| Abnormal: Something not considered normal (ex: a temperature is abnormal if it's more than 2 degrees below or above 97-99 degrees Fahrenheit) |
| Activities of Daily Living (ADLs): Basic activities of caring for oneself: eating, dressing, bathing, using the bathroom, moving back and forth from a bed to a chair, and remaining continent |
| Acute Illness: Illness or condition characterized by sudden onset or marked symptoms |
| Adjuvant Treatment: Added treatment to what is already being done |
| Administrator: Person appointed by the court to manage one's estate when he or she dies without leaving a will. Administrators have the same duties as executors |
| Advance Directives: Legal document in which a patient states his or her medical care preferences, should he or she become incapacitated |
| Advanced Illness: Serious disease or condition that has progressed too far to be cured |
| Adverse Effect: Negative side effects of a treatment or medication |
| Advocate: Person that gives you support or protects your rights |
| Alopecia: Temporary or permanent loss of hair |
| Alzheimer's Disease: Most common form of dementia, a chronic organic brain disease leading to progressive loss of brain functional and eventual death |
| Ambulatory: Ability of someone to walk or move freely |
| Analgesic: Pain-relieving drug |
| Anaphylaxis: Exaggerated allergic reaction to proteins and other substances |
| Anemia: Condition in which the blood is deficient in red blood cells, hemoglobin, or total volume |
| Aneurysm: Swollen or distended area in a blood vessel wall |
| Angina: Pain that results from not enough blood going to the heart |
| Antibiotic: Any one of many drugs that can inhibit or destroy microorganisms and control infections |
| Antibody: Substance produced by the immune system to fight invading organisms, such as viruses |
| Anticipatory Grief: Deep emotional distress that occurs when someone has a prolonged illness and death is expected (by patient and family) |
| Antidepressant: Prescribed drugs used to treat depression |
| Apnea: Extended periods when breathing stops during sleep |
| Appreciated Property: Personal property that increases in value over time |
| Arrest: Cessation of bodily activity (ex: cardiac arrest means that the heart has stopped beating; respiratory arrest means cessation of breathing) |
| Arrhythmia: Any variation from a normal, regular heart beat |
| Art Therapy: Use of art activities to help children communicate feelings or thoughts about the death of a significant person in their lives. Also used with the elder Alzheimer patients as a memory enhancement |
| Aspiration: Fluid that gets into the lungs |
| Assessment: Evaluation of a person's level of physical or mental function and the extent of services needed |
| Assets: All of a person's properties, including real estate, cash, stocks and bonds, art, furniture, etc. |
| Assisted living facility (ALF): Out-of-home care option for elderly persons who continue to lead relatively active, healthy, and independent lives |
| Asthma: Lung disease characterized by difficulty in breathing and by coughing and wheezing |
| Asymptomatic: Someone without any symptoms |
| Ataxia: Jerky unsteadiness of the limbs and body due to disease in a particular part of the brain |
| Atrophy: A wasting or withering away of organs or tissue, usually muscle due to immobility |
| Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome: Implies a loss of immune system function (commonly referred to as AIDS) |
| Autonomy: Principle that individual actions and choices should not be constrained by others |
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