Safe period Health Dictionary

The time interval between exposure to an infectious agent (eg, bite) and appearance of the first sign or symptom of the disease in question.... incubation period

The time between initiation of infection and the first shedding of the agent.... latent period

Recurrence at regular intervals of symptoms in malaria, characterised clinically by paroxysms and resulting from the invasion of the blood by new generations of parasites. Periodicity may be quotidian, tertian, quartan or double quartan according to the intervals between paroxysms.... periodicity

An adjective that relates to the tissues around the TEETH.... periodontal

See TEETH.... periodontal membrane

see PYORRHEA... periodontitis

An inherited condition causing recurrent bouts of fever. (See familial Mediterranean fever.)... periodic fever

Any disorder of the periodontium (the tissues that surround and support the teeth).... periodontal disease

The time or times during which the infectious agent may be transferred directly or indirectlyfrom an infected person to another person, from an infected animal to human, or from an infected human to an animal, including arthropods. In diseases such as diphtheria and scarlet fever, in which mucous membranes are involved from the first entry of the pathogen, the period of communicability is from the date of first exposure to a source of infection until the infective microorganism is no longer disseminated from the involved mucous membranes, ie, from the period before the prodromata until termination of a carrier stage, if this develops. Most diseases are not communicable during the earlyincubation period or after full recovery. In diseases transmitted by arthropods, such as malaria and yellow fever, the periods of communicability are those during which the infectious agent occurs in infective form in the blood or other tissues of the infected person in sufficient numbers to permit vector infections. A period of communicability is also to be distinguished for the arthropod vector - namely, that time during which the agent is present in the tissues of the arthropod in such form and locus (infective stage) as to be transmissible.... communicable period

A period past the due date of an insurance premium, during which coverage may not be cancelled.... grace period

See MENSTRUATION.... period

Time of infection (bite) to the first finding of the organism (eg, malaria parasite) in the bloodstrea m, i.e. from the time of infection to time when first diagnostic stages can be detected.... prepatent period

Premonitory period; indicating the approach of a disease.... prodromal period

Unwanted medicines are a form of ‘controlled waste’ under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and must be disposed of in an appropriate way. The best thing is to take any extra or unwanted medicines to a registered pharmacy. Syringes and needles (used by diabetic patients, for example) pose problems: devices exist to cut o? and retain the needle, and some local authorities in the United Kingdom arrange for collection and safe disposal. There are also local ‘needle exchange’ schemes for intravenous drug abusers.

Safe use of medicines All medicines can have unwanted effects (‘side-effects’ or, more strictly, adverse effects) that are unpleasant and sometimes harmful. It is best not to take any medicine, prescribed or otherwise, unless there is a clear reason for doing so; the possible adverse effects of treatment, and the risk of their occurring, have to be set against any likely bene?t. Remember too that one treatment can affect another already being taken. Many adverse events depend upon the recommended dose being exceeded. Some people – for example, those with allergies (see ALLERGY) to a particular group of drugs, or those with kidney or liver disease – are more likely to suffer adverse effects than otherwise healthy people.

When an individual begins a course of treatment, he or she should take it as instructed. With ANTIBIOTICS treatments especially, it is important to take the whole course of tablets prescribed, because brief exposure of bacteria to an antibiotic can make them resistant to treatment. Most drugs can be stopped at once, but some treatments can cause unpleasant, and occasionally dangerous, symptoms if stopped abruptly. Sleeping tablets, anti-EPILEPSY treatment, and medicines used to treat ANGINA PECTORIS are among the agents which can cause such ‘withdrawal symptoms’. CORTICOSTEROIDS are a particularly important group of medicines in this respect, because prolonged courses of treatment with high doses can suppress the ability of the body to respond to severe stresses (such as surgical operations) for many months or even years.... safe disposal of unwanted medicines

A rare, inherited condition that affects young people. Periodic paralysis is characterized by episodes of muscle weakness, which vary in frequency from daily to every few years and last from a few minutes to a few hours. In some cases, there is a drop in the potassium levels in the blood; in others, the levels rise. A carbohydraterich meal may trigger an attack. The condition often clears up without treatment by age 40.... paralysis, periodic

See menstruation.... period, menstrual

The branch of dentistry concerned with periodontal disease.... periodontics

See dysmenorrhoea.... period pain

a well-recognized period just after the diagnosis of type 1 *diabetes mellitus when only very low insulin doses are required to control the condition. It lasts from months to a few years but inevitably ends, when dose requirements will increase quite quickly.... diabetic honeymoon period

a group of rare inherited disorders characterized by recurrent attacks of fever and inflammation in the absence of infection. They include familial Mediterranean fever (see polyserositis), tumour necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS), and the cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS). Causative gene mutations have been identified.... hereditary periodic fever syndromes

the recognized period, either just before or just after a full *cardiac arrest, when the patient’s condition is very unstable and care must be taken to prevent progression or regression into a full cardiac arrest.... peri-arrest period

(PAS reaction) a test for the presence of glycoproteins, polysaccharides, certain mucopolysaccharides, glycolipids, and certain fatty acids in tissue sections. The tissue is treated with periodic acid, followed by *Schiff’s reagent. A positive reaction is the development of a red or magenta coloration.... periodic acid–schiff reaction

a localized abscess that arises in the periodontal tissues and is usually an acute manifestation of periodontal disease. It appears as a pocket of pus in the tissues of the gum but not around the apex of the tooth.... periodontal abscess

a space between the gingival tissues and tooth occurring in periodontitis. See periodontal disease.... periodontal pocket

n. the tissues that support and attach the teeth to the jaw: the gums (see gingiva), *periodontal membrane, alveolar bone, and *cementum.... periodontium

n. the branch of dentistry concerned with the tissues that support and attach the teeth and the prevention and treatment of *periodontal disease.... periodontology

(in neurology) the time of recovery needed for a nerve cell that has just transmitted a nerve impulse or for a muscle fibre that has just contracted. During the refractory period a normal stimulus will not bring about excitation of the cell, which is undergoing *repolarization.... refractory period

a condition in which attacks of sudden weakness and flaccidity occur in patients with *thyrotoxicosis, seen most often in males of Asian descent. The attacks last from hours to days; they can be prevented by potassium supplements and subsequent treatment of the thyrotoxicosis.... thyrotoxic periodic paralysis