The Furry Monkey

TERMINOLOGY - N

 

Nausea
The feeling of sickness. Feeling sick or wanting to vomit, possibly with dizziness or symptoms. Some chemotherapy combinations can cause nausea for up to several days - this can be lessened by taking antiemetic drugs.

Needle Biopsy
A sample of tissue is taken with a needle and looked at under a microscope.

Neurologic(al)
Involving the nerves or nervous system.

Neurology
Study and treatment of nerve systems.

Neuropathy
Damage (could be temporary) to the peripheral nervous system. Can be as a result of a specific treatment, for example, vincristine. I had this in my hands and feet and also to the leg directly.

Neutropenia
An abnormally low level of neutrophils (the white blood cells responsbile for fighting bacterial infections).

Neutrophils
The primary type of white blood cells found in the body.

Night Sweats
Profuse sweating of the body during the night (characterizes "B" symptom Hodgkin's Disease or possibly Non-Hodgkin's although night sweats can be caused by other things).

Nodules
Small lumps, swellings or collection of tissue.

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
A group of several closely related cancers that affect the lymphatic system. Although the different types of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma have some things in common, they differ in what the cancer cell looks like under a microscope, how the cells grow, and how the tumour affects the body. The lymphomas are broken down into three grades depending on how fast the particular lymphoma develops: low grade, intermediate grade, and high grade.

Nuclear Medicine
Medical specialty using radioactive elements or isotopes for diagnosis and treatment of disease. A radioisotope is introduced into the body (usually by injection). The radiation it emits, detected by a scanner and recorded, reflects its distribution in different tissues and can reveal the presence, size, and shape of abnormalities in various organs. The isotopes used have short half-lives and decay before radioactivity causes any damage.

Nuclear Medicine Consultant
The main role of the Nuclear Medicine Consultant is, in common with all medical specialities, the assessment of the patient. The Nuclear Medicine Consultant is responsible not only for assessment of the patient, but also to select the most appropriate nuclear medicine investigation.