Where There Is No Doctor 2011 427
S
Sanitation Public cleanliness involving community
efforts in disease prevention, promoting hygiene, and
keeping public places free of waste.
Scrotum The bag between a man’s legs that holds
his testicles or balls.
Sedative Medicine that causes drowsiness or sleep.
Seizure A sudden, violent attack of a disease,
causing convulsions or spasms (jerking of the body
that the person cannot control) and sometimes
unconsciousness.
Septicemia An infection of the blood sometimes
called ‘blood poisoning’.
Sexually transmitted infection (STI) A disease
spread by sexual contact.
Shock A dangerous condition with severe weakness
or unconsciousness, cold sweat, and fast, weak pulse.
It is caused by dehydration, hemorrhage, injury, burns,
or a severe illness.
Side effects Problems caused by using a medicine.
Signs The things or conditions one looks for when
examining a sick person, to find out what sickness he
has. In this book symptoms, or the problems a person
feels, are included with signs.
Sinus trouble (sinusitis) Sinuses are hollows in the
bone that open into the nose. Sinusitis is inflammation
causing pain above and below the eyes.
Soft drinks Fizzy, carbonated drinks like
Coca-Cola.
Soft spot See Fontanel.
Spasm A sudden muscle contraction that a person
cannot control. Spasms of the gut produce cramps,
or colic. Spasms of the bronchi occur in asthma.
Spasms of the jaw and other muscles occur in
tetanus.
Spastic Having chronic abnormal muscle
contraction due to brain damage. The legs of spastic
children often cross like scissors.
Spleen An organ normally the size of a fist under
the lower edge of the ribs on the left side. Its job is to
help make and filter the blood.
Spontaneous abortion See Miscarriage.
Sprain (strain) Bruising, stretching, or tearing of
ligaments or tendons in a twisted joint. A sprain is
worse than a strain.
Sputum Mucus and pus (phlegm) coughed up from
the lungs and bronchi of a sick person.
Starches Energy foods like maize, rice, wheat,
cassava, potatoes, and squash.
Sterile (1) Completely clean and free from living
micro-organisms. Things are usually sterilized by
boiling or heating. (2) Sterile also means permanently
unable to have children.
Sterilization (1) To sterilize instruments, bottles, and
other things by boiling or heating in an oven. (2) Also
a permanent way of making a man or a woman unable
to reproduce (have children).
Stethoscope An instrument used to listen to sounds
in the body, such as the heartbeat.
Stomach The sac-like organ in the belly where food
is digested. In common language ‘stomach’ is often
used to mean the whole belly or abdomen.
Stools Shit. Bowel movement. See Feces.
Stroke (apoplexy, cerebro-vascular accident) A
sudden loss of consciousness, feeling, or ability to
move, caused by bleeding or a clot inside the brain.
Also see heat stroke (p. 81).
Sty A red, swollen lump on the eyelid, usually near
the edge, caused by infection.
Sucrose The common sugar that comes from
sugarcane or sugar beets. It is more complex and more
difficult for the body to use than glucose.
Sugars Sweet foods like honey, sugar, or fruit that
give energy.
Suppository A bullet-shaped tablet of medicine to
put up the anus or vagina.
*Suppressant A medicine that helps to check, hold
back, or stop something, such as a medicine to stop
coughing (cough suppressant).
Suspension A powder mixed in a liquid.
Suture A stitch made with needle and thread to sew
up an opening or wound.
Symptoms The feelings or conditions a person
reports about his sickness. In this book symptoms
are included with signs.
T
Tablespoon A measuring spoon that holds
3 teaspoons or 15 ml.
Taboo Something that is avoided, banned, or not
allowed because of a cultural belief.
Teaspoon A measuring spoon that holds 5 ml.
Three teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon.
Temperature The degree of heat of a person’s
body.
Tendons Tough cords that join muscles to bones
(distinct from ligaments, which join bones with bones
at joints).
*Thalassemia A form of hereditary anemia seen
only in certain countries. A child may become very
anemic by age 2, with a large liver and spleen.
Thermometer An instrument used to measure a
person’s body temperature.