Laxative
Something that promotes emptying of the bowels. Laxatives are used to combat constipation. They are sometimes overused, producing diarrhea. Laxatives include milk of magnesia and many others.
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A midwife who has entered the profession as an apprentice to a practicing midwife rather than attending a formal school program.
- Lazy eye
An eye that diverges in gaze. A lazy eye is formally called strabismus. A lazy eye (strabismus) can be due to esotropia (cross-eyed) or to exotropia (wall-eyed). The danger of the condition is that the brain comes in time to rely more on one eye than the other and that part of the brain circuitry […]
- L1-L5 (lumbar vertebrae)
The symbols L1 through L5 represent the five lumbar vertebrae. The lumbar vertebrae are situated between the thoracic vertebrae and the sacral vertebrae in the spinal column.
- l-
Abbreviation for levorotatory, applied to a chemical compound, as in l-dopa. Levorotary is opposed to dextrorotary which is abbreviated as d-. From the Latin laevus, on the left-hand side.
- L
Abbreviation for liter, a metric measure of capacity that, by definition, is equal to the volume of a kilogram of water at 4 degrees centigrade and at standard atmospheric pressure of 760 millimeters of mercury. Metric equivalents — There are 1000 cubic centimeters or 1 cubic decimeter in 1 liter. U.S. equivalent — A liter […]