Therapeutic Index: From 2 Different Sources
In anticancer therapy, this is the ratio of a dose of the treatment agent that damages normal cells to the dose necessary to produce a determined level of anticancer activity. The index shows the e?ectiveness of the treatment against the cancer.
the ratio of a dose of a therapeutic agent that produces damage to normal cells to the dose that is necessary to have a defined level of anticancer activity. It indicates the relative efficacy of a treatment against tumours.
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
Refers to a treatment for the cure or control of a disease.... therapeutic
A characteristic of an individual, population or environment which is subjected to measurement and can be used to describe one or more aspects of the health of an individual or population (quality, quantity and time). A health index comprises a number of indicators.... health indicator / index
A composite index that measures the overall achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development— longevity, knowledge and a decent standard of living. It is measured by life expectancy, educational attainment and adjusted income per capita in purchasing power parity (PPP) US dollars. The HDI is a summary, not a comprehensive measure of human development.... human development index (hdi)
In epidemiology and related sciences, this word usually means a rating scale, e.g. a set of numbers derived from a series of observations of specified variables.... index
A monthly publication produced by the National Library of Medicine in the USA. The publication indexes leading biomedical literature from throughout the world. Indexing is by author and by subject.... index medicus
A method of treating drug dependence and alcohol dependence, and some personality disorders, that entails patients living together as a group in a nonhospital environment, usually under supervision. (See also social skills training.)... therapeutic community
the number of *apnoea episodes per hour of sleep.... apnoea index
the volume of blood pumped from the heart’s left ventricle divided by body surface area, expressed as litres per minute per square metre (l/min/m2). It is determined by heart rate and stroke volume index (the volume of blood pumped by the heart with each beat), and provides a normal range (2.5–4.0 l/min/m2) regardless of the size of the patient.... cardiac index
a measure of the shape of a skull, commonly used in *craniometry: the ratio of the greatest breadth, multiplied by 100, to the greatest length of the skull. See also brachycephaly; dolichocephaly.... cephalic index
measurement of the resistance of the cervix during the passage of a series of metal (Hegar) dilators. Lack of resistance in a nonpregnant women may suggest cervical weakness when she has experienced a previous second-trimester pregnancy loss or if she has had previous surgery to the cervix, and may indicate *cervical cerclage in the event of future pregnancies.... cervical resistance index
(DLQI) a validated questionnaire designed by Finlay in 1994 to assess the impact of skin diseases on psychological and social wellbeing. It is the most common *quality of life tool used as an endpoint in dermatology clinical trials. DLQI scores of more than 10 (indicating a severe impact on life) are required before biological treatments for psoriasis may be administered in the UK.... dermatology life quality index
an international index, published by the World Health Organization, that grades the degree of recovery after serious injury.... functional recovery index
the proportion of cells in a sample of tissue that are producing DNA. Cells that are synthesizing DNA take up tritiated thymidine, which shows up on an autoradiograph (see autoradiography) of the sample.... labelling index
the proportion of cells in a tissue that are dividing at a given time.... mitotic index
(PI) the ratio of the pressure in the posterior tibial artery to that in the brachial artery, which reflects the degree of arterial obstruction in the artery of the lower limb.... pressure index
(PASI) a semiobjective severity score for psoriasis, including measurement of surface area affected and the degree of erythema, induration, and scale. It is commonly used in clinical trials and to ration expensive treatments for psoriasis. Severe disease equates to scores over 10 and it is often interpreted with the *dermatology life quality index (DLQI) score.... psoriasis area severity index
(RMI) a scoring system that combines ultrasound findings, menopausal status and age, and serum CA125 levels to give an estimate of the risk of malignancy in a woman with a mass in the Fallopian tubes or ovaries. If the total RMI score is <200 the risk of malignancy is considered to be low. If the total RMI score is >200 the chances of malignancy are raised and management should be planned with a gynaecological oncologist.... risk of malignancy index
(GI) a ranking system measuring the effect carbohydrate (CHO) ingestion has on blood glucose levels. Glucose is used as the standard reference value (50 g glucose has a GI of 100). A portion of food containing 50 g CHO is ingested and the effect on blood glucose levels measured over a three-hour period and compared with the effect of 50 g of glucose. Foods with a low GI (<60), such as apples, yoghurt, and beans, are slowly absorbed, causing a lower and more prolonged increase in blood glucose levels, than foods with a high GI (>70), e.g. white bread, white rice, and potatoes. Low GI foods help with diabetes control and may be beneficial in the treatment of *polycystic ovary syndrome. The glycaemic load (GL) also takes into account the amount of food that is eaten: GL = (g CHO in food portion eaten × GI)/100.... glycaemic index
a common misunderstanding on the part of patients involved in a research trial that they themselves will benefit from its findings. Researchers and recruiters for research have an ethical duty to check for this misunderstanding and to correct it wherever possible. If they do not, the principle of *informed consent may be breached.... therapeutic misconception
the entitlement of a doctor to withhold information from a patient when it is feared that disclosure could cause immediate and serious harm to the patient (e.g. because he or she is suffering from severe depression). In exceptional cases, the need to withhold information may be considered to override the requirement to obtain informed *consent before proceeding with treatment. In such a case therapeutic privilege could be used as a legal defence against the charge of *battery or *negligence. If doctors are intending to invoke the concept of therapeutic privilege they must be prepared to justify their decision. Furthermore, while it was once quite common for doctors to withhold bad news or upsetting information from patients for *paternalistic motives, it is now considered a breach of the patient’s *autonomy and the ethicolegal justification for invoking therapeutic privilege where a patient has *capacity is, if it exists at all, extremely limited.... therapeutic privilege
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