Body image Health Dictionary

Body Mass Index (BMI) provides objective criteria of size to enable an estimation to be made of an individual’s level or risk of morbidity and mortality. The BMI, which is derived from the extensive data held by life-insurance companies, is calculated by dividing a person’s weight by the square of his or her height (kilograms/ metres2). Acceptable BMIs range from 20 to 25 and any ?gure above 30 characterises obesity. The Index may be used (with some modi?cation) to assess children and adolescents. (See OBESITY.)... body mass index

That part of the EYE that connects the iris and the choroid. The ciliary ring is next to the choroid; the ciliary processes comprise many ridges behind the iris, to which the lens’s suspensory ligament is attached; and the ciliary muscle contracts to change the curvature of the lens and so adjust the accommodation of the eye.... ciliary body

A small reddish-brown structure measuring 5–7 × 2·5–4 millimetres, situated one on each side of the neck, where the carotid artery divides into the internal and external carotid arteries. Its main function is in controlling breathing so that an adequate supply of oxygen is maintained to the tissues of the body. Oxygen levels are controlled by a re?ex operating between the carotid body and the respiratory centre in the brain.... carotid body

A psychiatric disorder in which a person suffers intense anxiety about an imagined defect in part of his or her body.... body dysmorphic disorder

A feeling of leaving one’s body and observing oneself from another dimension.

The experience, which is thought to be due to disturbance of brain function, is reported by some patients following a general anaesthetic or a medical emergency.... out-of-body experience

A personal and social problem. Over-activity of the sweat glands. Offensive smell is caused by the action of bacteria on stale sweat. The purpose of antiperspirants is to reduce skin bacterial action on apocrine sweat. Almost all antiperspirants sold over the counter are made from aluminium salts which have been implicated in skin granulomas. Deodorants that bear labels describing contents as dangerous to the eyes, nose and mouth should be rejected.

Bowel and kidney function should be investigated, as body odour is not normally offensive when these organs are healthy. Zinc is a powerful deodorant – zinc and castor oil cream being a traditional combination of pharmacy. Key herbal agent is Thuja, but it is sometimes advisable to add to this an agent for liver and kidneys.

Alternatives. Teas: Sage, Pennyroyal, Thyme, Betony. Decoctions: Sarsaparilla, Wild Yam.

Tablets/capsules. Seaweed and Sarsaparilla. Wild Yam, Thuja.

Formula: equal parts: Dandelion Root, Clivers, Thuja. Dosage – Powders: One-third teaspoon. Liquid Extracts: 30-60 drops. Tinctures: 1-2 teaspoons in water, thrice daily.

Topical. Dilute oil of Sage, or Sage tea, to under-arms, hands, feet.

Diet. Lacto-vegetarian. Safflower oil.

Vitamins. B-complex.

Minerals. Zinc. Dolomite. ... body odour

Barberry tea is well known inAsia, Europe, Africa and America due to its medicinal properties. Nowadays, it is consumed worldwide as tincture, fluid extract or capsules. Barberry tea description Barberry is a shrub growing in gray-colored and tight thorny hedges, producing yellow flowers during spring and red berries in autumn. Its roots, bark and berries have been used for more than 2,500 years for a variety of health-promoting purposes. In ancient Egypt, barberry was mixed with fennel to fight plague. Nowadays, Barberry is available in the form of capsules, fluid extract and tincture. Barberry Tea is made of the dried roots and berries of barberry. Barberry tea brewing To prepare Barberry tea: steep 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried barberry root or 1 to 2 teaspoons of whole (or crushed berries) in about 2/3 of a cup of hot water for 10 to 15 minutes. Barberry Tea can be consumed three times, daily. Barberry tea benefits Barberry tea has proven its efficiency in treating:

• inflammation due to bacterial ear, nose and throat infection
• bacterial and viral forms of diarrhea
• psoriasis
• the function of the gallbladder
• urinary tract infection
• heartburn
• candida
• epilepsy

Barberry Tea may help stabilize blood pressure and normalize heart rhythm. Also, it has been claimed that Barberry Tea may help strengthen the immune system. Barberry tea side effects Studies conducted so far showed that Barberry tea should not be used beyond seven consecutive days, in order to avoid complications on excessive use of barberry. There have been cases when Barberry tea interacted with anti-coagulants, blood pressure medication and antibiotics, causing side effects. Pregnant, nursing women, and nursing infants also should avoid drinking this tea. Barberry tea is a medicinal beverage, effective in treating respiratory and urinary tract infections, as well as hypertension, diarrhea and gallbladder disease.... barberry tea for body health

The simple elements from which the various parts and organs are found to be built. All the body originates from the union of a pair of CELLS, but as growth proceeds the new cells produced from these form tissues of varying character and complexity. It is customary to divide the tissues into ?ve groups:

Epithelial tissues, including the cells covering the skin, those lining the alimentary canal, those forming the secretions of internal organs. (See EPITHELIUM.)

Connective tissues, including ?brous tissue, fat, bone, cartilage. (See under these headings.)

Muscular tissues (see MUSCLE).

Nervous tissues (see NERVE).

Wandering corpuscles of the BLOOD and LYMPH. Many of the organs are formed of a single

one of these tissues, or of one with a very slight admixture of another, such as cartilage, or white ?brous tissue. Other parts of the body that are widely distributed are very simple in structure and consist of two or more simple tissues in varying proportion. Such are blood vessels (see ARTERIES; VEINS), lymphatic vessels (see LYMPHATICS), lymphatic glands (see GLAND), SEROUS MEMBRANES, synovial membranes (see JOINTS), mucous membranes (see MUCOUS MEMBRANE), secreting glands (see GLAND; SALIVARY GLANDS; THYROID GLAND) and SKIN.

The structure of the more complex organs of the body is dealt with under the heading of each organ.... tissues of the body

A semi-?uid, transparent substance which ?lls most of the globe of the EYE behind the lens.... vitreous body

Surgery performed to remove excess fat, skin, or both, from various parts of the body, especially the abdomen, thighs, and buttocks. Abdominal wall reduction, also known as abdominoplasty, involves removing excess skin and fat from the abdomen. With all of these procedures there is a risk of complications, and the wound may become infected.

In suction lipectomy (liposuction), a rigid hollow tube is inserted through a small skin incision and use to break up large areas of fat, which can then be sucked out through the instrument.

Minor irregularities and dimpling of the skin commonly occur after surgery.... body contour surgery

An object that is present in an organ or passage of the body but which should not be there. Common sites for foreign bodies include the airways (see choking), ear (see ear, foreign body in), eye (see eye, foreign body in), rectum, and vagina.... foreign body

From coal dust, insects, pollen, etc.

Symptoms: blinking, watering, acute discomfort. Sensation of grit in the eye does not always imply foreign body, but symptoms of conjunctivitis or keratitis. Automatic blinking is sometimes enough to clear offending object.

Treatment. External. Evert lid and remove. Swab out with dilute Witch Hazel on cotton wool. Inject one drop Castor oil, (also good for scratched cornea), Aloe Vera gel or juice. Fenugreek seed puree. Juice of Houseleek and dairy cream.

Difficult case. Removal of particles of iron or dust, apply mucilage of Slippery Elm powder to eye – patient lying on his back, a second person injecting it into corner of eye, the patient moving eye in opposite direction. Safe and healing. Clean eye and bathe with warm milk.

Referral to consultant ophthalmologist. ... eyes – foreign body

Any material on the surface of the eye or under the lid, or an object that penetrates the eyeball.

A foreign body may cause irritation, redness, increased tear production, and blepharospasm. In some cases, a foreign body left in the eye may cause a reaction that results in permanent loss of sight in both eyes.

Foreign bodies on or in the conjunctiva can usually be flushed out with water.

However, medical attention is needed if the object has penetrated the eyeball.

Dropping the dye fluorescein into the eye reveals corneal abrasions or sites of penetration.

Ultrasound scanning or an X-ray of the eye may also be performed.

Local anaesthetic eye-drops may be applied and a spatula used to remove an object from the cornea.

The eye may then be covered with a patch.

Antibiotic drugs may also be prescribed.... eye, foreign body in

A person’s view of his or her own personality and abilities. Some neurotic disorders stem from an incongruity between self-image and how others see one.

Psychotherapy treats neurosis by changing a person’s self-image.... self-image

(ketone body) see ketone.... acetone body

n. an impression of an image that is registered by the brain for a brief moment after an object is removed from in front of the eye, or after the eye is closed. A positive afterimage, which lasts a few seconds, retains the colour and brightness of the original image; the more common negative afterimage lasts longer and has colours and brightness that are complementary to the original.... after-image

a traditional X-ray image on film that is in shades that range smoothly from black to white with no appreciable steps from one shade of grey to the next (see grey scale). Analogue images can be converted to digital format (see digitization) for manipulation and storage by computers and other electronic devices.... analogue image

see sex chromatin. [M. L. Barr (1908–95), Canadian anatomist]... barr body

one of the two swellings that develop in the roof of the midbrain during its development in the embryo.... bigeminal body

n. 1. an entire animal organism. 2. the trunk of an individual, excluding the limbs. 3. the main or largest part of an organ (such as the stomach or uterus). 4. a solid discrete mass of tissue; e.g. the carotid body. See also corpus.... body

the temperature of the body, as measured by a thermometer. Body temperature is accurately controlled by a small area at the base of the brain (the *hypothalamus); in normal individuals it is maintained at about 37°C (98.4°F). Heat production by the body arises as the result of vital activities (e.g. respiration, heartbeat, circulation, secretion) and from the muscular effort of exercise and shivering. A rise in body temperature occurs in fever.... body temperature

(somatotype) the characteristic anatomical appearance of an individual, based on the predominance of the structures derived from the three germ layers (ectoderm, mesoderm, endoderm). The three types are described as *ectomorphic, *mesomorphic, and *endomorphic.... body type

(perikaryon) the enlarged portion of a *neuron (nerve cell), containing the nucleus. It is concerned more with the nutrition of the cell than with propagation of nerve impulses.... cell body

a disorder characterized by a combination of *parkinsonism and *dementia, which typically fluctuates. Visual hallucinations are common, and there is exquisite sensitivity to phenothiazine drugs. Abnormal proteins called Lewy bodies are found within the nerve cells of the cortex and the basal ganglia. It is the third most common cause of dementia (dementia with Lewy bodies) after *Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.... cortical lewy body disease

an image made up of *pixels. Each pixel has numbers (digits) to describe its position and shade on the *grey scale. The more shades available, described by the number of computer bits required to store the shade of grey, the more accurately the image represents the original tissue contrast. An 8-bit computer image shows 28 (256) possible shades of grey, close to the maximum the human eye can differentiate. 12-bit (4096 levels of grey) images are of much higher quality and take up more memory. They can be manipulated more easily by computer using image enhancement techniques. Compare analogue image.... digital image

(IGRT) the process of imaging during a course of radiation treatment to verify the internal position of the target in comparison to the initial planning scan. This enables adjustment of *treatment fields to improve coverage and allows the use of smaller treatment volumes. The possible methods for IGRT include cone beam CT, *tomotherapy, *cyberknife, and ultrasound and kilovoltage X-rays of implanted fiducial markers.... image-guided radiotherapy

see computer-assisted surgery.... image-guided surgery

an electronic device that provides a TV image from an X-ray source. The X-rays strike a fluorescent screen after passing through the patient, giving off electrons, which are accelerated using an electron lens before striking a second fluorescent screen, which is usually attached to a video camera. The acceleration of the electrons amplifies the signal from the original image, giving a brighter picture, so that the radiation dose can be reduced. Images can be taken from the camera to be observed in real time on a video monitor or, using a brief higher-dose exposure, to provide a more detailed static image (see digital spot imaging).... image intensifier

n. the production of vivid mental representations by the normal processes of thought. Eidetic imagery, more common in children than adults, is the production of images of exceptional clarity, which may be recalled long after being first experienced.... imagery

see Leishmania. [Sir W. B. Leishman (1865–1926), British surgeon; C. Donovan (1863–1951), Irish physician]... leishman–donovan body

see 3-D magnetic imager.... magnetic imager

the part of a *nephron comprising the blood capillaries of the glomerulus and its surrounding Bowman’s capsule. [M. Malpighi (1628–94), Italian anatomist]... malpighian body

see arachnoid villus. [A. Pacchioni (1665–1726), Italian anatomist]... pacchionian body

one of the small cells produced during the formation of an ovum from an *oocyte that does not develop into a functional egg cell.... polar body

an electronic image taken during radiotherapy treatment to verify the position of radiation beams.... portal image

a thick bundle of nerve fibres that conveys impulses from tracts in the spinal cord to the cortex of the anterior and posterior lobes of the cerebellum.... restiform body

an instrument that harnesses magnetic technology to give a virtual image of an endoscope during colonoscopy. It aids steering and minimalizes looping of the endoscope. An external antenna tracks the magnetic field generated by coils built inside the endoscope, enabling real-time 3D imaging of this instrument. Trade name: ScopeGuide.... 3-d magnetic imager

see mesonephros. [K. F. Wolff (1733–94), German anatomist]... wolffian body