Index case
A person who first draws attention to his or her family because of having a medical condition. For example, if an eye doctor discovers a person has glaucoma, and subsequently other cases of glaucoma are found in the person’s family, that person is the index case. Also known as propositus (if male) or proposita (if female).
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- Index, body mass (BMI)
An index that relates body weight to height. The body mass index (BMI) is obtained by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms (kg) by their height in meters (m) squared. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) now defines normal weight, overweight, and obesity according to the BMI rather than the traditional height/weight charts. Since the […]
- Indian Health Service (IHS)
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- Indicate
In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular condition or circumstance. For example, certain medications are indicated for the treatment of hypertension during pregnancy while others are contraindicated.
- Indication
1. In medicine, a condition which makes a particular treatment or procedure advisable. CML (chronic myeloid leukemia) is an indication for the use of Gleevec (imatinib mesylate). 2. A sign or a circumstance which points to or shows the cause, pathology, treatment, or outcome of an attack of disease. The presence of the Philadelphia chromosome […]
- Indifferent gonad
A gonad in an embryo that has not differentiated into a definitive testis or ovary. An indifferent gonad becomes a testis if the embryo has a Y chromosome, but if the embryo has no Y chromosome, the indifferent gonad becomes an ovary. The absence of a Y chromosome permits the indifferent gonad to become an […]