Jonathan Law - Concise Medical Dictionary

The seventh edition of this dictionary provides full coverage of all the important terms and concepts used in medicine today. Written by a distinguished team of practising specialists and medical writers, it is intended primarily for workers in the paramedical fields: pharmacists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, social workers, hospital secretaries, administrators, technicians, and so on. It will also be invaluable for medical students and provides a useful reference for practising doctors. Each entry contains a basic definition, followed where appropriate by a more detailed explanation or description. A feature of the dictionary is that the articles are written in clear and concise English without the use of unnecessary medical jargon. For this reason the book will also be of both interest and value to the general reader who needs a home medical dictionary.

The dictionary defines terms in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and genetics, as well as in all the major medical and surgical specialties. Entries for medicinal drugs are given under their recommended International Non-proprietary Names (rINNs); where these differ from the names commonly used in Britain, the latter are included both as synonyms for the rINNs and as cross-reference entries (see below). Coverage of psychology and psychiatry, public health medicine, endocrinology, and dentistry is unusually comprehensive, and this edition includes some 250 new entries covering the latest developments in cardiology, radiology, and medical genetics, as well as the other medical and surgical specialties. Coverage of medical ethics has been considerably increased, and the public health entries have been extensively revised to take account of the latest changes in the NHS. Another feature of the book is the Appendices, which include (among others) units of alcohol, lists of inherited medical conditions, and doctors training grades (updated in light of the new IMT programme); the Abbreviations and Online medical resources sections of the Appendices have also been thoroughly updated for this edition.

To avoid cluttering the entry list with derivative words (e.g. adjectival forms of nouns that are defined), these words are listed at the end of the definitions of the words from which they are derived. Where necessary, articles are supplemented by clear and fully labelled line drawings. An asterisk against a word used in a definition indicates that this term has its own entry in the dictionary and that additional information can be found there. Cross-reference entries simply refer the reader to another entry, indicating either that they are synonyms or abbreviations or that they together with related terms are most conveniently explained in one of the dictionarys longer articles. Synonyms and abbreviations are shown in brackets after the defined term.

E.A.M.

J.L.

2019