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Physical Exam
In a physical examination, medical examination, clinical examination, or medical checkup, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally consists of a series of questions about the patient's medical history followed by an examination based on the reported symptoms. Together, the medical history and the physical examination help to determine a diagnosis and devise the treatment plan. These data then become part of the medical record. Types Routine The ''routine physical'', also known as ''general medical examination'', ''periodic health evaluation'', ''annual physical'', ''comprehensive medical exam'', ''general health check'', ''preventive health examination'', ''medical check-up'', or simply ''medical'', is a physical examination performed on an asymptomatic patient for medical screening purposes. These are normally performed by a pediatrician, family practice physician, a physical therapist, ph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by Health professional, healthcare professionals. The patient is most often Disease, ill or Major trauma, injured and in need of therapy, treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health care provider. Etymology The word wikt:patient, patient originally meant 'one who suffers'. This English noun comes from the Latin word , the present participle of the deponent verb, , meaning , and akin to the Ancient Greek, Greek verb ( ) and its cognate noun (). This language has been construed as meaning that the role of patients is to passively accept and tolerate the suffering and treatments prescribed by the healthcare providers, without engaging in Shared decision-making in medicine, shared decision-making about their care. Outpatients and inpatients An outpatient (or out-patient) is a patient who attends an Outpatient clinic (hospital department), outpatient clinic with no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Licensed Practical Nurses
A licensed practical nurse (LPN), in much of the United States and Canada, is a nurse who provides direct nursing care for people who are sick, injured, convalescent, or disabled. In the United States, LPNs work under the direction of physicians, and mid-level practitioners. In Canada, LPNs' scope of practice is autonomously similar to the registered nurse in providing direct nursing care. They are also responsible for their individual actions and practice.Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses ''Occupational Outlook Handbook'', 2010–11 Edition. , |
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society was founded on May 22, 1913, by ten physicians and five businessmen in New York City under the name "American Society for the Control of Cancer" (ASCC). The current name was adopted in 1944. At the time of founding, it was not considered appropriate to mention the word "cancer" in public and information concerning this illness was cloaked in a climate of fear and denial. The top item on the founders' agenda was to raise awareness of cancer, before any other progress could be made in funding research. Therefore, a frenetic writing campaign was undertaken to educate doctors, nurses, patients and family members about cancer. Articles were written for popular magazines and professional journals. The ASCC undertook to publish their own journal, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Risk Factors
In epidemiology, a risk factor or determinant is a variable associated with an increased risk of disease or infection. Due to a lack of harmonization across disciplines, determinant, in its more widely accepted scientific meaning, is often used as a synonym. The main difference lies in the realm of practice: medicine ( clinical practice) versus public health. As an example from clinical practice, low ingestion of dietary sources of vitamin C is a known risk factor for developing scurvy. Specific to public health policy, a determinant is a health risk that is general, abstract, related to inequalities, and difficult for an individual to control. For example, poverty is known to be a determinant of an individual's standard of health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overdiagnosis
Overdiagnosis is the diagnosis of disease that will never cause symptoms or death during a patient's ordinarily expected lifetime and thus presents no practical threat regardless of being pathologic. Overdiagnosis is a side effect of screening for early forms of disease. Although screening saves lives in some cases, in others it may turn people into patients unnecessarily and may lead to treatments that do no good and perhaps do harm. Given the tremendous variability that is normal in biology, it is inherent that the more one screens, the more incidental findings will generally be found. For a large percentage of them, the most appropriate medical response is to recognize them as something that does not require intervention; but determining which action a particular finding warrants ("ignoring", watchful waiting, or intervention) can be very difficult, whether because the differential diagnosis is uncertain or because the risk ratio is uncertain (risks posed by intervention, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cochrane Collaboration
Cochrane is a British international charitable organisation formed to synthesize medical research findings to facilitate evidence-based choices about health interventions involving health professionals, patients and policy makers. It includes 53 review groups that are based at research institutions worldwide. Cochrane has over volunteer experts from around the world. The group conducts systematic reviews of healthcare interventions and diagnostic tests and publishes them in the Cochrane Library. While Cochrane reviews typically focus on randomized controlled trials, some reviews, particularly in areas such as public and occupational health, also incorporate other study designs. These may include non-randomised observational studies as well as controlled before–after (CBA) studies and interrupted time-series studies. According to the Library, articles are available via one-click access, though some may require registration or a subscription. History Cochrane, previo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evidence-based Medicine
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. It means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research." The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of the patient, and the best available scientific information to guide decision-making about clinical management. The term was originally used to describe an approach to teaching the practice of medicine and improving decisions by individual physicians about individual patients. The EBM Pyramid is a tool that helps in visualizing the hierarchy of evidence in medicine, from least authoritative, like expert opinions, to most authoritative, like systematic reviews. Adoption of evidence-based medicine is necessary in a human Rights-based approach to development, rights-based approach to public health and a precondition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Screening (medicine)
In medicine, screening is a strategy used to look for as-yet-unrecognised conditions or risk markers. This testing can be applied to individuals or to a whole population without symptoms or signs of the disease being screened. Screening Public health intervention, interventions are designed to identify conditions which could at some future point turn into disease, thus enabling earlier intervention and management in the hope to reduce mortality and suffering from a disease. Although screening may lead to an earlier diagnosis, not all screening tests have been shown to benefit the person being screened; overdiagnosis, misdiagnosis, and creating a false sense of security are some potential Adverse effect (medicine), adverse effects of screening. Additionally, some screening tests can be inappropriately overused. For these reasons, a test used in a screening program, especially for a disease with low Incidence (epidemiology), incidence, must have good Sensitivity (tests), sensitivity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medical Laboratory
A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are conducted out on clinical specimens to obtain information about the health of a patient to aid in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Clinical medical laboratories are an example of applied science, as opposed to research laboratory, research laboratories that focus on basic science, such as found in some academia, academic institutions. Medical laboratories vary in size and complexity and so offer a variety of testing services. More comprehensive services can be found in acute-care hospitals and medical centers, where 70% of clinical decisions are based on laboratory testing. Doctors offices and clinics, as well as skilled nursing and Nursing home, long-term care facilities, may have laboratories that provide more basic testing services. Commercial medical laboratories operate as independent businesses and provide testing that is otherwise not provided in other settings due to low test vol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained hyperglycemia, high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of the body becoming unresponsive to insulin's effects. Classic symptoms include polydipsia (excessive thirst), polyuria (excessive urination), polyphagia (excessive hunger), Weight loss#Unintentional, weight loss, and blurred vision. If left untreated, the disease can lead to various health complications, including disorders of the Cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular system, Diabetic retinopathy, eye, Diabetic nephropathy, kidney, and Diabetic neuropathy, nerves. Diabetes accounts for approximately 4.2 million deaths every year, with an estimated 1.5 million caused by either untreated or poorly treated diabetes. The major types of diabetes are Type 1 diabetes, type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, type 2. The most common treatment for ty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chronic (medical)
A chronic condition (also known as chronic disease or chronic illness) is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term ''chronic'' is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include diabetes, functional gastrointestinal disorder, eczema, arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, autoimmune diseases, genetic disorders and some viral diseases such as hepatitis C and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. An illness which is lifelong because it ends in death is a terminal illness. It is possible and not unexpected for an illness to change in definition from terminal to chronic as medicine progresses. Diabetes and HIV for example were once terminal yet are now considered chronic, due to the availability of insulin for diabetics and daily drug treatment for individuals with HIV, which allow these individuals to live w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain or pain during sexual intercourse. While bleeding after sex may not be serious, it may also indicate the presence of cervical cancer. Virtually all cervical cancer cases (99%) are linked to genital human papillomavirus infection (HPV); most who have had HPV infections, however, do not develop cervical cancer. HPV 16 and 18 strains are responsible for approximately 70% of cervical cancer cases globally and nearly 50% of high grade cervical pre-cancers. Minor risk factors include smoking, a weak immune system, birth control pills, starting sex at a young age, and having many sexual partners. Genetic factors also contribute to cervical cancer risk. Cervical cancer typically develo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
