|
| | |
Rheumatic Fever
Rheumatic Fever A serious inflammatory condition which follows Streptococcal pharyngitis. Acute rheumatic fever can destroy the heart valves or leave them vulnerable to scarring, thickening, calcification, and fusion of the leaflets later in life.
RELATED TERMS--------------------------------------
Condition
The term "condition" has a number of biomedical meanings including the following: 1.An unhealthy state, such as in "this is a progressive condition." 2.A state of fitness, such as "getting into condition." 3.Something that is essential to the occurrence of something else; essentially a "precondition." 4.As a verb: to cause a change in something so that a response that was previously associated with a certain stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus; to condition a person, as in behavioral conditioning.
Pharyngitis
Inflammation of the mucous membrane and underlying parts of the (throat) pharynx.
Acute
1. Of short course. 2. Severe, but of a short duration. Not chronic.
Fever
When body temperature rises above its normal level - defined as 98.6 degrees F, though it varies by individual and time of day. A fever is the sign of an immune system at work and usually indicates an infection.
Heart
The hollow, muscular organ responsible for pumping blood through the circulatory system.
Calcification
Formation of calcific (chalky) material in tissue.
Fusion
The union and integration of the instincts and drives so that they complement each other and help the organism to deal effectively with both internal needs and external demands.
Leaflets
Thin pieces of tissue or flaps that make up a valve.
SIMILAR TERMS--------------------------------------
Rheumatic Heart Disease
Rheumatic Fever can lead to a condition known as rheumatic heart disease. This is usually a thickening and stenosis of one or more of the heart valves and often requires surgery, to repair or replace the involved valve (s).
Rheumatic Valve Disease
Rheumatic Valve Disease is a consequence of rheumatic fever. Rheumatic valve disease is a thickening and stenosis of one or more of the heart valves and often requires surgery to repair or replace the affected valve(s).
Rheumatism
A general disease characterized by painful, often multiple, local inflammations, usually affecting the joints and muscles, but also extending sometimes to the deeper organs, as the heart.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that is of unknown cause and is characterized by pain, stiffness, inflammation, swelling and sometimes destruction of joints.
Rheumatoid factor
An autoantibody (usually IgM) which reacts with the individual's own IgG. Present in rheumatoid arthritis.
PREVIOUS AND NEXT TERMS--------------------------------------
Rheumatism
A general disease characterized by painful, often multiple, local inflammations, usually affecting the joints and muscles, but also extending sometimes to the deeper organs, as the heart.
Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)
A hereditary condition resulting in degeneration of the retina; causes a narrowing of the field of vision. The visual field loss often begins as a donut like ring in mid-periphery. As it progresses both centrally and peripherally, the resultant tunnel vision begins to affect the patient’s activities, driving and mobility.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that is of unknown cause and is characterized by pain, stiffness, inflammation, swelling and sometimes destruction of joints.
Rigidity
Rigidity is an increased resistance to the passive movement of a limb.
Rickets
A disorder of childhood characterised by defective bone and mineralisation, where characteristic lower limb bowing or bending occurs. Other outward signs of rickets can be the so-called rachitic rosary on the ribs, and thickened wrists, as well as bossing of the forehead.
Rheumatic Fever
Ribosome
A cytoplasmic cellular structure, composed of ribonucleic acid and protein, that functions in the synthesis of protein. Ribosomes interact with messenger RNA and transfer RNA to join together amino acid units into a polypeptide chain according to the sequence determined by the genetic code.
Radioisotope scan
Uses radioactive substances introduced into the body to create an image of the functioning adrenal gland.
Risk factors
Traits that make it more likely that a person will develop an illness.
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)
Wittmaack-Ekbom or restless legs syndrome is a disorder of the nervous system that affects sensation and movement in the legs and causes the limbs to feel uncomfortable. Relief can be temporarily gained by moving the legs which cause sufferers to seem fidgety and restless.
Retinoid
A natural or synthetic substance derived from vitamin A.
We thank you for using the Health Dictionary to search for Rheumatic Fever. If you have a better definition for Rheumatic Fever than the one presented here, please let us know by making use of the suggest a term option. This definition of Rheumatic Fever may be disputed by other professionals. Our attempt is to provide easy definitions on Rheumatic Fever and any other medical topic for the public at large.This dictionary contains 25007 terms. |
|
|
