Glossary Term - D
Alphabetical glossary of health & disability services, health terms and general MidCentral District Health Board information.
Day Hospital
Day of Surgery Admissions Unit
Day Surgery
If you come in for a test or an operation and go home the same day, you’ve had day surgery. More and more tests and operations are done like this as you’re more likely to get better quickly when you’re at home with your family.
Dehydration
Did you know that your body is almost all made up of water? If you don't have enough water in your body, you can feel very unwell. When you sweat, you lose water and it's easy to get dehydrated when it's hot, so you need to drink plenty of water.
Dental Services
Depression
The experience of illness can affect people’s mood so that they feel sad and discouraged more often than they would usually. This sometimes reaches the stage where the feelings seem overwhelming. It has been shown that psychologists can help with this situation.
Dermatology
The study of the skin and skin diseases.
Diabetes Lifestyle Centre
Diagnosis
This is the label that a doctor gives your symptoms, so that he or she can work out how to treat you.
Dialysis
This is a way of removing waste products from the blood when your kidneys aren’t working properly. There are two types: haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
Diaphragm
This is a sheet of muscle which separates your chest from your abdomen. It helps you breathe and also stops your intestines moving up and blocking your chest. When you have hiccups, it's really your diaphragm squeezing tight!
Diarrhoea
When you’ve got diarrhoea, you’ll have very runny poo and will need to go to the toilet a lot. Remember to drink lots of fluids – this will stop you feeling worse.
Dietetics
The study of how what we eat can affect our health. Dietitians are the people who check what we eat and suggest ways of improving our diet so we can feel healthier. They also make up special diets for people with diseases that affect their eating.
Digestive System
This consists of your oesophagus, stomach, duodenum, small bowel, large bowel, and rectum. Its job is to break down the food you eat so the goodness can be absorbed and get rid of the waste stuff.
Distress
This is a broad term used to describe the unpleasant emotional experience often associated with cancer. It can range from feelings of vulnerability, sadness and fears, to problems that can be disabling such as depression, anxiety, panic, social isolation, and existential and spiritual crisis.
District Annual Plan
District Nurses
District Strategic Plan
Diuretic
A diuretic is a medicine that helps you to wee.
Document Management System
Donor
A person who gives something like blood or organs to another person.
Dose
The amount of medicine / treatment you are supposed to take/have at a certain time.
Dual Diagnosis
Duodenum
This is the first part of your small bowel.
Dysphagia
The medical word for when you have trouble swallowing.
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Last Updated 29/10/2007