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Beers criteria
Beers criteria Criteria for safe medication use in older adults -- for people over 65 years of age. First issued in 1991, these criteria have been repeatedly revised and updated. In addition to the benzodiazepines, the Beers criteria (or list) has included amiodarone, amitriptyline, cimetidine, clonidine, disopyramide, indomethacin, ketorolac, meperidine, methyldopa, and many antihistamines, antispasmodics, and muscle relaxants. Named for Dr. M.H. Beers, principal author of the original 1991 criteria.
RELATED TERMS--------------------------------------
Benzodiazepines
A class of drugs that act as tranquilizers and are commonly used in the treatment of anxiety. Benzodiazepines can cause drowsiness.
Amitriptyline
An antidepressant.
Cimetidine
Known under the brand Tagamet, this anti-histamine is primarily used to inhibit gastric secretions in people with ulcers. Cimitedine also has some weak anti-androgenic and has been used with mixed success for treating Androgenetic Alopecia.
Indomethacin
Indomethacin is a prescription or over-the-counter drug which is (or once was) approved in the United States and possibly in other countries. Active ingredient(s): indomethacin.
Methyldopa
Methyldopa is a prescription or over-the-counter drug which is (or once was) approved in the United States and possibly in other countries. Active ingredient(s): methyldopa.
Antihistamines
"Drugs that combat the histamine released during an allergic reaction by blocking the action of the histamine on the tissue. Antihistamines do not stop the formation of histamine nor do they stop the conflict between the IgE and antigen. Therefore, antihistamines do not stop the allergic reaction but protect tissues from some of its effects. Antihistamines frequently cause mouth dryness and sleepiness. Newer ""non sedating"" antihistamines are generally thought to be somewhat less effective. Antihistamine side effects that very occasionally occur include urine retention in males and fast heart rate."
Antispasmodics
Medicines that help reduce or stop muscle spasms in the intestines.
Muscle
Tissue made up of bundles of long, slender cells that contract when stimulated.
SIMILAR TERMS--------------------------------------
Beer Sheva doctors
All doctors near Beer Sheva, Israel. Doctors who can assist a patient in Beer Sheva.
Beers list
See: Beers criteria
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Bednet
Netting which is hung over the bed to keep out mosquitos and other insects. Bednets are an important form of mosquito control and a major modality for preventing malaria. Bednets can be treated with an insecticide. The insecticide may be long-lasting. If it is not, the net needs regular retreatment with insecticide. An insecticide-treated bednet is called an ITN.
Bee genome
See: Honey bee genome.
Bee sting
Stings from bees and other large stinging insects such as yellow jackets, hornets and wasps can trigger allergic reactions varying greatly in severity. Avoidance and prompt treatment are essential. In selected cases, allergy injection therapy is highly effective.
Bee sting, Africanized
All stings from bees (and other large stinging insects such as yellow jackets, hornets and wasps) can trigger allergic reactions varying greatly in severity. Avoidance and prompt treatment are essential. This is surely so with Africanized honey bees, a special species of honey bees that are reportedly moving into the United States from the south. (Africanized honey bees are thought to have originally populated this hemisphere proliferating in Brazil in the 1950s.)
Beef tapeworm
Taenia saginata, the most common of the big tapeworms that parasitizes people, contracted from infected raw or rare beef. Can grow to be 12-25 feet (3.6-7.5 m) long in the human intestine. Also known as the African tapeworm.
Beers criteria
Beers list
See: Beers criteria
Beetle, blister
A blister beetle is one of a number of beetles that have historically been used in dried or powdered form for medicinal purposes to raise blisters on the skin. An example of a blister beetle is the so-called Spanish fly. All blister beetles are soft-bodied beetles and belong to the family Meloidae.
Behavior center, moral
An area of the brain in what is known as the prefrontal cortex. Children who suffer damage before 16 months of age to the prefrontal cortex in the front of the brain tend later to display pathological behavior problems. From such cases, it has been inferred that the area damaged in the prefrontal cortex is responsible for moral behavior. Integrity of this area of the brain appears necessary for acquiring specific forms of knowledge necessary for regulating behavior.
Behavior therapy
A treatment program that involves substituting desirable behavior responses for undesirable ones.
Behavior, automatic
" behavior that is performed without conscious knowledge and that does not appear to be under conscious control. This curious type of behavior occurs in a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The neurologic disorders associated with automatic behavior include narcolepsy (the sudden recurrent uncontrollable compulsion to sleep) and some forms of epilepsy (such as psychomotor epilepsy). The psychiatric conditions associated with automatic behavior include schizophrenia (catatonic type) and fugue (flight) states. Automatic behavior involves doing something ""automatically"" and not remembering afterwards how one did it or even that one did it. Automatic behavior is also called automatism."
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