Herbal-Medical Glossary
The herb and medical terms are listed alphabetically. Use the links below to navigate.
A B-C D-F G-H I-L M-O P R-S T-X
PALMATE - Having a leaf shaped like a hand.

PANCREAS - This is a gland situated above the navel in the abdominal cavity that extends from the left side to the center, with its head tucked into the curve of the duodenum. It is 6-8 inches long, weighs 3 or 4 ounces, secretes pancreatic enzymes and alkali into the duodenum in concert with the gallbladder and liver, and secretes the hormones insulin and glucagon into the blood. Insulin acts to facilitate the absorption of blood glucose into fuel-needing cells, and glucagon stimulates a slow release of glucose from the liver, primarily to supply fuel to the brain. That most cherished organ uses one-quarter of the sugar in the blood and has no fuel storage. Pancreatic enzymes are basically those that digest fats, carbohydrates and proteins into their smaller components of fatty acids+glycerol, maltose, and amino acids...as well as curdling milk (thought you might want to know).

PANICLE - A compound flower head that forms a raceme.

PAPILLAE - Small raised bumps or nipples on a tissue surface. Lingual papillae are taste buds.

PARASYMPATHETIC - A division of the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system that controls normal digestive, reproductive, cardiopulmonary, and vascular functions and stimulates most secretions. This subsystem works as a direct antagonist to the sympathetic division, and organ functions balance between them.

PARASYMPATHOMIMETIC - A substance that mimics some major aspects of parasympathetic function. EXAMPLES: Amanita muscaria mushrooms, Pilocarpine, Lobelia.

PARATHYROIDS - These are several minute glandular masses embedded in the lower edge of the thyroid gland. They produce Parathyroid Hormone, part of the calcium-phosphorus control system. Calcium levels in the blood MUST be within a narrow band of safety. If free calcium drops too low, PTH acts on the kidneys and blocks calcium loss in urine, amplifies calcium absorption into the portal blood (from food and from submucosal storage) and stimulates release of calcium from bone storage. When levels are back up, the hormone backs off. Oddly enough, the thyroid gland secretes its virtual antagonist, calcitonin, which, when calcium levels are too high, stimulates the urine excretion, bone retention and digestive resistance to calcium, and when the blood levels drop, recedes. The body finds calcium levels to be so critical that it has in place TWO separate, mutually antagonistic negative feedback systems...like a binary star system. (Be thankful I didn't bring in the calcium maintenance of minerocortical steroid hormones or vasopressin)

PARENCHYMAL - These are cells in a tissue or tissues in an organ that are concerned with function. These are the characteristic cells or tissues that do the actual stuff. The importance to us is that parenchymal tissues expend much vital energy in their functions and are less tolerant of a degraded environment than the structural mesenchyme. A congested and impaired organ like the liver of a heavy drinker has so much regular dysfunction that eventually the more tolerant and metabolically less particular mesenchymal cells become more common, and the distressed, overworked, and metabolically compromised parenchymal cells become a minority. The structural cells can multiply with ease in a poor environment, the more delicate functional cells cannot-and you end up with the type of cirrhosis sometimes termed mesenchymal invasion disease. The point of this is that the sooner you return an organ or tissue back to the healed state, the more likely you are to have a healthy balance between the structural and functional.

PARESTHESIA - Numbness, prickly sensations without point specificity, or abnormal hypersensitivities, all local to one part of the body, and without an obvious cause. Your foot falling asleep is paresthetic, but not paresthesia...the cause is you sat funny.

PAROTID - A pair of salivary glands tucked into the notch in front of each ear and emptying through parotid ducts by each upper 2nd molar. Although the fluid has some of the thick viscous lubricant nature of saliva from the glands in the floor of the mouth, the parotids secrete high levels of ptyelin and amylase (starch-digesting enzymes) lysozymes (antimicrobial enzymes) and a group of proteins loosely called parotin that stimulate epithelial and nerve cell growth...a lot more here than just spit.

PATHOLOGY - Disease, particularly one with clear and obvious changes in structure or function; the study of same.

PEDICEL - The stem of a flower within a floral cluster.

PEDUNCLE - The stem or stalk of a single flower or a whole floral cluster.

PELVIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE (PID) - Also called salpingitis, the term is applied to infections of the fallopian tubes that follow or are concurrent with uterine and cervical infections. Gonorrhea and Chlamydia are the most common organisms, and the infection is usually begun through sexual contact, although metabolic imbalances, subtler systemic infections like a slow virus, the local insult of herpes or candidiasis, the sequela of medication or recreational drugs, birth control pills, even an IUD...all can alter the vaginal flora and induce inflammation sufficient to allow an endogenous organism to start the infection. PID after birth, on the other hand, is usually the result of staph or strep infections infecting injured membranes.

PEMPHIGUS -An acute or chronic disease of adults, with a singular or constant series of skin eruptions. The causes are not known, although both viruses and auto-immune reactions can be implicated. There are so many distinct types that it is probably not a distinct pathology but a symptom, like nausea, that occurs from many causes. Pemphigus of the mouth, lips and throat is rather common in the aged, particularly in those taking many management medications, and reduced to the spiritual poverty of "rest homes". These need constant treatment (herbs work as well as medications), else the difficulty of eating, what with dry mouth, sore gums, gas and chronic constipation (from medications and adrenergic stress) coupled with SLBF (Soft Light Brown Food) and NOW the added insult of mouth sores can start the subtle downwards spiral of entropy and asthenia.

PEPTIC ULCER - A stomach or duodenal ulcer, caused by excess or untimely secretions of gastric acid and pepsin, poor closure of the pyloric sphincter and digestive acid leakage into the duodenum, or poorly mucin-protected membranes resulting from infection or allergen irritation

PERIAPICAL ABSCESS - An abscess or pus pocket around the apex of the root of a tooth...sometimes called a gumboil

PERIODONTITIS - see PYORRHEA

PERIPHERAL - At the edges, especially circulation or nerves. Peripheral functions are usually controlled and modified more by local conditions than systemic (central) controls.

PETIOLE - A leafstalk or stem, or an unexpanded section.

PG INHIBITOR - Usually, a PGE inhibitor like aspirin, and usually intended to lessen joint inflammation and uterine spasms.

PGE - Short for Prostaglandin E, presumably the fifth subtype discovered, and usually separated into PGE1 and PGE2. These two, if made by the kidneys, slow sodium reabsorption; if within the uterus, induce a stronger response from less stimulus; if made in the stomach lining inhibit gastric secretion; if secreted by macrophages, target tissues become more accessible to infiltration...and inflammation. These are the two prostaglandins whose levels are meant to be stabilized by gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) supplements. See PROSTAGLANDIN

pH - The potential of hydrogen. A "neutral" pH is expressed as 7.0 (water), with greater being alkaline and lesser being acidic. Expressed logarithmically like the Richter's Scale, 6.9 pH is twice as acidic as 7.0. 9.0 is ten times as alkaline as 8.0, etc., all based on the presumed amount of hydrogen ion (acidity) present. This is a chemical literality, not to be confused with the vitalist and cyto-hologrammic implications of Acid and Alkaline metabolism or foods. A complex protein has a literal pH close to neutral. Run it through your body and it gets broken down into an incredible array of amino acids, ending up as nitrogenous acid waste products. The more rapid the metabolism, the more acids are produced...the ashes of life are acids. The literal pH of the life media, such as blood, lymph and cytoplasm...and most food, is alkaline. This acid/alkaline is a concept only applicable "in vivo"; pH defines acid/alkaline "in vitro".

PHAGOCYTOSIS - The act of absorbing and digesting fragments, detritus, or whole organisms, as an amoeba does. Granulocytes do this in the body.

PHARYNGITIS - Inflammation of the pharynx, either from irritation or infection. A sore throat.

PHLEGM - Mucus in the throat or bronchi.

PHOSPHATURIA - The presence of excess phosphates in the urine. This occurs in...and can even cause, alkaline urine (it's normally acidic), resulting in cloudy urine, small particle sedimentation, and the more common kinds of kidney stones.

PHOSPHOLIPIDS - Fats containing phosphorous, and, along with cholesterol, the primary constituents of cell membranes.

PHOTOSENSITIVE - Reacting poorly to sunlight, either by skin reactivity or by forming abnormal sunlight-mediated serum metabolites

PHYTOSTEROLS - Plant lipids, with little other than dietary value, but often excitedly referred to as "Hormone Precursors", using incorrect but well-meaning pseudo-science. See: STEROIDS, PLANT

PHYTOTHERAPY - Botanical or herbal medicine, often with a heavy emphasis on studies and monographs and their medical implications (with virtually none from North America), and with a philosophy of "little drug" medical uses and the reliance on the European phytopharmaceutical industry (where the studies came from). No judgment here; this approach is of great value to physicians, since it offers clear implications for medical use. This approach is, however, medical and mechanistic, not vitalist and wholistic

PILOCARPINE - A plant alkaloid and the primary bioactive substance reducible from Pilocarpus spp. (Jaborandi leaves). It is an almost pure parasympathomimetic (cholinergic), inducing lowered blood pressure and stimulating glandular secretions...EVERYWHERE. It stimulates sweating as well, a sympathetic cholinergic response. Anyway, it is used in eye drops these days to contract the pupil, lower ocular fluid pressure and take some of the stress off glaucoma. The refined alkaloid is better in the eyes, but the dried leaves are the usual complex agents of herb use and have some therapeutic values in low doses. Good Lobelia or Asclepias will work similarly and are both safer, fresher and more predictable as botanicals.

PINNAE - The leaflets or primary division of a pinnate leaf.

PINNATE - A compound leaf, having the leaflets arranged on each side of the stem.

PINNATIFID - A leaf that is pinnately cleft, but into lobes that do not reach the midrib, and not into separate leaflets.

PINNULE - A division of a pinna.

PINWORMS - Also Threadworm, this is a widespread parasitic nematode, usually benign, but having a rural, white trash, skanky stigma. It mates and reproduces in the intestines of several mammals (including us) and the female exits the anus, usually at night, to shed its eggs and expire. The eggs become like dust motes, kids and puppies scratch their butts, the eggs spread into other mammals, until only a thermonuclear device or burning/razing/earth-salting will clear out a heavy infestation. It's also the only worm likely to be encountered in temperate zones and the high country.

PISTILLATE - A female flower that has pistils but no stamens.

PITUITARY - An endocrine gland somewhat behind the eyes and suspended from the front of the brain. The front section, the anterior pituitary, makes and secretes a number of controlling hormones that affect the rate of oxidation; the preference for fats, sugars, or proteins for fuel; the rate of growth and repair in the bones, connective tissue, muscles, and skin; the ebb and flow of steroid hormones from both the gonads and adrenal cortices. It does this through both negative and positive feedback. The hypothalamus controls these functions, secreting its own hormones into a little portal system that feeds into the pituitary, telling the latter what and how much to do. The hypothalamus itself synthesizes the nerve hormones that are stored in the posterior pituitary, which is responsible for squirting them into the blood when the brain directs it to. These neurohormones act quickly, like adrenalin, to constrict blood vessels, limit diuresis in the kidneys, and trigger the complex responses of sexual excitation, milk let-down in nursing, and muscle stimulus in the uterus (birthing, orgasm, and menstrual contractions), prostate, and nipples.

PLATELET AGGREGATION - Platelets are the small, rather uniform fragments of large bone marrow cells that aid the blood in coagulation, hemostasis, inflammation, and thrombus formation. Mild subclotting and sticking is a common early condition that can lead to thrombosis, atherosclerosis, and strokes, and can be helped by an aspirin a day, better fat digestion, and Ceanothus.

PLEURISY - An inflammation of the serous membranes that both surround the lungs and line the inside of the chest cavity; the two membranes supply fluid lubrication between the expanding and contracting lungs and the body. Most pleurisy (and usually the milder form) follows or accompanies bronchitis or late winter chest colds...sort of pulmonary cabin fever. It may be dry pleurisy (with few secretions and sharp sticking pain that prevents any but moderate inhalation), or acute or effusive pleurisy (with fever, coughing, and built up serous fluids...usually tossed off as bronchitis). Some types are part of serious cardio-pulmonary disorders and/or chronic disease.

PMS Premenstrual Syndrome. - This is STARTED by some predictable neurohormonal imbalances. On the other hand, the individual woman's symptoms are very idiosyncratic, since the neurohormonal interplay CAN effect virtually any tissue. What it DOES effect is a matter of constitution, lifestyle, and the other collateral stresses of that PARTICULAR woman. The most common imbalance occurs when progesterone, the temporary hormone made by the post-ovulatory ovaries, is unable to sustain adequate levels for the "normal" 11-12 days. This is all an ornate adagio dance: when estrogen is the dominant hormone (from just after menses to ovulation), some of the cells effected by it are enabled to become progesterone sensitive. When progesterone is present and dominant (from ovulation to shortly before menses), some of the cells effected by it are then enabled to become estrogen-sensitive when IT comes around. There are always moderate sources of estrogen during the progesterone weeks, but healthy progesterone levels suppress their effect. If progesterone drops too early, these sources start to "show" before menses. Some functions are ALWAYS estrogen-sensitive...others need the normal length of progesterone stimulation to THEN become sensitive. A premenstrual estrogen rise will always cause an unbalanced constellation of effects. Progesterone helps prevent water retention, inflammation, blood sugar yo-yos and excess prolactin, while stimulating growth hormone and thyroid levels to maintain a generally anabolic-dominant metabolism. Withdraw it too early and you MAY get inflammatory and edemic and need an IV maple syrup drip, while prolactin rises and dopamine/adrenergic energy dominates. You might get migraines, increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure, feel variously aggressive, nervous, weepy/anxietous, or like an inflated pig bladder. It seems that, whatever your personal metabolic weakness, PMS will find it. PMS is an almost purely constitutional reaction, and holds an exciting potential wherein a woman can have a clear window for viewing her working strengths and weaknesses. DISCLAIMER: A guy is writing this. dis-DISCLAIMER: M.D. guys used to say it was all in your head, that you secretly were mourning an infertile month, that it made you unsuitable for a serious profession (like becoming an M.D. guy)...etc. after ugly etc.

PNEUMONIA - Inflammation, usually infectious, of the lungs. Unless the result of only moderate chemical or smoke irritation, it is a potentially life-threatening condition. There are so many defenses against an infection this deep in the body that the very presence of pneumonia signals a pathogen of great virulence or impaired or exhausted immunity...or all three.

PNEUMONITIS - Inflammation of the lungs, from whatever cause. It may be concurrent with pneumonia or pleurisy...or the result of a defensive lineman knocking the air out of the quarterback...two days later.

POLYURIA - Excess urination. The excreted wastes may stay unchanged but they are dissolved in a far higher volume of water. The causes range from diabetes, kidney disease, elevated thyroid function and the aftermath of diuretic-treated heart failure to booting a half keg of generic beer at a frat blowout

PORTAL CIRCULATION - This is a type of circulatory bypass used when substances in blood or fluid need to be kept out of the general flow. A portal system begins in capillaries and ends in capillaries, and nothing leaves it undocumented. The hypothalamus sends hormones into the portal system between it and the pituitary, and the pituitary responds to it by secreting its own hormones, but dissolving the hypothalamus ones. Blood that leaves the intestinal tract, spleen, and pancreas (partially) goes into the liver's portal system and does not leave that organ until it has been thoroughly screened and altered.

POSTPARTUM - After birthing.

PRESSOR - An agent, neurologic or hormonal, that increases blood pressure.

PROGESTERONE - This is the hormone secreted after ovulation by the corpus luteum. It is a steroid (a cholesterol with a funny hat), enters receptive cells to stimulate their growth, and acts as an anabolic agent. Estrogen should be viewed as the primary coat underneath all the cycles during a woman's reproductive years, with progesterone, its antagonist, surging for ten or twelve days in ovulatory months. Most of the actions of progesterone cannot occur without estrogen having previously induced the growth of progesterone-receptive binding sites. In the estrus cycle, estrogen stimulates the thickening of membranes (the proliferative phase), and progesterone stimulates their sophistication into organized and secreting mucosa (the secretory phase). The new secretions contain anticoagulants, antimicrobials, and rich mucus fluids. If there is pregnancy, the uterine membranes are fully structured for the long haul; if menses occurs, the thickened tissues can erode away without clotting, becoming infected, or flowing poorly. If there is not enough estrogen, the corpus luteum will not mature. If the corpus luteum is weak, menses becomes disorganized, clotty, and painful. It is also the first part of the cycle to become disorganized in early menopause, since the available ovarian proto-follicles have been reduced over the years to only a few. In earlier years, dozens of potential follicles may attempt maturity each month, with only the strongest one able to reach dominance, form a corpus luteum and an ovum...the rest disintegrating. In a manner of speaking, the better the follicle, the better the corpus luteum and (presumably) the sounder the ovum. Since the number of potential follicles is fixed at birth, by early menopause those that still remain contain a high number of hormone-resistant and unsound protofollicles, resulting in more and more cycles having less predictable estrogen and especially progesterone levels.

PROSTAGLANDIN - A group of a dozen or more fatty acid derivatives made by many tissues for paracrine (local) hormone use. Because they are only meant for local use, the same compound may serve opposite purposes in different tissues...inhibiting inflammation in the stomach lining while increasing uterine irritability.

PROSTATE - This is a walnut-sized gland that surrounds the beginning of the urethra in men. It secretes the alkaline transport fluid that mixes with sperm from the testes to form semen. The prostate needs adequate anabolic steroid stimulation for its health and growth, especially testosterone. Because of diminished healthy hormone levels, pelvic congestion, and decreased blood (and hormone) circulation, or because of sexually transmitted or urinary tract ,infections, a male may get prostatitis. (See BPH.)

PROSTATITIS - Inflammation of the prostate. The causes may be varied, ranging from infection to portal congestion to cancer to increased adipose estradiol release in the middle-aged male...to over-use.

PROTEINURIA - The presence of protein in the urine, sometimes a symptom of kidney compromise. See ALBUMINURIA

PROTEOLYTIC - An enzyme or agent that speeds up the breaking down or digestive hydrolysis of proteins into smaller proteins, peptides, polypeptides, oligopeptides, amino acids, and all that delicious nitrogenous slurry-stuff.

PSORIASIS - A chronic skin condition with dull red lesions of the skin that come and go for many years. Usually painful or itchy, they tend to be worse in the winter and are often helped by increased exposure to the sun or moderate UV treatment. It is, at least to some degree, an inherited condition, auto-immune, and sometimes accompanied by joint pain.

PULPITIS - Inflammation, usually infectious, of the pulp of a tooth.

PURINES - These are waste products or metabolites of nucleoproteins. They are not recyclable and are broken down further to the primary excretable form, uric acid. High purine presence in a tissue signifies a recent high turnover in nucleoproteins from injury or cell death, which is why some purines, such as allantoin, will stimulate cell regeneration. Many plants contain allantoin, most noticeably Comfrey. Some foods are heavy purine producers and can elevate serum uric acid levels. These include organ meats, seafood, legumes, and such politically correct foods as spirulina, chlorella, and bee pollen. Caffeine and theobromine are purine-based alkaloids and can mildly increase uric acid, but they pale beside algae, pollen, and glandular extracts from the chiropractor.

PYELITIS - An inflammation of the kidney pelvis, the interface between the urine-secreting inner surface of the kidney and the muscular ureter that drains into the bladder. It can be caused by kidney stones or an infection that has progressed up from the lower urinary tract. It alone is a serious condition...the next stage, pyelonephritis, since it involves the whole kidney, is still worse.

PYORRHEA - Broadly, any discharge of pus, but usually referring to periodontitis or Pyorrhea alveolaris, with inflammatory and degenerative conditions in the gums, jaw bone and cementum. There may be alveolar bone reabsorption, teeth loss and receding gums...and hefty dental and oral surgery bills. These costs may be valid, but there is some thought in some radical dental circles that there is overdiagnosis of the condition.

PYOGENIC MEMBRANE - The granular emergency membrane that lines and isolates abcesses.

PYRROLIZIDINE ALKALOID - A type of alkaloid found in many plants of the Composite and Borage families, once termed a Senecio alkaloid. Some of the pyrrolizidine group have been shown to cause several types of liver degeneration and blood vessel disorders. Several deaths have been attributed to improperly identified plant usage of a Senecio, and some of the desert Boraginaceae annuals and Senecio annuals are overtly toxic. Young leaves and spring roots of Comfrey hybrids should be avoided as well. Not all PAs are toxic, but those that are can produce an insidious time bomb, causing spontaneous necrosis in the liver hepatocytes of a perfectly healthy person.
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