices that are designed to avert and avoid disease. For example, screening for hypertension and treating it before it causes disease is good preventive medicine. Preventive medicine takes a proactive approach to patient care.

priapism Abnormally persistent erection of the penis in the absence of desire. Treatments include medications, anesthesia, and drainage of blood from the penis.

primary amenorrhea See amenorrhea.

primary biliary cirrhosis See cirrhosis, primary biliary.

primary care A patient’s main source for regular medical care, ideally providing continuity and integration of health care services. All family physicians, and many pediatricians and internists, practice primary care. The aims of primary care are to provide the patient with a broad spectrum of preventive and curative care over a period of time and…

primary care provider In insurance parlance, a physician who is chosen by or assigned to a patient and both provides primary care and acts as a gatekeeper to control access to other medical services.

primary dentition See primary teeth.

primary HIV infection See HIV infection, primary.

primary sclerosing cholangitis A chronic disorder of the liver of uncertain cause in which the bile ducts within and outside of the liver become inflamed, thickened, scarred (sclerotic), and obstructed. This progressive process can in time destroy the bile ducts and lead to cirrhosis. Abbreviated PSC. PSC can occur by itself or in association with…