STAT means now. Everything else means consult a specialist.
The fancy medical term for cleansing or purifying bodily fluids, essentially your organs doing a detox without the Instagram posts. In healthcare, it refers to removing toxins or impurities from blood, tissue, or organs through natural or artificial means. What juice cleanses claim to do, but what your kidneys and liver actually accomplish daily.
Acute confusion and altered mental status, when the brain temporarily goes offline and reality becomes negotiable. It's particularly common in hospitalized elderly patients and makes for very interesting nursing notes.
The medical term for tissue wasting, whether from genetic bad luck or nutritional deficiency—basically your body consuming itself when things go very wrong. Most famously associated with muscular dystrophy, the umbrella term for genetic disorders that progressively weaken muscles. It's what happens when cellular maintenance crews go on permanent strike.
The medical removal of dead, damaged, or infected tissue to promote healing of remaining healthy tissue. Essentially spring cleaning for wounds, but with scalpels.
The medical establishment's polite way of saying something in your body or brain isn't functioning according to factory specifications. It's a physical or mental malfunction that ranges from mildly annoying to life-threatening, often requiring professional intervention and a prescription pad. Basically, it's when your biological software has bugs that WebMD will convince you are definitely cancer.
The controlled electrocution of someone's heart to reset its rhythm when it's freaking out and beating chaotically. It's shocking a fibrillating heart back to normal function, preferably before brain damage sets in from lack of oxygen. Basically, it's turning your heart off and on again, except the stakes are slightly higher than rebooting your computer.
A serious bacterial infection caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae that inflames the mucous membranes of your upper respiratory tract, essentially turning your throat into a hostile environment. Thanks to vaccines, it's now mainly something parents use to scare anti-vaxxers back to reality. Before immunization, this disease was a legitimate childhood nightmare that actually warranted the fear.
Abnormal cell growth that's not cancer (yet) but looks suspicious enough to make pathologists concerned—basically cancer's suspicious cousin.
In mental health, a serious clinical condition involving prolonged lowered mood and loss of life enjoyment—distinct from everyday sadness, requiring professional support and patience with yourself.
In clinical settings, someone experiencing depression—a serious medical condition that's much more than just feeling sad. Not to be confused with pessimistic people at parties, though the end result might look similar.
When a patient's body gives up maintaining balance and starts failing—basically medical surrender in real-time.
The medical term for 'skin-related' that instantly adds 20 IQ points to any conversation about rashes. Any cutaneous condition becomes instantly more scientific when you add this prefix.
A metabolic disorder where your body can't regulate blood sugar—whether from lack of insulin production or resistance to the stuff. It's basically your pancreas throwing up its hands in surrender.
A life-threatening emergency where uncontrolled diabetes causes blood to become dangerously acidic. Your blood pH drops, your breathing gets weird, and without emergency treatment, you're done.