Medical ethicsMedical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. These values include the respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice. Such tenets may allow doctors, care providers, and families to create a treatment plan and work towards the same common goal.
Heart failureHeart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms, caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, and leg swelling. The shortness of breath may occur with exertion or while lying down, and may wake people up during the night. Chest pain, including angina, is not usually caused by heart failure, but may occur if the heart failure was caused by a heart attack.
Combination therapyCombination therapy or polytherapy is therapy that uses more than one medication or modality. Typically, the term refers to using multiple therapies to treat a single disease, and often all the therapies are pharmaceutical (although it can also involve non-medical therapy, such as the combination of medications and talk therapy to treat depression). 'Pharmaceutical' combination therapy may be achieved by prescribing/administering separate drugs, or, where available, dosage forms that contain more than one active ingredient (such as fixed-dose combinations).
Medical researchMedical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called bench science or bench research), – involving fundamental scientific principles that may apply to a preclinical understanding – to clinical research, which involves studies of people who may be subjects in clinical trials. Within this spectrum is applied research, or translational research, conducted to expand knowledge in the field of medicine.
Medical lawMedical law is the branch of law which concerns the prerogatives and responsibilities of medical professionals and the rights of the patient. It should not be confused with medical jurisprudence, which is a branch of medicine, rather than a branch of law. Branches of medical law include: the law of torts (i.e. medical malpractice). criminal law in relation to medical practice and treatment. the ethics of medical practice. health law and regulation Health professional's fitness to practise is regulated by medical licensing.
CetaceaCetaceans (sɪˈteɪʃənz; , ) are an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel themselves through the water with powerful up-and-down movement of their tail which ends in a paddle-like fluke, using their flipper-shaped forelimbs to maneuver. While the majority of cetaceans live in marine environments, a small number reside solely in brackish water or fresh water.
PolypharmacyPolypharmacy (polypragmasia) is an umbrella term to describe the simultaneous use of multiple medicines by a patient for their conditions. Most commonly it is defined as regularly taking five or more medicines but definitions vary in where they draw the line for the minimum number of drugs. Polypharmacy is often the consequence of having multiple long-term conditions, also known as multimorbidity. An excessive number of medications is worrisome, especially for older patients with many chronic health conditions, because this increases the risk of an adverse event in those patients.
Environmental impact of pharmaceuticals and personal care productsThe environmental effect of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) is being investigated since at least the 1990s. PPCPs include substances used by individuals for personal health or cosmetic reasons and the products used by agribusiness to boost growth or health of livestock. More than twenty million tons of PPCPs are produced every year. The European Union has declared pharmaceutical residues with the potential of contamination of water and soil to be "priority substances".
TheophyllineTheophylline, also known as 1,3-dimethylxanthine, is a drug that inhibits phosphodiesterase and blocks adenosine receptors. It is used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Its pharmacology is similar to other xanthine drugs (e.g., theobromine and caffeine). Trace amounts of theophylline are naturally present in tea, coffee, chocolate, yerba maté, guarana, and cola. The name 'theophylline' derives from the former genus name for tea (Thea) + Legacy Greek φύλλον (phúllon, “leaf”) + -ine.
Common dolphinThe common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is the most abundant cetacean in the world, with a global population of about six million. Despite this fact and its vernacular name, the common dolphin is not thought of as the archetypal dolphin, with that distinction belonging to the bottlenose dolphin due to its popular appearances in aquaria and the media. However, the common dolphin is often depicted in Ancient Greek and Roman art and culture, most notably in a mural painted by the Greek Minoan civilization.
