Medical dictionary

What are eating disorders?An eating disorder is when a person has a very unhealthy attitude to food, body weight, or shape. Eating disorders are serious illnesses that can prove fatal if not treated.The most common types of eating disorders are:Anorexia nervosa: When a person tries to keep their body weight as low as possible by not eating enough or exercising excessively, or both.Bulimia: Charact

What is an echocardiogram? An echocardiogram is a non-invasive, painless ultrasound scan carried out to create an image of the heart. The exam uses ultrasound waves to view the structure and examine the functionality of the heart, including the chambers, valves, cardiac muscle and adjoining blood vessels. What does an echocardiogram involve? An echocardiogram is a non-invasive diagnos

What is an ectopic pregnancy?   In a normal pregnancy, the fertilised egg attaches itself to the lining of the uterus. Ectopic pregnancy involves the fertilised egg implanting and growing outside the uterus, in places such as:  the fallopian tube  the ovary  the cervix  the abdominal cavity    How common is ectopic pregnancy? 

What are ectopic testes?   An ectopic testis is a type of ectopia, where an organ, or a part of an organ, is in the wrong place within the body. An ectopic testis is where one of the testicles has not descended into the scrotum as normal, but instead has taken a different path and has descended through the abdominal cavity until it has settled in the pre-pubic area in the

Ectropion is a condition in which the lower eyelid turns outward, away from the eye, instead of resting naturally against it. This outward turning can expose the inner surface of the eyelid and the white part of the eye, causing discomfort, irritation, or watering. The condition is more common in older adults, as the muscles and tissues supporting the eyelid gradually weaken with age.Although ectr

What is eczema?Eczema, also known as dermatitis, encompasses a group of skin conditions that typically cause a rash and itching. In most cases, the skin goes red, rough, dry, itchy, and may peel or even form blisters. However, eczema can present in many ways, affecting any part of the body. How much of the body is affected does not necessarily correlate with how severe it is, as cer

What is an egg bank? An egg bank is found at a fertility clinic or a licensed facility where a woman donates or shares her eggs to be used in IVF treatment. This enables couples or individuals who struggle with infertility to start a family. Egg donors are women who are not receiving treatment for fertility but who plan to donate their eggs to help other women. An egg sharer is a woman undergoi

What is egg donation? Egg donation is a process in which a woman donates her eggs to help another woman conceive. The procedure forms part of assisted reproduction treatment. After the eggs are extracted from the donor, a doctor will then fertilise them in a laboratory and transfer the resulting embryos to the recipient’s uterus.   Apart from this, a woman may also choose t

What is egg freezing? Egg freezing, or oocyte cryopreservation, is a method of preserving a woman’s eggs, enabling her to have the chance of having a baby in the future. As women get older, they typically produce fewer eggs, and often the viability of the eggs also falls, meaning that the chances of conceiving naturally also decrease. Freezing eggs at a younger age, and using them lat