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sleeping pill
sleeping pill a pill containing medication that induces sleep. Benzodiazepines such as temazepam (Restoril) and triazolam (Halcion) have for the most part replaced barbiturates as drugs of choice for insomnia. Imidaopyridines, such as zolpidem tartrate, are also sometimes used for short-term tr...
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placebo
placebo , inert substance given instead of a potent drug . Placebo medications are sometimes prescribed when a drug is not really needed or when one would not be appropriate because they make patients feel well taken care of. Placebos are also used as controls in scientific studies on the effective...
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sleep apnea
sleep apnea episodes of interrupted breathing during sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea is a common disorder in which relaxation of muscles in the throat repeatedly close off the airway during sleep; the person wakes just enough to take a gasping breath. This process is repeated many times during sleep...
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snakebite
snakebite wound inflicted by the teeth of a snake. The bite of a nonvenomous snake is rarely serious. Venomous snakes have fangs, hollow teeth through which poison is injected into a victim. All types of snake venom contain a toxin that affects the nerves and tends to paralyze the victim. In additi...
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birth control
birth control practice of contraception for the purpose of limiting reproduction.
Methods of Birth Control
Male birth control methods include withdrawal of the male before ejaculation (the oldest contraceptive technique) and use of the condom, a rubber sheath covering the penis. The condo...
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laburnum
laburnum or golden chain, small tree ( Laburnum anagyroides ) of the family Leguminosae ( pulse family) with decorative dark green leaves and sprays of bright yellow flowers. It is native to Europe, where, as in America, it is widely grown for ornament. The leaves and seeds are poisonous to ca...
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food poisoning
food poisoning acute illness following the eating of foods contaminated by bacteria, bacterial toxins, natural poisons, or harmful chemical substances. It was once customary to classify all such illnesses as "ptomaine poisoning," but it was later discovered that ptomaines, the products of decay...
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gelatin
gelatin or animal jelly, foodstuff obtained from connective tissue (found in hoofs, bones, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage) of vertebrate animals by the action of boiling water or dilute acid. It is largely composed of denatured collagen , a protein particularly rich in the amino acids proli...
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Aimee Semple McPherson
Aimee Semple McPherson , 1890-1944, U.S. evangelist, founder of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, and, in the 1920s and 30s, one of the most famous women in America, b. near Ingersoll, Ont. Born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy, she was converted to Pentecostalism as a young girl and married...
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carrot
carrot common name for some members of the Umbelliferae, a family (also called the parsley family) of chiefly biennial or perennial herbs of north temperate regions. Most are characterized by aromatic foliage, a dry fruit that splits when mature, and an umbellate inflorescence (a type of flattened ...
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