Medical Literacy Terms

2. term meaning ‘as needed’ or ‘when necessary’
3. a hormone produced by your heart, released in response to changes in pressure inside the heart that can be related to heart failure
5. The main sugar that the body makes from the food in the diet
6. a disease involving constriction of the airways and difficulty or discomfort in breathing
7. acting against or in contrary direction
9. depletion of water in the body
11. repeatedly elevated blood pressure exceeding 140 over 90 mmHg
15. commonly used to denote nothing to eat and drink overnight before scheduled surgery; meaning nothing by mouth
16. swelling caused by fluid in the body’s tissues
17. opposite of brand name
18. simultaneously having two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient
21. a method of therapeutic approach or a method of diagnosis

1. a life-threatening condition in which the body is fighting a severe infection that has spread via the bloodstream
4. term relating to the lungs
8. an increase in the severity of a disease or its signs and symptoms
10. term relating to the kidneys
12. subjective evidence of disease or physical disturbance
13. a condition or factor that serves as a reason to withhold a certain medical treatment due to the harm that it would cause the patient
14. used to describe a yellowish tinge to the skin and the whites of the eye ball
19. coming and going at intervals
20. abbreviation; difficulty inhaling and exhaling