Abbreviations & definitions

Medical terms explained
book
Abbreviation/term Description
Atrophy Decrease of tissue or organ mass, e.g., muscle atrophy caused by prolonged muscular inactivity.
Glaucoma Elevated eye pressure due to impaired drainage of aqueous fluid. If this persists it can lead to the death of optic nerve fibers and ultimately to blindness.
Hemihypotrophy Relatively smaller size and length of a body half as compared with the rest of the body.
Hypermobility A state whereby elastic and stretchy ligaments allow joints that are more mobile than normal.
Hypertrophy Relatively larger size or length of a body part compared with the rest of the body.
Hypotrophy Relatively smaller size or length of a body part compared with the rest of the body.
Macrocephaly Condition where the head is larger than normal (if the circumference of the head is more than two standard deviations above average depending upon the age, gender and race of the subject).
Syndromal A syndromal disorder is one with multiple related illnesses. A syndrome is not always hereditary, but always has a genetic cause.

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