Quality of Life Assistant
Glossary
- Abortive Attack
- Long-lasting period of weakness short of paralysis, often characterized by daily fluctuations. Abortive attacks can be so persistent that they can be confused with Permanent Muscle Weakness (PMW).
More information - Anaphylaxis / Anaphylactic shock
- A severe allergic reaction.
- Arrhythmia
- Disturbance of heart rate and rhythm.
- Bradycardia
- An abnormally slow heart rate and pulse, less than 60 beats per minute
- COPD
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Group of diseases and conditions in which the lungs decline in their ability go exchange gasses
- CVA
- Cerebral vascular accident or stroke. Damage or blockage to the blood vessels of the brain resulting in a lack of blood supply to the brain.
- EKG
- Electrocardiogram (also called ECG).
More information - GERD
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease.
More information - GI
- Gastrointestinal.
- GU
- Genitourinary
- HDL
- High density Lipoproteins (“Good Cholesterol”)
More information - Hyperglycemia
- Excess of sugar in the blood.
More information - Hyperlipidemia
- High Cholesterol.
More information - Hypertension
- High blood pressure.
More information - Hypoglycemia
- Too little sugar in the blood
More information - Hypotension
- low blood pressure
More information - IDDM or NIDDM
- Insulin dependant Diabetes Mellitus (Type I Diabetes) or Non-insulin dependant Diabetes Mellitus (Type II Diabetes).
More information on Diabetes Mellitus - LDL
- Low density lipoproteins (“Bad cholesterol”)
More information - Malignant Hyperthermia
- A syndrome characterized by increase body metabolism and muscle rigidity that can result in death. It is triggered in susceptible individuals by commonly used genera anesthetics.
More information - Milliequivalent (mEq)
- A system used to quantify electrolytes. Specifically, an equivalent is the amount of substance needed to combine with one mole (6.02×1023)of H+ ions or OH- ions. A milliequivalent is 1/1000 of an equivalent.
Conversion chart - NSAIDs
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
- OTC
- Over the counter - Medication that does not require a script.
- Palpitations
- Heartbeats that are unusually strong, rapid or irregular enough to make a person aware of them. They are felt in the chest, throat, and neck and may be regular or irregular in nature.
- Paralysis
- Complete or partial loss of the ability to move a body part. Sensation in area may also be lost.
- PMW
- Permanent Muscle Weakness. Weakness caused by permanently flaccid muscle cells, most likely progressive in nature and occurring over decades.
- Syncope
- Loss of consciousness due to many causes. Most causes produce a dramatic fall in blood pressure, which leads to fainting.
- Tachycardia
- Rapid heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute.
- Vacuoles/vacuolization
- When a patient with some forms of PP (not all mutations or types - just some) has an episode, water leaves the blood and moves into the muscle fibre. Muscle fibres are long skinny cells, enclosed in a sheath (membrane). The water moves through the membrane and enters the muscle fibre, collecting in small fluid-filled bubbles up and down the length of the fibre. These bubbles are called vacoules (from the Latin word for empty). To begin with these bubbles of fluid empty out, collapse and disappear, but as we get older, or if we have particularly severe episodes, some of the "bubbles" remain in the muscle fibre. Over time they get filled with a granular material, so they are then semi-solid. Two or more small vacuoles can coalesce into one large one, and can shove aside and replace working muscle fibre. Eventually the ability of the muscle to function is compromised. Weakness produced by this process is called "permanent muscle weakness" or PMW.