Medical

Better known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). A dementing disease of the brain. CJD is believed to be due to a highly unconventional transmissible agent named a prion.

Inflammation of the joints that is caused by deposits of calcium pyrophosphate crystals, resulting in arthritis, most commonly of the knees, wrists, shoulders, hips, and ankles.

A severe form of depression that results from a progressive brain disorder in which cognitive changes mimic those of dementia.

Itching. Pruritus can result from drug reaction, food allergy, kidney or liver disease, cancers, parasites, aging or dry skin, contact skin reaction, such as poison ivy, and for unknown reasons.

A normal gene which, when altered by mutation, becomes an oncogene that can contribute to cancer. Proto-oncogenes may have many different functions in the cell.

Protein C is a protein in plasma that enters into the cascade of biochemical events leading to the formation of a clot.

Surgical removal of the prostate gland. Prostatectomy can be done through an incision in the abdomen or through the urethra (transurethral resection).

A malignant tumor of the prostate, the gland that produces some of the components of semen. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death of males in the US.

An enzyme that is produced by the prostate gland that is elevated in some patients with prostate cancer.

A drug that blocks the production of thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland.