Glossary Of Terms Starting With
-H-

Hangnail:

A small, torn piece of skin next to the sides or base of a fingernail or toenail.  Common causes are biting/picking/cutting in the area, dry skin (for example if hands are often immersed in soapy water), or nutritional deficiencies.

Hangnails:

See Hangnail.

Health Checkup:

A thorough physical examination that includes a variety of tests depending on the age, sex and health of the person.  The goal is to detect problems before they become serious.

Health Checkups:

See Health Checkup.

Helminthiasis:

Diseased state due to intestinal parasites such as nematodes, cestodes, trematodes, and acanthocephalans.

Heme:

The deep red iron-containing hemoglobin found in foods of animal origin.

Hemolytic Icterus:

Jaundice due to hemolysis.

Hemorrhagic Nephritis:

Acute glomerulonephritis accompanied by hematuria (blood in the urine).

Hepatosplenomegaly:

Simultaneous enlargement of both the liver (hepatomegaly) and the spleen (splenomegaly).

Hepatotoxic:

Being toxic or destructive to the liver.

Hepatotoxicity:

See Hepatotoxic.

Herb:

See Herbs.

Herbal:

See Herbs.

Herbs:

Herbs may be used as dried extracts (capsules, powders, teas), glycerites (glycerine extracts), or tinctures (alcohol extracts).  Unless otherwise indicated, teas should be made with one teaspoon herb per cup of hot water.  Steep covered 5 to 10 minutes for leaf or flowers, and 10 to 20 minutes for roots.  Tinctures may be used singly or in combination as noted.  The high doses of single herbs suggested may be best taken as dried extracts (in capsules), although tinctures (60 drops four times per day) and teas (4 to 6 cups per day) may also be used.

Hg:

The chemical symbol for mercury, often used to indicate pressure measurements in either inches or millimeters.

Hormonal Birth Control:

Birth control methods that act on the endocrine system through steroid hormones (estrogens and progestins), usually in the form birth control pills or injections.

Hormonal contraception:

See Hormonal Birth Control.

Hormone:

See Hormones.

Hormone-altering Drugs:

Drugs that act by influencing your naturally-occurring hormone levels.  Examples include Metformin, which affects insulin levels; Tamoxifen and Arimidex which affect estrogen levels; LHRH agonists which affect testosterone levels; and propylthiouracil (PTU) and methimazole(MTZ) which affect thyroid levels.

Hormones:

Chemical substances secreted by a variety of body organs that are carried by the bloodstream and usually influence cells some distance from the source of production.  Hormones signal certain enzymes to perform their functions and, in this way, regulate such body functions as blood sugar levels, insulin levels, the menstrual cycle, and growth.  These can be prescription, over-the-counter, synthetic or natural agents.  Examples include adrenal hormones such as corticosteroids and aldosterone; glucagon, growth hormone, insulin, testosterone, estrogens, progestins, progesterone, DHEA, melatonin, and thyroid hormones such as thyroxine and calcitonin.

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography.

Hybrid:

An individual (plant or animal) whose parents are different varieties of the same species or belong to different but closely allied species.

Hyperactive:

Being excessively active; having exceptionally high energy levels.  Hyperactive people always seem to be in motion, can't sit still, may move around or talk non-stop, feel intensely restless, fidget, or try to do several things at once.

Hyperactivity:

See Hyperactive.

Hyperalgesia:

A condition of altered perception such that stimuli which would normally induce a trivial discomfort cause significant pain.

Hypercellular:

See Hypercellularity.

Hypercellularity:

An abnormal increase in the number of cells present, for example in the bone marrow.

Hypercrinia:

Excessive secretion of mucus.

Hyperemic:

Causing increased blood accumulation in a portion of the body; relating to hyperemia.

Hypernatremia:

An excess of sodium in the blood: a short-lived condition since the body retains water until the concentration is back to normal, and the blood volume (as well as blood pressure) has increased.

Hypertonia:

Excessive concentration of salts in the blood; condition of having a greater osmotic pressure than a reference solution (blood or interstitial fluid), having a fluid in which cells shrink.

Hypogastric:

The abdomen is the area between the chest and the hips.  Divided into a 3-by-3 grid, the lower-center abdomen lies at the top of the pubic area.  This is also known as the hypogastric region or hypogastrium.  It contains the urinary bladder, small intestines, rectum, sigmoid colon, and the left and right ureters.  In females it also contains the uterus, left and right ovaries, and left and right fallopian tubes.  In males it contains the vas deferens, prostate and seminal vesicle.

Hypogastrium:

See Hypogastric.

Hypothrombinemia:

Abnormally low amounts of thrombin circulating in the blood, resulting in an increased tendency to bleed.