A to Z of Rare Medical Words

Words I didn't know before I started medical school...in alphabetical order (kewl).

anastamosis-communication between blood vessels

basilar artery-artery located (surprise!) at the base of the brain

Christmas disease-no shit, there really is a Christmas disease. Wouldn't it suck to have to tell someone, "Yes, you have Christmas disease...not Chanukah disease, not Ramadan or Holi disease...Christmas disease. Well, there's your present. Happy holidays." It's a sex-linked hemorrhagic disorder.

decidua--not related to trees; it's a kind of tissue found in the uterus.

enkephalin-a naturally occuring opiate, a la the endorphins.

falx-a sickle-shaped structure, a la the falx cerebri (look it up).

gastrocnemius-the big muscle in your calf.

hapten-a small, separable part of an antigen (look it up again).

imbrication-layers of overlapping tissues in a sutured wound. Use it in an everyday conversation and I'll pay you twenty dollars.

jake leg-paralysis caused by drinking improperly distilled liquor (not related to jimmy leg, which means--I dunno, actually, but it sounds bad. Oh, wait--according to the internet, it's Restless Legs Syndrome).

kallikrein- a vasodilatory peptide, ie, a molecule that dilates blood vessels.

labrum-a ring of cartilage attached to the rim of a joint. But doesn't it sound like a dirty word?

mediastinum- the space between the pleura of the lungs, where the heart is. So, y'know, home isn't where the heart is--the mediastinum is where the heart is.

natriuresis- When you piss away salt. Ie, when your urine contains too much sodium.

obtunded-passed out, to the extent that you don't feel pain when exposed to noxious stimuli.

palmaris longus- a superficial muscle of the forearm.

quinsy- an abcess around the tonsils. Seriously, there aren't a lot of words, period, that start with q, let alone medical words I didn't know before.

reamer-a dental instrument. Yes, it is in fact called that. Didn't you always feel like you were getting reamed at the dentist's?

Saint Louis encephalitis- a viral encephalitis named after the city in which I am now going to medical school. Normally you can't get that kind of deal without getting your MD in a tropical location.

tardive-the adjectival form of lateness. A fancier way to say tardiness-ness, I guess.

unctuous-fatty or oily; One of the side effects of Alli is unctuous anal leakage.

vasa vasorum-literally, vessels to vessels; the small blood vessels that supply the walls of larger arteries or veins.

Wharton's jelly-a form of connective tissue in the umbilical cord that, obviously, has a jellylike consistency. Impossible to eat on toast without vomiting afterward.

Yaws-a tropical infection of pretty much every tissue in your body, caused by a spirochete. Ew.

Zonule of Zinn- double credit! The suspensory ligament of the lens of the eye.

Hope you had fun! I know I did!