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Medical Dictionary

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HANGOVER: The wrath of grapes.

HARMALINE is an alkaloid found in passion flower and other plants. Harmaline inhibits the action of the enzyme amine oxidase and acts as a central stimulant.

HARMALOL is an alkaloid found in passion flower and other plants. Harmalol has the ability to destroy or expel intestinal worms; it is also a narcotic. Due to these properties harmalol is used therapeutically as an anthelmintic and as a narcotic.

HAWTHORNE is a spiky bush or tree found in Europe, northwestern Africa, and western Asia. In England it is grown as a hedge plant. The tree reaches 13 feet in height and grows along the edges of woods and forests. Hawthorne has smooth, gray bark and sharp thorns which grow along the branches. The leaves are dark green with shiny, bluish-green undersides, and have irregular tooth margins. Snow white flowers bloom from May to June and grow in terminal corymbs. The fruits are bright red, oval, two to three seeded, and hang down in clusters. The medicinal parts are the flowers and the fruit.

Other common names: English hawthorn, May bush, May tree , Quickset, Thorn apple tree, White thorn.

For more information see the HERBS section of the Nutrition Notebook.

HEMOGLOBIN is a crystallizable, conjugated protein consisting of an iron-containing pigment called heme and a simple protein, globin. It is the pigment of red blood cells. Hemoglobin carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues.

HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA - The shortened life of the red blood cell and the increased tendency for it to burst characterizes this disease.

HEMOSTATIC - any drug, medicine, or blood component that serves to stop bleeding.

HIRSUTISM - Excessive growth of normal or abnormal distribution. When it occurs in females it often shows up as facial hair. It is due to a hormone imbalance, and will usually go away when normal hormone balance is restored.

HISTAMINE is an amine found widely in nature, including in the human body, as it is released when cells are injured. Histamine is a vasodilator, and stimulates the secretion of gastric juices. It constricts certain smooth muscles, such as those found in the intestines, bronchi, and uterus. Histamine phosphate is used as a diagnostic aid for testing the gastric glands in the stomach.

HOREHOUND is a perennial herb native to Europe and found in waste places of North America. It prefers a sunny location, growing on dry, sandy fields, waste places, and roadsides. The herb is also cultivated in gardens. Horehound has a hollow, hairy stem, 18 inches in height. It bears dark, green, opposite, ovate leaves that are wrinkled and hairy. Small, white flowers grow in axillary whorls in the leaf axils, blooming from June to August. The seeds grow at the bottom of the calyx.

Other common names: Common hoarhound, Common horehound, Marrub, Marrubium, Marvel, White

hoarhound.

For more information see the HERBS section of the Nutrition Notebook.

HORMONES are chemical substances which originate in an organ, gland, or body part, and are conveyed by the blood to other parts of the body. Depending on the specificity of their effects, hormones can alter the functional activity and sometimes the structure, of just one organ or of various numbers of them.

HYALINIZATION is a form of degeneration in which the tissues assume a homogeneous and glassy appearance. It is caused by blood vessels with a firm, transparent substance which causes loss of elasticity. It is responsible for hardening of the arteries and is often followed by calcification or deposit of lime salts in dead tissue.

HYALURONIDASES are enzymes which have a spreading action and hydrolyze hyaluronic acid; they depolarize the hyaluronic acid, thereby increasing the permeability of the connective tissues by dissolving the substances that hold body cells together and combine with the mucilage sugars of soft connective tissues. It is

found in leeches, in snake, bee and spider venom, in testis, sperm and in malignant tissues, and is produced by a variety of pathogenic bacteria, enabling them to spread through the host's tissues.

HYDROCARBONS are compounds made up of only hydrogen and carbon atoms.

HYDROLYSIS is the splitting of a compound into fragments by the addition of water, the hydroxyl group being incorporated in one fragment, and the hydrogen atom in the other. Reactions of this kind are extremely frequent in life processes. The conversion of starch to maltose, of fat to glycerol and fatty acid, and of protein to amino acids are examples of hydrolysis.

HYDROXYAPATITE is an inorganic compound found in the matrix of bone and teeth, which gives rigidity to these structures.

HYPERPLASIA is an excessive reproduction of normal cells which gives rise to tissue enlargement.

HYPNOTICS form a class of drugs which induce sleep when sleeplessness is not due to a stimulus, such as pain or itching. Hypnotic drugs are closely related to sedatives. A single drug may possess both sedative and hypnotic qualities. Agents classified as sedatives and hypnotics have a common mode of action: they induce a nonselective, reversible decrease in central nervous system activity. Examples of drugs in this class include diazepam, mephobarbital and chloral hydrate.

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