Glossary
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Need a definition? Please
M
MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging, body pictures created using magnetic rather than x-ray energy.
Malaria
A disease caused by infection with one or more of four different protozoans and marked by recurring fevers, prostration, and sometimes death. The protozoa are spread from one infected person to another by the bite of Anopheles mosquitoes and, rarely, via blood transfusion.
Memory disorders
Disturbances in registering an impression, in the retention of an acquired impression or in the recall of an impression.
Meningococcal vaccine
A vaccine, which confers protection against the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus), a cause of serious and often fatal meningitis and overwhelming infection of the blood stream. This vaccine is routinely given to military basic trainees because of the historically high frequency of disease and deaths caused by this organism.
Metabolic
Pertaining to metabolism-the sum of all the physical and chemical processes by which living organized substance is produced and maintained and also the transformation by which energy is made available for the uses of the organism.
Metabolize
Process of breaking down substances in cells to obtain energy.
Microwaves
That portion of the electromagnetic spectrum lying between UHF (ultrahigh frequency) radio waves and heat (infrared) waves. Microwaves are used to generate heat and for communications. They may cause heat damage to tissues.
Migraine headache
The most common type of vascular headache, involving (it is thought) abnormal sensitivity of blood vessels (arteries) in the brain to various triggers resulting in rapid changes in the artery size due to spasm (constriction). Other arteries in the brain and scalp then open (dilate), and throbbing pain is perceived in the head.
Miscarriage
Spontaneous delivery of a fetus (developing unborn offspring) before it is able to live on its own.
Mood disorders
Those disorders that have a disturbance in mood as their predominant feature.
Morbidity
Undesired result or complication.
Mortality
The death rate or the ratio of the total number of deaths to the total population.
Motility
The ability to move.
Multiple chemical sensitivity
An acquired disorder characterized by recurrent symptoms, referable to many organ systems, hypothesized to occur in response to exposure to many chemically unrelated compounds at doses far below those established to cause harmful effects in the general population.
Mycoplasma
A type of small bacteria, which lack the rigid cell walls common to most bacteria. A causative agent of pneumonia in humans and some domestic animals is Mycoplasma pneumonia. Various species are troublesome contaminants of animal cell cultures, in which they may grow attached or close to cell surfaces, subtly altering properties of the cells, but escaping detection unless specifically monitored. One hypothesis is that mycoplasma are capable of causing otherwise unexplained symptoms in humans.
