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Tay-Sachs disease

(Encyclopedia)Tay-Sachs disease tāˈ-săksˈ [key], rare hereditary disease caused by a genetic mutation that leaves the body unable to produce an enzyme necessary for fat metabolism in nerve cells, producing cent...

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

(Encyclopedia)International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), worldwide organization of medical groups dedicated to eliminating nuclear weapons and preventing nuclear war, est. 1980. Based in Ca...

hoof-and-mouth disease

(Encyclopedia)hoof-and-mouth disease: see foot-and-mouth disease. ...

hand, foot, and mouth disease

(Encyclopedia)hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), infectious viral disease that most commonly occurs in children under five years of age. Symptoms include fever, poor appetite, and a sore throat, followed by pain...

occupational disease

(Encyclopedia)occupational disease, illness incurred because of the conditions or environment of employment. Unlike with accidents, some time usually elapses between exposure to the cause and development of symptom...

Henderson, Donald Ainslie

(Encyclopedia)Henderson, Donald Ainslie, 1928–2016, American physician instrumental in eradicating smallpox, b. Lakewood, Ohio, M.D. Univ. of Rochester, 1954, M.P.H. Johns Hopkins, 1960. He joined (1955) the Epid...

gun control

(Encyclopedia)gun control, government limitation of the purchase and ownership of firearms. The availability of guns is controlled by nations and localities throughout the world. In the United States the “right o...

Alzheimer's disease

(Encyclopedia)Alzheimer's disease ălsˈhīˌmərz, ôls– [key], degenerative disease of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex that leads to atrophy of the brain and senile dementia and, ultimately, death. The disea...

Legionnaire's disease

(Encyclopedia)Legionnaire's disease lēˌjənârzˈ [key], infectious, sometimes fatal, disease characterized by high fever, dry cough, lung congestion, and subsequent pneumonia. Major organs, such as the heart, ma...

Addison's disease

(Encyclopedia)Addison's disease [for Thomas Addison], progressive disease brought about by atrophy of the outer layer, or cortex, of the adrenal gland; it is also called chronic adrenocortical insufficiency. The de...