disease - respite care

Coronary Artery Disease

respite care - care and supervision usually provided by volunteer organizations that provides a person's caregiver some time of rest or relief.

rooting - a reflex that newborn babies have, along with the reflexes for sucking and swallowing. Rooting means turning the head to search for the nipple and milk.

rubella - also called German measles. Rubella virus causes rash, mild fever, and arthritis. If a woman gets rubella while she is pregnant, she could have a miscarriage or her baby could be born with serious birth defects.

schizophrenia - a brain disease that can cause loss of personality, agitation, catatonia (being in a statue-like state), confusion, psychosis (a disorder in which a person is not in touch with reality), unusual behavior, and withdrawal. The illness usually begins in early adulthood. No one knows the exact cause of schizophrenia, but a problem with a gene called COMT has been found to raise the risk of developing it.

sedative - a drug that calms a person and allows her or him to sleep.

seizures - uncontrollable contractions of muscles that can result in sudden movement or loss of control, also known as convulsions.

self-esteem - How you feel about yourself – how you feel about who you are, the way you act, and how you look. When a person does not think too highly of themselves, she is said to have low self-esteem.

semen - the fluid (which contains sperm) a male releases from his penis when he becomes sexually aroused or has an orgasm.

sexual harassment - Sexual advances (like touching, grabbing) or sexual comments (that can be offensive and/or joking) that are not wanted or appropriate. This can happen in the workplace and a person can feel like they have no control over it. They may decide not to deal with it because they fear they will lose their job or not get a raise or promotion.

sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) - diseases that are spread by sexual activity.

sickle cell anemia - a blood disorder passed down from parents to children. It involves problems in the red blood cells. Normal red blood cells are round and smooth and move through blood vessels easily. Sickle cells are hard and have a curved edge. These cells cannot squeeze through small blood vessels. They block the organs from getting blood. Your body destroys sickle red cells quickly, but it can’t make new red blood cells fast enough-- a condition called anemia.

social worker - A licensed clinical social worker (L.C.S.W.) is trained in psychotherapy and helps people with many different mental health and daily living problems to improve overall functioning. Usually has a master's degree in social work.

sodium - in reference to diet and food, the salt content of food is usually given in terms of "sodium." For instance, the label of a can of soup may list "Sodium 400 mg" per cup. Excess sodium from high sodium foods like french fries is excreted in the urine. Having too much or too little sodium in a person's body can cause the body's cells to not work properly.

speech therapy - therapy aimed to help a person with a speech or language disorder or problem to restore basic speech skills.

spermicides - chemical jellies, foams, creams, or suppositories, inserted into the vagina prior to intercourse that kill sperm.

Spina bifida - Spina bifida is the most common of all birth defects. Its name means "clef spine," or a failure of a fetal spine to close the right way when it is developing before birth. It occurs very early in pregnancy, roughly three to four weeks after conception, before most women know that they are pregnant. Any woman can have an affected pregnancy. Most women who bear a child with Spina bifida have no family history of it.

stethoscope - instrument used by health care professionals to detect sounds produced in the body. Commonly used to listen to your heartbeat to detect any heart-related problems and to listen to your lungs for sounds that they could have fluid inside them.

stillbirth - when a fetus dies during birth, or when the fetus dies during the late stages of pregnancy when it would have been otherwise expected to survive.