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A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | X
Paediatrician
A doctor who specialises in children’s medicine.
Palliative
Treatment that aims to relieve the symptoms of a disorder, but not necessarily cure it and to maximise the quality of life for the affected person.
Paraesthesia
Disturbed or abnormal feelings such as pins and needles or tingling of the skin.
Parathyroid glands
A pair of small glands that lie behind the thyroid gland in the neck. The glands produce parathyroid hormone, which helps control the level of calcium in the blood.
Parkinsonism
A disorder or disease which displays the signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease but which is not due to Idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. The person will have other problems as well as those associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Read more information about Parkinsonism
Particle repositioning procedures
Treatments used for some specific types of positional vertigo. The more commonly used are the Epley manoeuvre and the Semont manoeuvre, which consist of doctor-guided head movements. These movements clear out the particles trapped in the semicircular canals.
Pathologist
A doctor who specialises in the study of disease, its causes, mechanisms and effects on the body.
Percutaneous
Any diagnostic or surgical technique involving penetration of the skin and body tissues but without requiring an incision or the cutting of tissues.
Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG tube)
See feeding tubes.
Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty
This is a procedure where a needle is inserted into an artery in the groin.A tube with a tiny balloon on the end is pushed up the artery into the neck. The balloon is then inflated to stretch the narrow part of the artery. Sometimes a stent is inserted to keep the artery open. This is a possible alternative to carotid endarterectomy but is still being tested in randomised
controlled trials.
Peripheral nerve
A nerve outside the central nervous system - for example, the nerves in the arms and legs.
Peripheral neuropathies
A group of conditions in which there is a disorder affecting the peripheral nerves in the limbs.
Peripheral vestibular disorders
Strictly speaking all causes of dizziness due to inner ear problems. They include labyrinthitis, Ménière’s disease, BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) and some vascular problems. The term is more commonly used, however, when a doctor knows that the problem is in the inner ear but is unable to be more specific.
Read more information about dizziness and balance problems
PET scan
Positron Emission Tomography scan. This is a scan that provides three-dimensional pictures that can show the chemical activity of the tissues being examined.
Photosensitive epilepsy
Epilepsy that is triggered by exposure to flickering lights, such as disco strobe lights, or faulty fluorescent tube lighting. Only about five per cent of people with epilepsy are photosensitive.
Read more information about epilepsy
Physical signs
Abnormalities detected by a doctor when she or he examines a patient.
Physicist
A scientist who has special knowledge about the use of stereotactic machinery and radiation.
Physiotherapy
Maximising movement ability and controlling pain in the joints, muscles and bones.
Physiotherapists deal mainly with problems due to muscle weakness. They help people regain their mobility and the use of the affected arm or leg.
Placebo
A pill or other medical preparation containing no medication.
Plaque
The scar which forms as part of the MS disease process.
Read more information about multiple sclerosis (MS)
Polymytosis
A rare condition in which there is inflammation and weakness of the muscles.
Post-traumatic vertigo
Dizziness resulting from a head injury Semi-circular canals The ‘tubes’ of the labyrinth that detect rotations of the head. There are three canals on each side so that rotations in all planes can be sensed.
Read more information about dizziness and balance problems
Positional test
An examination conducted by your doctor to see if certain movements or positions of the head bring on or make worse your dizziness or nystagmus (see above). This is the only way that conditions grouped as positional
vertigo can be diagnosed.
Read more information about dizziness and balance problems
Post concussion symptoms
Symptoms such as headaches, loss of concentration and memory and alteration of personality that may occur following concussion.
Read more information about head injury and concussion
Posterior
The back of the body or of a body part, e.g. the back of the spinal column. The opposite of anterior.
Primary
Occurs only in the organ in which it started.
Primary progressive MS
The type of multiple sclerosis which is gradual in onset and slowly gets worse without relapses and remissions.
Read more information about multiple sclerosis (MS)
Prion
This is the name given to the agent that causes prion diseases such as CJD. It is not yet clear precisely what a prion is, but we do know that it is quite different from ‘classical’ infectious agents such as fungi, bacteria and viruses. The general belief is that the essential part of a prion is a
protein.
Prion Protein (PrP; PrPC; PrPSc)
The prion protein (PrP) is produced by the prion gene (PRNP). It exists in two main forms. PrPC is the normal form that everyone constantly produces; its precise function is unknown, but it appears to have an important role in nervous system function. PrPSc is an abnormal form of the protein and is produced in prion diseases.
PRNP (Prion protein gene)
PRNP is the gene that is responsible for the production of the prion protein.
Progesterone
A female sex hormone responsible for thickening the lining of the womb in
the second half of the menstrual cycle.
Prognosis
The assessment of the future course and outcome of a patient’s condition.
Prolapse
The sinking down of a part of the body.
Psychiatry
A branch of medicine concerned with mental illnesses.
Psychologist
Someone involved in the scientific study of the mind and mental processes.
Puberty
The development of adult type sexual characteristics in the early teens.
