Gamma ray
Gamma ray: High-energy electromagnetic radiation emitted by certain radionuclides when their nuclei transition from a higher to a lower energy state. Gamma rays have high energy and a short wave length. All gamma rays emitted from a given isotope have the same energy, a characteristic that enables scientists to identify which gamma emitters are present in a sample. Gamma rays penetrate tissue farther than do beta particles or alpha particles, but leave a lower concentration of ions in their path to potentially cause cell damage. Gamma rays are similar to x-rays.
Read Also:
- Gamma-linolenic acid
Gamma-linolenic acid: Abbreviated GLA. An essential polyunsaturated fatty acid contained in some plant seed oils including evening primrose oil, black currant oil, and borage oil. GLA has been used for a number of different disorders. GLA is of no benefit for eczema.
- Gamma-OH
Gamma-OH: A European name for gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a colorless and odorless drug used illicitly for “recreational” purposes and for “date rape.” GBH is a central nervous system depressant. It tends therefore to increase sociability and function as something of a transient antidepressant. Some persons who have sustained adverse effects of GHB have reported being […]
- Ganglia, basal
Ganglia, basal: A region located at the base of the brain composed of 4 clusters of neurons, or nerve cells. This area of the brain is responsible for body movement and coordination. The groups of neurons most prominently and consistently affected in Huntington disease — the pallidum and striatum — are located in the basal […]
- Ganglion
The celebrated 2nd century Greek physician Galen ((c. 130-201 A.D.) who lived and worked in Rome first used the word ganglion to denote a nerve complex. Ganglion still is used to refer to an aggregation of nerve cell bodies. Another use of the word ganglion is for a tendon cyst that most commonly pops up […]
- Gangrene
Tissue death due to loss of adequate blood supply. Sometimes bacteria invade such tissue and accelerate its decay. Dry gangrene is the death of tissue due to vascular insufficiency without bacterial invasion in which the tissue dies, loses sensation and simply dries up, blackens, and shrivels. Dry gangrene eventually requires amputation. Gas gangrene occurs when […]