Glossary

BioScience.com.pk try the best to avoid the use of medical terms that could make it more difficult to understand the information on this website. Still, there are a number of terms that can't be avoided and that are useful to know because they are so often used by the doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals with whom you might speak. The list below includes the terms used on BioScience.com.pk for which we have provided definitions.

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Term Definition
Sideroblastic Anemia

An iron disorder and form of anemia resulting from the inability to incorporate iron into hemoglobin in red blood cells (RBCs); it is characterized by the buildup of iron within developing RBCs resulting in abnormal RBCs called sideroblasts. Since the RBCs cannot develop normally, this condition causes anemia.

Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome

Also known as: SDS


A rare congenital disorder characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, bone marrow dysfunction, and skeletal abnormalities; it is the second most common cause of inherited pancreatic insufficiency after cystic fibrosis.

Shock

A condition in which blood flow is inadequate to keep critical organs performing properly; it is often recognized by markedly low blood pressure with evidence of poor function of the brain, kidneys, heart, and/or liver. It is a medical emergency that can lead to serious damage and/or death.

Serum Sickness

An allergic reaction to proteins in a foreign serum, usually in response to an injection; it is characterized by symptoms such as fever, skin rash, pain and swelling in one or more joints, and kidney damage

Serum

The liquid portion of blood remaining after a clot forms

Serotype

A group of related microorganisms, such as bacteria or viruses, that possess different antigens that are distinguished as unique by the immune system

Sequela

Abnormality resulting as a consequence of a disease, injury or treatment

Septicemia

Serious infection in which disease-causing organisms are present in the blood, usually resulting from spread of an infection from a specific site

Sensitivity

In the clinical laboratory:
1. a test's ability to correctly identify individuals who have a given disease or disorder;
2. ability of a test to detect small amounts of a substance or to measure a reaction

Senile plaque

Areas of dead nerve cells and protein deposits in the brain

SDS

Also known as: Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome

A rare congenital disorder characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, bone marrow dysfunction, and skeletal abnormalities; it is the second most common cause of inherited pancreatic insufficiency after cystic fibrosis.

RNA modification
RNA modifications are changes to the chemical composition of ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules post-synthesis that have the potential to alter function or stability. An example of RNA modification is the addition of a methylated guanine nucleotide “cap” to the 5’-end of messenger RNAs (mRNAs).
RNA
Ribonucleic acid a nucleic acid present in all living cells. Its principal role is to act as a messenger carrying instructions from DNA for controlling the synthesis of proteins although in some viruses RNA rather than DNA carries the genetic information.
Synonyms - Ribonucleic Acid
RNA

Also known as: Ribonucleic Acid


In a cell, a molecule that contains some of the genetic information of the cell involved in cellular processes and activities

Rickets

A condition that occurs in childhood in which a severe lack of vitamin D causes weak, soft bones, delayed growth and skeletal development; when this condition occurs in adulthood, it is called osteomalacia.