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Fontanel (fontanelle)
Fontanel (fontanelle) The medical term fontanel is a "soft spot" of the skull. The "soft spot" is soft precisely because the cartilage there has not yet hardened into bone between the skull bones. There are normally two fontanels, both in the midline of the skull, one (the anterior fontanel) well in front of the other (the posterior fontanel). The posterior fontanel closes first, at latest by the age of 8 weeks in a full-term baby. The anterior fontanel closes at 18 months of age on the average but it can close normally as early as 9 months. If fontanels close too early or too late, that may be a sign of a problem.
RELATED TERMS--------------------------------------
Medical
Pertaining to Medicine.
Fontanel
The soft spots on a baby's head that, during birth, enable the soft bony plates of the skull to flex, allowing the head to pass through the birth canal. Fontanels are completely hardened by a child's second birthday.
Skull
The bony framework of the head.
Cartilage
A firm, flexible connective tissue. In vertebrates, the cartilage forms the skeleton in the early stages of development, after which it is largely replaced by bone. Some cartilage remains at the joints to give flexibility and support.
Bone
Bone refers either to a hardened connective tissue or to one of the individual structures, or organs, into which it is formed, found in many animals. Bones support body structures, protect internal organs, and (in conjunction with muscles) facilitate movement; are also involved with cell formation, calcium metabolism, and mineral storage. The bones of an animal are, collectively, known as the skeleton.
Anterior
The front, as opposed to the posterior. The anterior surface of the heart is toward the breast bone (the sternum).
Posterior
At or toward the back.
Full-term
A baby born between 38 and 42 weeks' gestation.
Sign
An objective manifestation of a pathological condition. Signs are observed by the examiner rather than reported by the affected individual.
SIMILAR TERMS--------------------------------------
Fontana doctors
All doctors near Fontana, the United States of America. Doctors who can assist a patient in Fontana.
Fontanel
The soft spots on a baby's head that, during birth, enable the soft bony plates of the skull to flex, allowing the head to pass through the birth canal. Fontanels are completely hardened by a child's second birthday.
Fontanelle
A soft spot in the skull of an infant formed by the normal separation between the bony plates of the skull.
PREVIOUS AND NEXT TERMS--------------------------------------
Focal motor seizure
A simple partial seizure with localized motor activity. There may be spasm or clonus (jerking) of one muscle or a muscle group and this may remain localized or it may subsequently spread to adjacent muscles as a Jacksonian seizure.
Folate
Folic acid, one of the B vitamins that is a key factor in the synthesis (the making) of nucleic acid (DNA and RNA). A deficiency of folic acid after birth causes a kind of anemia, namely, megaloblastic anemia in which there is a paucity of red blood cells and those that are made are unusually large and immature (so-called blast cells).
Folding motif
An independent folding unit, or particular structure, that recurs in many molecules.
Folinic acid
The active form of folic acid in the body.
Follicular cyst of the ovary
A fluid-filled sac in the ovary, the most common type of ovarian cyst. It results from the growth of a follicle. A follicle is the fluid-filled cyst that contains an egg. In some cycles, this follicle grows larger that normal and does not rupture to release the egg. Normally it resolves with simple observation over the course of days to months.
Fontanel (fontanelle)
Food
Any substance eaten to provide nutritional support for the body.
Food insecure
When people must live with hunger and fear starvation.
Food irradiation
A food safety technology designed to eliminate disease-causing germs from foods. Treating food with ionizing radiation can kill bacteria and parasites that would otherwise cause foodborne disease. Similar technology is used to sterilize medical devices so they can be used in surgery or implanted without risk of infection. The effects of irradiation on the food and on animals and people eating irradiated food have been studied extensively. These studies show clearly that when irradiation is used as approved on foods, disease-causing germs are reduced or eliminated, the food does not become radioactive, dangerous substances do not appear in the foods, and the nutritional value of the food is essentially unchanged.
Food poisoning
A common flu-like illness typically characterized by nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, due to something the victim ate or drank that contained noxious bacteria, viruses, parasites, metals or toxins.
Food poisoning, Campylobacter
Now the leading cause of bacterial food poisoning, caused by an Campylobacter jejuni, most often spread by contact with raw or undercooked poultry. A single drop of juice from a contaminated chicken is enough to make someone sick with Campylobacteriosis (disease due to Campylobacter bacteria).
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