| Front part of the body that contains the stomach, intestines, digestive organs, and some reproductive organs | Abdomen |
| Protuberance formed by the thyroid cartilage of the larynx | Adam’s apple |
| Growths of tissue in the top of and in back of the nose | Adenoids |
| Hormone producing an energy spurt at times of danger | Adrenaline |
| Skin problem of youth resulting from plugged oil glands | Acne |
| Time of life between childhood and adulthood | Adolescence |
| Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a condition in which the virus, HIV-1, destroys the immune system and since the 1970s has killed over a million people worldwide | AIDS |
| Long tube in the human body through which food passes and is digested | Alimentary canal |
| Hypersensitivity to food, pollen, dust, etc. | Allergy |
| Disease that usually begins with the onset of old age, characterized by memory loss and confusion | Alzheimer’s disease |
| Tiny air sacs in the lungs in which oxygen is transferred to the blood | Alveoli |
| Diagnostic procedure performed during pregnancy to determine the health and maturity of an unborn baby by obtaining a sample of the fluid that bathes the human fetus | Amniocentesis |
| Fluid removed from the uterus during amniocentesis | Amniotic fluid |
| Study of structures of organisms | Anatomy |
| Condition in which the blood does not contain enough red blood cells, or hemoglobin | Anemia |
| Substances such as penicillin that kill disease-causing bacteria | Antibiotic |
| Protein produced by certain types of white blood cells in response to an invasion by an organism and then fights that organism | Antibody |
| Any substance such as a protein or polysaccharide that causes the body to produce antibodies to counteract this substance | Antigen |
| Substance that prevents the growth and inactivity of microorganisms that cause infection | Antiseptic |
| Longest and largest artery—it carries blood away from the heart | Aorta |
| Small, apparently useless organ attached to the large intestine | Appendix |
| Blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart | Artery |
| Respiratory disease characterized by wheezing, coughing, and difficulty in breathing | Asthma |
| Thickening of the inner lining of arteries | Atherosclerosis |
| Contagious fungal infection found on the feet | Athlete’s foot |
| One of 2 muscles found in the upper arm | Biceps |
| Greenish-yellow substance produced by the liver that aids digestion in the duodenum | Bile (or gall) |
| English-born woman who on January 23, 1849, became the first U.S. woman to receive a medical degree | Blackwell, Elizabeth |
| Tubes branching off from the windpipe that go into spasms in asthma attacks | Bronchial tubes (or bronchi) |
| Element necessary to the body for healthy teeth and bones | Calcium |
| Smallest blood vessel | Capillary |
| Waste gas released from the lungs that is exchanged for oxygen from the air | Carbon dioxide |
| Cancer-causing substance | Carcinogen |
| Disease affecting the heart and blood vessels | Cardiovascular disease |
| Tough, elastic tissue that connects bones, cushions them, and lessens friction between them | Cartilage |
| Viral childhood disease linked to shingles in later life | Chicken pox |
| Infectious intestinal disease with vomiting and diarrhea that killed many in Peru in 1991 | Cholera |
| Fatty substance important in hormone production and metabolism often associated with the clogging of the arteries that leads to heart attacks | Cholesterol |
| System made up of the blood, blood vessels, and the heart | Circulatory system |
| Living creature copied from a single cell, without sexual reproduction or meiosis | Clone |
| Large intestine section carrying partial digested food (chyme) from the first part of the large intestine (the cecum) to the last part (the rectum) | Colon |
| Disease that is caused by germs, such as bacteria and viruses, and can be transmitted from one person to another—opposite of a noncommunicable disease | Communicable (or infectious) disease |
| Adjective used to describe any heart defect present at birth | Congenital |
| .Part of the skull that encloses the brain—also called a braincase | Cranium |
| Congenital disease, usually of childhood, characterized by the overproduction of mucus | Cystic fibrosis |
| Machine process that replaces kidney action | Dialysis |
| Dome-shaped muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen and helps the lungs to work by contracting and expanding | Diaphragm |
| Process by which large molecules of amino acids are broken down into smaller ones for the body’s use | Digestion |
| Contagious infection of the throat accompanied by high fever and the formation of a membranous substance that blocks breathing | Diphtheria |
| Congenital syndrome characterized by chromosome abnormality, severe mental retardation, a short skull, and slanting eyes | Down’s syndrome |
| Black American physician known for his research on blood plasma and for setting up blood banks | Drew, Charles |
| System that removes various wastes from the body | Excretory system |
| Term for a human in its first stage of development in the uterus before it begins to resemble the adult being | Embryo |
| Lung disease characterized by shortness of breath resulting from enlargement of the alveoli | Emphysema |
| Gland that releases hormones directly into the bloodstream | Endocrine gland |
| Word from the Greek for “leavened” for a catalyst that helps digest food | Enzyme |
| Outbreak of a widespread disease | Epidemic |
| Leaf-shaped structure that acts like a lid to prevent swallowed food from entering the windpipe | Epiglottis |
| Gland that releases its chemicals through a duct into a nearby organ | Exocrine gland |
| Tube through which an egg travels from the ovary to the uterus—also called an oviduct | Fallopian tube |
| Eye problem that causes distant objects to appear sharp while nearby objects look hazy | Farsightedness (or hyperopia) |
| Scottish scientist who discovered penicillin in 1928 | Fleming, Alexander |
| Common contagious disease also called rubella | German measles |
| Any organ that produces chemicals that control functions of the body, such as the organs that produce adrenaline at times of stress | Gland |
| English scientist who discovered how the blood circulates in the human body | Harvey, William |
| Tiny passageway through a thick bone, containing blood vessels, lymphatics, and nerves | Haversian cana |
| Component that gives blood its red color | Hemoglobin |
| Hereditary disease in which the blood does not clot normally | Hemophilia |
| Inflammation of the liver accompanied by fever and often by jaundice | Hepatitis |
| Greek physician known as the “Father of Medicine” and the one who inspired the Hippocratic Oath, an ethical code of conduct administered today to medical graduates | Hippocrates |
| Type of cancer characterized by enlargement of the lymph nodes and other lymphoid tissues, especially the spleen | Hodgkins’ disease |
| High blood pressure | Hypertension |
| Extremely rapid breathing with an intake of too much oxygen that may cause dizziness | Hyperventilation |
| Body’s specific line of defense against invading organisms | Immune system |
| Word describing the body’s acquired resistance to diseases | Immunity |
| Process of giving immunity by inoculation | Immunization |
| Acute contagious disease caused by a virus, a killer strain of which claimed many lives in 1918—also called the flu | Influenza |
| English scientist who performed the first vaccination against smallpox, on James Phipps, in 1796 | Jenner, Edward |
| Place where 2 or more bones meet and may move on each other | Joint |
| Pair of organs in the human body that separate waste matter from the blood | Kidneys |
| German physician who established bacteriology as a separate science and discovered the germ that causes TB | Koch, Robert. |
| American scientist who classified human blood into 4 basic groups, or types | Landsteiner, Karl |
| Voice box that holds the 2 bands of cartilage called the vocal cords | Larynx |
| Form of pneumonia caused by bacterial infection and named from an outbreak at an American Legion convention | Legionnaires’ disease |
| Stringy connective tissue which connects bones or holds organs in place | Ligament |
| English physician who introduced antiseptic surgery and was named a baron, making him the first medical man to be elevated to the British peerage | Lister, Joseph |
| Body’s largest internal organ, one that removes waste from the blood and is affected by hepatitis | Liver |
| Organs that enable a person to breathe | Lungs |
| Disease caused by a tickborn virus that results in a rash and inflammation of the joints and named after a Connecticut site | Lyme disease |
| Numerous enlarged areas of the lymphatic system where white blood cells destroy germs | Lymph nodes |
| Disease causing chills and fever, carried by the female Anopheles mosquito | Malaria |
| Inadequate nutrition | Malnutrition |
| Soft material inside a bone | Marrow |
| Contagious disease caused by a virus that results in red or pink spots on the skin—also called rubeola | Measles |
| Thin skin that lines or covers body parts, such as the lining of the nose | Membrane |
| Inflammation of the meninges or brain membranes as the result of infection by bacteria or viruses | Meningitis |
| Period in a woman’s life when menstruation ceases, usually between the ages of 45 and 50 | Menopause |
| Act of discharging bloody fluid from the uterus, normally every about every 4 weeks | Menstruation |
| Dense, sticky fluid that lines the air passageways and traps foreign substances which can then be expelled from the body | Mucus |
| Acute contagious disease, usually of childhood, characterized by swelling of the salivary glands at the back of the throat | Mumps |
| System made up of elastic fibers that enable the body to move | Muscular system |
| Eye problem that causes distant objects to appear fuzzy while nearby objects look sharp | Nearsightedness (or myopia) |
| Fibers connecting the rest of the body to the brain | Nerves |
| Type of tissue that carries messages back and forth between the brain and spinal cord | Nerve tissue |
| System made up of the brain, spinal cord, and the nerves and coordinates and controls the body’s responses to stimuli | Nervous system |
| Nerve cell | Neuron |
| Stimulant in tobacco linked to cancer and heart disease | Nicotine |
| Food substance, such as protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamin, mineral, fiber, or water, needed for good health | Nutrient |
| Cranial nerve that carries the sensation of smell from the nose to the brain | Olfactory nerve |
| Painkilling drug | Opiate |
| Nerve of sight, which conducts impulses from the retina to the brain | Optic nerve |
| Process in which cartilage disappears and is replaced by bone | Ossification |
| Female sex glands | Ovaries |
| Triangular organ located between the stomach and the small intestine—it produces digestive juices used to break down foodstuffs—it also produces insulin and glucagon | Pancreas |
| Disease of later life characterized by tremors, shuffling walk, slow speech, and fixed facial expression | Parkinson’s disease |
| French “Father of Bacteriology” who killed microbes by heat and saved the French wine industry—later his method, pasteurization,helped preserve milk, beer, and food | Pasteur, Louis |
| Term using the Greek root pathos, meaning “suffering” or “disease,” that designates a disease-causing agent | Pathogen |
| Framework of bones that supports the lower part of the abdomen | Pelvis |
| Tough membrane containing bone-forming cells and blood vessels | Periosteum |
| Wavelike contractions that push food through the alimentary canal | Peristalsis |
| Medical name for whooping cough, cases of which were greater in 1992 than in more than 26 years | Pertussis |
| Liquid part of the blood | Plasma |
| Microscopic fragment of detached cytoplasm from very large cells that floats in blood plasma and is involved in clotting | Platelet |
| Infectious disease characterized by inflammation of the lung | Pneumonia |
| Complex organic molecule made up of amino acids that helps the body to grow and repair itself | Protein |
| Stage of life during which a human becomes capable of reproduction or the stage of physical development that precedes and initiates adolescence | Puberty |
| Enforced isolation to prevent the spread of disease | Quarantine |
| More common name for hydrophobia, a disease named from its victims’ symptomatic inability to swallow water | Rabies |
| Initialism for Recommended Daily Allowance, that is, those proteins, minerals, and vitamins needed for the body’s proper function | RDA |
| Cells that contain hemoglobin—also called erythrocytes | Red blood cells |
| System of glands and organs enabling people to have children | Reproductive system |
| Action of breathing | Respiration |
| System made up of the lungs and the tubes connecting the nose and the mouth to the lungs that enable a person to breathe | Respiratory system |
| Often fatal disease, usually of children and associated with the use of aspirin | Reye’s Syndrome |
| Colorless, watery fluid produced by glands in the mouth | Saliva |
| Any of a genus of bacteria causing food poisoning and named after an American pathologist | Salmonella |
| Certain vegetable and animal fats considered to cause unhealthy cholesterol levels in the bloodstream | Saturated fats |
| Infectious disease characterized by sore throat, fever, and a reddish rash—sometimes called scarlatina | Scarlet fever |
| Any of 3 curved tubes in the inner ear responsible for the sense of balance | Semicircular canal |
| Disorder resulting from an inadequate supply of blood to the body’s organs | Shock |
| Blood disorder that occurs primarily in people of African descent | Sickle cell anemia |
| System of bones supporting the body and keeping it together | Skeletal system |
| First disease wiped out by modern medicine | Smallpox |
| Sudden paralysis of body function or functions caused by an injury to the brain when blood circulation is obstructed | Stroke |
| Tough, fibrous tissue that connects a muscle to a bone, except in the heart | Tendon |
| Male sex glands | Testes |
| Disease caused by bacilli that enter the body through wounds,causing stiffening of the muscles, and thus often called lockjaw | Tetanus |
| Mass of cells similar in structure that work together to perform a specific function and form the structural parts of an organism | Tissue |
| Two large outgrowths of tissue located on each side of the throat | Tonsils |
| Poison formed by bacteria that damages body cells | Toxin |
| Large endocrine gland located in the neck that affects growth and metabolism | Thyroid |
| Communicable disease usually of the lungs, frequently referred to as TB | Tuberculosis |
| Often fatal disease spread by contaminated food and water and characterized by fever, eruptions of the skin, and nosebleed | Typhoid |
| Structure connecting an embryo or fetus to the mother’s placenta and transporting food, oxygen, and wastes | Umbilical cord |
| Certain vegetable and animal fats considered not as likely to cause unhealthy cholesterol levels in the bloodstream because they can absorb or dissolve a greater quantity of a substance | Unsaturated fats |
| System including the kidneys that cleans waste from the blood and regulates the amount of water in the body | Urinary system |
| Hollow, muscular organ in females also called the womb in which the fertilized egg is held and nourished till birth | Uterus |
| Term derived from the Latin word for “cow” that designates the injection of a substance into the body to produce immunity to a disease | Vaccination |
| Weakened or dead virus injected into the body to protect it against disease | Vaccine |
| Blood vessel that carries blood from the capillaries toward the heart | Vein |
| Fingerlike projections in the small intestine that add to its absorptive surface | Villi |
| Cells helping the body fight disease—also called leukocytes | White blood cells |
| Type of rays German Wilhelm Roentgen discovered and for which he won the first Nobel Prize in physics, in 1901—they are used to take pictures of the inside of the body | X-ray |
| Infectious tropical disease caused by the bite of a mosquito eliminated in the Panama Canal Zone by William Gorgas | Yellow fever (or yellow jack) |
| Cell formed by a sperm and egg immediately after fertilization | Zygote |