Medical Dictionary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

benzylic (ben-zil′ik)
Relating to or containing benzyl.

benzylidene (ben-zil′i-den)
The hydrocarbon radical, C6H5CH&dbond;.

benzylisoquinolines (ben′zil-i-so-kwin-o-linz)
A group of alkaloids found primarily in poppy plants (Papaveraceae). Curare alkaloids are bisbenzylisoquinolines.

benzyloxycarbonyl (Z, Cbz) (ben′zil-ok-se-kar′bon-il)
Amino-protecting radical used (as the chloride) in peptide synthesis, yielding PhCH2OCO&cbond;NHR. SYN: carbobenzoxy-.

benzylpenicillin (ben′zil-pen-i-sil′in)
SYN: penicillin G.

bephenium hydroxynaphthoate (be-fen′e-um hi-droks′e-naf′tho-at)
A drug used against Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus (hookworms of man); now largely replaced by mebendazole.

BER
Abbreviation for basic electrical rhythm.

Beradinelli
Waldemar, Argentinian physician, 1903–1956. See B. syndrome.

Bérard
Auguste, French surgeon, 1802–1846. See B. aneurysm.

Béraud
Bruno J., French surgeon, 1825–1865. See B. valve.

berberine (ber′ber-en)
An alkaloid from Hydrastis canadensis (family Berberidaceae); has been used as an antimalarial, antipyretic, and carminative, and externally for indolent ulcers.

bereavement (be-rev-ment)
An acute state of intense psychological sadness and suffering experienced after the tragic loss of a loved one or some priceless possession. [M.E., bireven, to deprive, + -ment]

Berger
Jean, 20th century French nephrologist. See B. disease, B. focal glomerulonephritis.

Berger
Hans, German neurologist, 1873–1941. See B. rhythm.

Berger
Emil, Austrian ophthalmologist, 1855–1926. See B. space.

Berger cells
See under cell.

Bergman
Harry, U.S. urologist, 1912–1998. See B. sign.

Bergmann
Gottlieb H., German neurologist and anatomist, 1781–1861. See B. cords, under cord, B. fibers, under fiber.

Bergmeister
O., Austrian ophthalmologist, 1845–1918. See B. papilla.

Berg stain
See under stain.

beriberi, beri beri (ber′e-ber′e)
A specific nutritional deficiency syndrome occurring in endemic form in eastern and southern Asia, sporadically in other parts of the world without reference to climate, and sometimes in alcoholics, resulting mainly from a dietary deficiency of thiamine; the “dry” form is characterized by painful polyneuritis; sensory nerves are more likely to be affected than motor nerves, with symptoms beginning in the feet and working upward with the hands affected late in the course of the disease; the “wet” form is characterized by edema resulting from a high-output form of heart failure. SEE ALSO: nutritional polyneuropathy. SYN: endemic neuritis. [Singhalese, extreme weakness] dry b. paraplegic b., affecting chiefly the peripheral nerves; its clinical pattern is predominantly that of a polyneuropathy without associated congestive failure. infantile b. b. appearing in a breast-fed infants whose mother has b. due to thiamin deficiency. It is mainly the &dquor;wet&dquor; form of b., characterized by heart failure with marked peripheral edema (which is otherwise unusual in heart failure in infancy). An often fatal disease, acute in onset, which was formerly common in the Far Eastern countries where rice is consumed; reversible with thiamin. ship b. a form of thiamine deficiency seen among sailors. wet b. edematous b., in which congestive heart failure occurs in addition to polyneuropathy.

berkelium (Bk) (berk′le-um)
An artificial transuranium radioactive element; atomic no. 97, atomic wt. 247.07. [Berkeley, CA, city where first prepared]

Berlin
Rudolf, German ophthalmologist, 1833–1897. See B. edema.

Berlin blue [C.I. 77510]
Ferric ferrocyanide;a dye used for injection studies of blood vessels and lymphatics, and in staining of siderocytes. SYN: Prussian blue.

Bernard
Jean, French physician, *1907. See B.-Soulier disease, B.-Soulier syndrome.

Bernard
Claude, French physiologist, 1813–1878. See B. canal, B. duct, B. puncture, B.-Cannon homeostasis, B.-Horner syndrome, B.-Sergent syndrome.

Bernays
Augustus C., U.S. surgeon, 1854–1907. See B. sponge.

Bernhardt
Martin, German neurologist, 1844–1915. See B. disease, B.-Roth syndrome.

Bernhardt formula
See under formula.

Bernheim
P., early 20th century French physician. See B. syndrome.

Bernoulli
Daniel, Swiss mathematician, 1700–1782. See B. effect, B. law, B. principle, B. theorem.

Bernoulli trial
A single random event for which there are two and only two possible outcomes that are mutually exclusive and have a priori fixed (and complementary) probabilities of resulting. The trial is the realization of this process. Conventionally one outcome is termed a success and is assigned the score 1, the other is a failure and has the score zero. Thus the outcome might be 0 (no heads, one tail) or 1 (1 head, no tails).

Bernstein
Lionel M., U.S. internist, *1923. See B. test.

Berry
Sir James, Canadian surgeon, 1860–1946. See B. ligaments, under ligament.

Berson
Solomon A., U.S. internist, 1918–1972.. See B. test.

Berthelot
Pierre Eugene Marcellin, French chemist, 1827–1907. See B. reaction.

Berthollet
Claude L., French chemist, 1748–1822. See B. law.

Bertiella studeri (ber-te-el′a stood-er′e)
Common tapeworm found in primates; incidental zoonotic infections in humans in the tropics have been reported.

bertiellosis (ber′te-e-lo′sis)
Infection of primates, including humans, with cestodes of the genus Bertiella.

Bertin
Exupère Joseph, French anatomist, 1712–1781. See B. bones, under bone, B. columns, under column, B. ligament, B. ossicles, under ossicle.

Bertrand
Ivan Georges, 20th century French neurologist. See Canavan-van Bogaert-B. disease.

berylliosis (be-ril-e-o′sis)
Beryllium poisoning characterized by the occurrence of acute pneumonia or chronic interstitial granulomatous fibrosis, especially of the lungs, from inhalation of beryllium.

beryllium (Be) (be-ril′e-um)
A white metal element belonging to the alkaline earths; atomic no. 4., atomic wt. 9.012182. [G. beryllos, beryl]

Berzelius
J.J., Swedish chemist, 1779–1848.

Besnier
Ernest H., French dermatologist, 1831–1909. See B. prurigo, B.-Boeck-Schaumann syndrome.

Besnoitiidae (bes-noy′te-i-de)
A family of protozoan parasites, similar to those of the family Toxoplasmatidae, to which the genus Besnoitia belong.

Best
Franz, German pathologist, 1878–1920. See B. disease, B. carmine stain.

bestiality (bes-te-al′i-te)
SYN: zoophilia. [L. bestia, beast]

besylate (bes′il-at)
USAN-approved contraction for benzenesulfonate.

beta (β) (ba′ta)
Second letter of the Greek alphabet, &b.; (see entry at start of letter “B's.” [G.]

beta-blocker (ba′ta-blok′er)
SYN: β-adrenergic blocking agent.

betacism (ba′ta-sizm)
A defect in speech in which the sound of b is given to other consonants. [G. beta, the second letter of the alphabet]

betacyanin (ba′ta-si-a-nin)
One of several red plant pigments; a betalain. An example is betanin. Elevated in urine of individuals with beeturia. [L. beta, beet, + G. kyanos, dark blue substance, + -in]

betacyaninuria (ba-ta-si′a-ni-noo′re-a)
SYN: beeturia. [betacyanin + G. ouron, urine]

Betaherpesvirinae (ba′ta-her′pez-vir′i-ne)
A subfamily of Herpesviridae containing Cytomegalovirus and Roseolovirus.

betahistine hydrochloride (ba-ta-his′ten)
An inhibitor of diamine oxidase used as a histaminelike agent for treatment of Ménière disease.

betaine (be′ta-en)
1. An oxidation product of choline and a transmethylating intermediate in metabolism. 2. A class of compounds related to b.. (1) ( i.e., R3N=&cbond;CHR′&cbond;COO−), e.g., glycine b.. SYN: glycine b.. b. aldehyde an intermediate in the interconversion of b. and choline. b. hydrochloride an acidifying agent used in the treatment of achlorhydria and hypochlorhydria.

betaine-aldehyde dehydrogenase
An oxidizing enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of betaine aldehyde with NAD+ and water to betaine and NADH; part of the choline oxidase system and of choline metabolism.

betalains (ba′ta-lans)
A group of plant pigments found almost exclusively in the family Centrospermae, e.g., betanin. There are two groups: betacyanines (in plants with a red-violet color) and betaxanthins (in plants with a yellow color).

betamethasone (ba-ta-meth′a-son)
A semisynthetic glucocorticoid with anti-inflammatory effects and toxicity similar to those of cortisol; not useful in the treatment of adrenal insufficiency because it causes little sodium retention. For systemic and topical therapy, its actions are similar to those of prednisone, but more potent. Also available as b. sodium phosphate, b. acetate, and b. valerate.

betanidine sulfate (be-tan′i-den)
SYN: bethanidine sulfate.

betanin (ba′ta-nin)
The red pigment in beets (Beta vulgaris); elevated in urine of individuals with beeturia. [fr. betacyanin]

beta sheets
A structure of proteins where the peptide is extended and stabilized by hydrogen bonding between NH and CO groups of different polypeptide chain backbones or separate regions of the same chain.

betatron (ba′ta-tron)
A circular electron accelerator that is a source of either high energy electrons or x-rays.

betaxolol hydrochloride (be-taks′o-lol)
A β-adrenergic blocking agent used primarily in the treatment of ocular hypertension and chronic open-angle glaucoma.

betazole hydrochloride (ba′ta-zol)
An analogue of histamine that stimulates gastric secretion by an action on H2 receptors with less tendency to produce the side effects seen with histamine; used, in place of histamine, to measure the gastric secretory response.

betel (be′tl)
The dried leaves of Piper betle (family Piperaceae), a climbing East Indian plant; used as a stimulant and narcotic. [Pg. b., betle, fr. Malayalam or Tamil vetilla]

betel nut
Areca nut, the nut of the areca palm, Areca catechu (family Palmae), of the East Indies, chewed by the natives; contains arecoline; produces central nervous system stimulation; stains teeth and gums red.

bethanechol chloride (be-than′e-kol)
A parasympathomimetic agent, used to relieve constipation, paralytic ileus, and urinary retention.

bethanidine sulfate (be-than′i-den)
An adrenergic blocking agent used for palliative treatment of hypertension. SYN: betanidine sulfate.

Bethesda-Ballerup Group
A group of citrate-utilizing, slow lactose-fermenting bacteria (family Enterobacteriaceae) which share a similar series of antigens with the lactose-fermenting citrobacters; these organisms are now included in the genus Citrobacter without a distinction between prompt and slow lactose fermentation.

Betke-Kleihauer test
See under test.

Bettendorff
Anton J., German chemist, 1839–1902. See B. test.

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