Word: mucus
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...drugs work pretty much the way the old ones do. Aspirin and other NSAIDs block production of substances called prostaglandins, which are among the most versatile molecules in the body. Among other things, prostaglandins trigger uterine contractions during birth; generate a layer of mucus that protects the stomach from its acids; and cause blood particles called platelets to form clots--a mixed blessing, since the clots that help a wound heal can also lead to a heart attack...
...saddle of a quarter horse. They stop to watch as a cow lies down, her calf beginning to emerge. Finally, with perfect timing and great effort, the cow clambers to her feet and lets gravity deliver the newborn. It is motionless. Duane watches closely as the mother licks mucus from its face. At last, the calf shudders to life; Duane smiles. "Now, tell me," he says, sweeping a leathery hand past cow and calf, up beyond his sage hills to the peaks of Fossil Ridge. "How much did they say this place is s'posed to be worth...
...chats with the young mother, the doctor flicks a cotton swab into the mouth of her infant son, collecting a small sample of mucus from inside his cheek. In the back room of his office, he inserts the sample into a machine, which extracts DNA from the mucus cells and compares it with the genetic material on a dime-size chip. Minutes later, a computer printer begins to spit out a list of the infant's genes. Fortunately, all but a few of the genes are labeled "normal." It is those few that the doctor discusses as he explains...
...coughed" at intervals as well. Coughing gets rid of the mucus in his respiratory system--in his throat or sometimes deep in his lungs. A nurse holds a coughalator to his throat, which functions like a vacuum cleaner. When she removes the tubing to the ventilator, it sets off a high-pitched alarm, as in a pop-off. Then she puts in inhalers to help Reeve's lungs open and breathe...
...women who are pregnant or have gone through menopause? Since they don't menstruate, how do they ward off bacteria? Profet notes that in the first six months of pregnancy and in some cases after menopause, the cervical entryway to the uterus is covered by a mucous plug. The mucus makes it hard for sperm -- and their nasty hitchhikers -- to enter the uterus, and thus reduces the need for a monthly blood flow. Profet suspects that doctors may be making a serious mistake by routinely regarding irregular bleeding as an endocrine problem to be stopped with hormone therapy. "If there...