The time it takes for a substance (drug, radioactive nuclide, or other) to lose half of its pharmacologic, physiologic, or radiologic activity.

Unstable isotopes of gold that decay or disintegrate emitting radiation. Au 185-196, 198-201, and 203 are radioactive gold isotopes.

A generic concept reflecting concern with the modification and enhancement of life attributes, e.g., physical, political, moral and social environment; the overall condition of a human life.

A condition resulting from the excessive retention of water with sodium depletion.

Strong alkaline chemicals that destroy soft body tissues resulting in a deep, penetrating type of burn, in contrast to corrosives, that result in a more superficial type of damage via chemical means or inflammation. Caustics are usually hydroxides of light metals. SODIUM HYDROXIDE and potassium hydroxide are the most widely used caustic agents in industry. Medically, they have been used externally to remove diseased or dead tissues and destroy warts and small tumors. The accidental ingestion of products (household and industrial) containing caustic ingredients results in thousands of injuries per year.

An analgesic and antipyretic that has been given by mouth and as ear drops. Antipyrine is often used in testing the effects of other drugs or diseases on drug-metabolizing enzymes in the liver. (From Martindale, The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 30th ed, p29)

Completed forms of the pharmaceutical preparation in which prescribed doses of medication are included. They are designed to resist action by gastric fluids, prevent vomiting and nausea, reduce or alleviate the undesirable taste and smells associated with oral administration, achieve a high concentration of drug at target site, or produce a delayed or long-acting drug effect.

Volume of biological fluid completely cleared of drug metabolites as measured in unit time. Elimination occurs as a result of metabolic processes in the kidney, liver, saliva, sweat, intestine, heart, brain, or other site.

The extent to which the active ingredient of a drug dosage form becomes available at the site of drug action or in a biological medium believed to reflect accessibility to a site of action.

The aggregate enterprise of manufacturing and technically producing chemicals. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

The rate dynamics in chemical or physical systems.

Injections made into a vein for therapeutic or experimental purposes.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

The giving of drugs, chemicals, or other substances by mouth.

Dynamic and kinetic mechanisms of exogenous chemical and DRUG LIBERATION; ABSORPTION; BIOLOGICAL TRANSPORT; TISSUE DISTRIBUTION; BIOTRANSFORMATION; elimination; and DRUG TOXICITY as a function of dosage, and rate of METABOLISM. LADMER, ADME and ADMET are abbreviations for liberation, absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicology.

Accumulation of a drug or chemical substance in various organs (including those not relevant to its pharmacologic or therapeutic action). This distribution depends on the blood flow or perfusion rate of the organ, the ability of the drug to penetrate organ membranes, tissue specificity, protein binding. The distribution is usually expressed as tissue to plasma ratios.

The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents that occurs as a result of one's occupation.

A statistical means of summarizing information from a series of measurements on one individual. It is frequently used in clinical pharmacology where the AUC from serum levels can be interpreted as the total uptake of whatever has been administered. As a plot of the concentration of a drug against time, after a single dose of medicine, producing a standard shape curve, it is a means of comparing the bioavailability of the same drug made by different companies. (From Winslade, Dictionary of Clinical Research, 1992)

The state that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter, manifested by growth, metabolism, reproduction, and adaptation. It includes the course of existence, the sum of experiences, the mode of existing, or the fact of being. Over the centuries inquiries into the nature of life have crossed the boundaries from philosophy to biology, forensic medicine, anthropology, etc., in creative as well as scientific literature. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed; Dr. James H. Cassedy, NLM History of Medicine Division)

A benzodiazepine with anticonvulsant, anxiolytic, sedative, muscle relaxant, and amnesic properties and a long duration of action. Its actions are mediated by enhancement of GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID activity.

A fatty acid with anticonvulsant properties used in the treatment of epilepsy. The mechanisms of its therapeutic actions are not well understood. It may act by increasing GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID levels in the brain or by altering the properties of voltage dependent sodium channels.

The extent to which an enzyme retains its structural conformation or its activity when subjected to storage, isolation, and purification or various other physical or chemical manipulations, including proteolytic enzymes and heat.

Antibiotic substance isolated from streptomycin-producing strains of Streptomyces griseus. It acts by inhibiting elongation during protein synthesis.

The relationship between the dose of an administered drug and the response of the organism to the drug.

RNA sequences that serve as templates for protein synthesis. Bacterial mRNAs are generally primary transcripts in that they do not require post-transcriptional processing. Eukaryotic mRNA is synthesized in the nucleus and must be exported to the cytoplasm for translation. Most eukaryotic mRNAs have a sequence of polyadenylic acid at the 3' end, referred to as the poly(A) tail. The function of this tail is not known for certain, but it may play a role in the export of mature mRNA from the nucleus as well as in helping stabilize some mRNA molecules by retarding their degradation in the cytoplasm.

Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.

The long-term (minutes to hours) administration of a fluid into the vein through venipuncture, either by letting the fluid flow by gravity or by pumping it.

Liquid chromatographic techniques which feature high inlet pressures, high sensitivity, and high speed.

A large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen of vertebrates that is responsible for detoxification, metabolism, synthesis and storage of various substances.

The sequence of PURINES and PYRIMIDINES in nucleic acids and polynucleotides. It is also called nucleotide sequence.

The order of amino acids as they occur in a polypeptide chain. This is referred to as the primary structure of proteins. It is of fundamental importance in determining PROTEIN CONFORMATION.

The species Oryctolagus cuniculus, in the family Leporidae, order LAGOMORPHA. Rabbits are born in burrows, furless, and with eyes and ears closed. In contrast with HARES, rabbits have 22 chromosome pairs.

Those occurrences, including social, psychological, and environmental, which require an adjustment or effect a change in an individual's pattern of living.

Established cell cultures that have the potential to propagate indefinitely.

The continuous sequence of changes undergone by living organisms during the post-embryonic developmental process, such as metamorphosis in insects and amphibians. This includes the developmental stages of apicomplexans such as the malarial parasite, PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

Summarizing techniques used to describe the pattern of mortality and survival in populations. These methods can be applied to the study not only of death, but also of any defined endpoint such as the onset of disease or the occurrence of disease complications.

Care provided patients requiring extraordinary therapeutic measures in order to sustain and prolong life.

Typical way of life or manner of living characteristic of an individual or group. (From APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed)

The normal length of time of an organism's life.

The level of health of the individual, group, or population as subjectively assessed by the individual or by more objective measures.

A quality-of-life scale developed in the United States in 1972 as a measure of health status or dysfunction generated by a disease. It is a behaviorally based questionnaire for patients and addresses activities such as sleep and rest, mobility, recreation, home management, emotional behavior, social interaction, and the like. It measures the patient's perceived health status and is sensitive enough to detect changes or differences in health status occurring over time or between groups. (From Medical Care, vol.xix, no.8, August 1981, p.787-805)

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.

Insurance providing for payment of a stipulated sum to a designated beneficiary upon death of the insured.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.

The performance of the basic activities of self care, such as dressing, ambulation, or eating.

The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.

Stress wherein emotional factors predominate.

The individual's experience of a sense of fulfillment of a need or want and the quality or state of being satisfied.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

Assessment of psychological variables by the application of mathematical procedures.

The term "United States" in a medical context often refers to the country where a patient or study participant resides, and is not a medical term per se, but relevant for epidemiological studies, healthcare policies, and understanding differences in disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and health outcomes across various geographic locations.

Levels within a diagnostic group which are established by various measurement criteria applied to the seriousness of a patient's disorder.

The measurement of the health status for a given population using a variety of indices, including morbidity, mortality, and available health resources.

The origin of life. It includes studies of the potential basis for life in organic compounds but excludes studies of the development of altered forms of life through mutation and natural selection, which is BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION.

A state of harmony between internal needs and external demands and the processes used in achieving this condition. (From APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed)

Depressive states usually of moderate intensity in contrast with major depression present in neurotic and psychotic disorders.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

A method of comparing the cost of a program with its expected benefits in dollars (or other currency). The benefit-to-cost ratio is a measure of total return expected per unit of money spent. This analysis generally excludes consideration of factors that are not measured ultimately in economic terms. Cost effectiveness compares alternative ways to achieve a specific set of results.

Studies in which subsets of a defined population are identified. These groups may or may not be exposed to factors hypothesized to influence the probability of the occurrence of a particular disease or other outcome. Cohorts are defined populations which, as a whole, are followed in an attempt to determine distinguishing subgroup characteristics.

Systems that provide all or most of the items necessary for maintaining life and health. Provisions are made for the supplying of oxygen, food, water, temperature and pressure control, disposition of carbon dioxide and body waste. The milieu may be a spacecraft, a submarine, or the surface of the moon. In medical care, usually under hospital conditions, LIFE SUPPORT CARE is available. (From Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)