Ear
This is what you hear through. There are three bits to
your ear – the outside bit which you can see, the middle bit which is
the passage from your ear hole to your ear drum and then the inner bit
which is where sounds are turned into nerve messages for your brain.
Earache
This is often a sign of infection, but it may not be
your ears that are infected. Sometimes when you have a sore throat, you
also get earache too.
Eating disorder
This is a condition that affects a person’s eating
behaviour and is damaging to a person’s physical and mental wellbeing.
The most common kinds of eating disorder are Anorexia Nervosa and
Bulimia.
ECG
This stands for ElectroCardioGram and is a test which
shows the electrical impulses travelling through your heart to make it
beat.
Echo
This is short for Echocardiogram and it uses sound waves
to show a picture of your heart and how it is beating. It also shows
how blood is flowing through your heart.
Eczema
A skin disease that makes your skin really itchy and
sore. It’s not catching and can be treated using ointments that stop the
skin drying out.
EEG
This is a machine that draws a picture of your brain
waves - showing the electricity that flows through your brain. You might
need an EEG if you're having seizures.
Elective
When you have a test or operation planned for the
future, the doctors may call it an ‘elective’ test or operation. This
just means that it’s not an emergency and that it is planned to happen
at some point in the future.
Embolism
This is when you have a blockage in an artery. The
blockage can be made up of a blood clot, a bubble of air or gas, or a
lump of fat. If it’s not found quickly and broken down with medicines,
it can be very dangerous.
Embryo
For the first eight weeks when a baby is developing in
the womb, it’s called an embryo. It only starts to look human from about
the eighth week onwards, before that it looks a bit like a tadpole!
EMG
This stands for electromyography – a test for measuring electrical signals in your muscles. These signals are the messages from your brain telling the muscle to move.
Endocrine system
This consists of the glands around the body which
release hormones – chemical messengers that switch on and off processes
within the body. The master gland is the pituitary gland, deep inside
your brain, which sends chemical messages to the other glands, telling
them to produce other hormones.
Endocrinologist
An endocrinologist is a doctor who cares for children who have difficulties with their hormones.
Endoscope
This is a thin wobbly tube that has a light and a camera on the end.
Enemas
This is a treatment where liquid is injected into the anus to cleanse the colon.
Enzyme
This is a substance that controls a chemical reaction
within the body. There are lots of different enzymes and each does a
different job. For instance, enzymes control how your food is broken
down in your stomach.
Epidural
A procedure were a form of anaesthetic is injected into the spine to stop pain without sending the patient to sleep.
Epiglottis
This is a flap of tissue in your throat that is normally
open to let air flow into your lungs. When you eat, it flops down to
cover your windpipe to stop food and drink getting into your lungs. When
something ‘goes the wrong way’, this means that your epiglottis has let
some food or drink into your windpipe by mistake and you need to cough
to get rid of it.
Epilepsy
It's a type of brain disorder where your brain 'short
circuits' so the electrical messages travelling to and from the brain
are disrupted.
Epileptic seizure
A physical reaction to a sudden burst of extra
electrical activity in the brain. The type of seizure that a person has
depends on where in the brain this activity happens.
Eye
This is what you see with. It’s made up of different
parts – including the cornea, iris, pupil and retina – and is connected
to the brain by the optic nerve.
