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Select a term to view the definition:
  • A1C

    Professional Description:

    The A1C (also know glycated hemoglobin, glycosylated hemoglobin or hemoglobin A1C) is a blood test used to diagnose diabetes and to assess glycemic control. This test provides an average of blood glucose levels for approximately a three-month period.

  • Absence of lunula

    Professional Description:

    The absence of the pale arched area at the proximal portion of the nail plate.

  • Acanthosis nigricans

    Professional Description:

    Are light brown to black markings, usually on the neck, under the arms or in the groin caused by elevated levels of insulin.

    Source: 55. Smith WG, Gowanlock W, Babcock K, Collings A, McCarthy A. Prevalence of acanthosis nigricans in First Nations children in central Ontario, Canada. Can J Diabetes 2004;28(1):410-4. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242761486_Prevalence_of_Acanthosis_Nigricans_in_First_Nations_Children_in_Central_Ontario_Canada

  • Acceptable Daily Intake

    Professional Description:

    An ADI is "the amount of a food additive, corrected for body weight, that can be ingested daily over a lifetime without appreciable health risk". The ADI is determined by bodies such as HPFB, JECFA, or FDA and is generally 1% of the highest dose at which studies have demonstrated no harmful effects.

  • Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range

    Professional Description:

    A range of intakes for a particular energy source that is associated with a reduced risk of chronic disease while providing adequate intakes of essential nutrients. The AMDR of a macronutrient is expressed as a % of total energy intake because its requirement is not independent of other energy fuel sources or of the total energy requirement of the individual.

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

    Professional Description:

    ACT is a third-wave cognitive behavioural therapy (3wCBT). 3wCBT advocates acceptance of physical discomfort or other adverse or negative internal experiences, verses avoidance. When applied to weight loss, 3wCBTs may increase an individual’s awareness and psychological flexibility in order to improve their ability to recognize and act on cues that may lead overeating. Specifically, the ACT approach seeks to promote healthy behaviour habits through acceptance and mindfulness in moments of behavioural decision-making.

    Source:
    Lawlor ER, Islam N, Bates S, Griffin SJ, Hill AJ, Hughes CA, Sharp SJ, Ahern AL. Third-wave cognitive behaviour therapies for weight management: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2020 Jul;21(7):e13013. doi: 10.1111/obr.13013. Epub 2020 Mar 17. PMID: 32181957; PMCID: PMC7379202.

    Forman EM, Butryn ML, Manasse M, Bradley LE. Acceptance‐based behavioral treatment for weight control: a review and future directions. Curr Opin Psychol. 2015;2:87‐90.

    Hayes S. Acceptance & commitment therapy (ACT). ACBS [cited 4 Jan 2022]. Available from: https://contextualscience.org/act#

  • Accuracy

    Professional Description:

    "The degree to which a measurement or an estimate based on measurements represents the true value of the attribute that is being measured."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Acetaldehyde

    Professional Description:

    Acetaldehyde is an intermediate in the metabolism of alcohol.

  • Acetic acid

    Professional Description:

    Acetic acid is a biochemical product of metabolism. It is also called ethanoic acid and is a carboxylic acid.

  • Acetylcholine

    Professional Description:

    Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that stimulates nerve transmission in the brain. It is derivative of choline and acetic acid.

  • Acid reflux

    Professional Description:

    Acid reflux is the backward flow of stomach acid and juices into the esophagus or throat, which may cause heartburn.

  • Actin

    Professional Description:

    A major contractile protein in muscle found in thin filaments.

  • Active Vitamin D Sterols

    Professional Description:

    includes 1,25(OH)2D3 (calcitriol) and 1-α derivatives (alfacalcidol).

  • Acute decompensated heart failure

    Professional Description:

    Acute decompensated heart failure is a clinical diagnosis which occurs when an individual experiences a rapid onset of heart failure symptoms (shortness of breath, fatigue, edema) that requires urgent medical attention, often resulting in visits to the emergency department and hospitalization.

  • Acute diverticulitis

    Professional Description:

    Episodic attack of diverticulitis.

    Source: Baum JA, Ching Companioni RA. Colonic Diverticulosis. Merck Manual Professional Version. 2019 Mar. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/gastrointestinal-disorders/diverticular-disease/colonic-diverticulitis

  • Acute gastroenteritis

    Professional Description:

    Acute gastroenteritis is a diarrheal disease of rapid onset, with or without accompanying symptoms and signs, such as nausea, vomiting, fever, or abdominal pain.

  • Acute phase proteins

    Professional Description:

    Acute phase proteins are a class of proteins that are synthesized in the liver in response to inflammation. This response is called the acute phase reaction.

  • Ad libitum

    Professional Description:

    Ad libitum is a latin term that means as a person wishes.

  • Added salt

    Professional Description:

    Added salt refers to salt that is added during cooking or after preparation (at the table).

  • Adequate Intake

    Professional Description:

    Adequate Intake (AI) is the recommended average daily nutrient intake level based on observed or experimentally determined approximations or estimates of nutrient intake by a group (or groups) of apparently healthy people that are assumed to be adequate. It is used when the RDA cannot be determined.

  • Adiponectin

    Professional Description:

    Adiponectin is a protein hormone secreted by adipose tissue. It is involved in glucose regulation and fatty acid catabolism and plays a role in the suppression of metabolic derangements that may result in type 2 diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis and non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD).

  • Adiposity rebound

    Professional Description:

    Adiposity rebound is the increase in BMI that occurs after it reaches its lowest point, which is a normal pattern of growth that occurs in all children.

  • Adjusted Distribution

    Professional Description:

    The adjusted distribution represents the "distribution of usual nutrient intake" for the group and removes the day-to-day variability of intake within an individual.

  • Advanced Carbohydrate Counting and “Flexible Dosing”:

    Professional Description:

    A strategy that uses personalized insulin to carbohydrate ratios (ICR) to determine mealtime insulin doses, thereby enabling a flexible intake of carbohydrate.

    Source: Warshaw H, Bolderman K. Practical carbohydrate counting: A how-to-Teach Guide for Health Professionals. American Diabetes Association. 2009.

  • Aeroallergen

    Professional Description:

    An aeroallergen is an allergen that is airborne. Aeroallergens usually cause symptoms because they are able to enter the body via the respiratory tract.

  • Aerobic exercise

    Professional Description:

    Aerobic exercise consists of rhythmic, repeated and continuous movements of the same large muscle groups for at least 10 minutes at a time. Examples include walking, biking, jogging, swimming, water aerobics and many sports.

  • Aerodigestive Cancer

    Professional Description:

    Aerodigestive is defined as "the combined organs and tissues of the respiratory tract and the upper part of the digestive tract (including the lips, mouth, tongue, nose, throat, vocal cords and part of the esophagus and windpipe)".

    Source: NIH National Cancer Institute, NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms. Aerodigestive tract. [cited 2020 Nov 30].

  • Agility

    Professional Description:

    Agility is the ability to move and change position of the body and direction quickly and effectively while under control.

  • Airway surface liquid

    Professional Description:

    Airway surface liquid is the 10-30μM layer of fluid on the epithelial cells of the pulmonary tissue located at the interface between inspired air and the respiratory lining.

  • Akinesia

    Professional Description:

    Movements difficult to initiate or the absence of movement.

  • Alcohol dependence

    Professional Description:

    Alcohol dependence is an older classification used in the DSM-IV, which corresponds to moderate or severe alcohol use disorder in the DSM-V. While the DSM-IV classified problematic alcohol use into two categories, alcohol abuse (one or more symptoms) and alcohol dependence (three or more symptoms), the DSM-V describes alcohol use disorders as a spectrum from mild (two to three symptoms) to severe (six or more symptoms). Individuals with alcohol dependence typically have increased tolerance (i.e. need to consume more alcohol to feel the same effects) and withdrawal symptoms when alcohol use is stopped (e.g. nausea, sweating, difficulty sleeping, shakiness, hallucinations, racing heart, seizures).

    Sources:
    National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Alcohol Use Disorder: A Comparison between DSM-IV and DSM-V. Alcohol's Effect on Health: Research-based information on drinking and its impact. Updated Apr 2021.

    American Psychological Association. Understanding Alcohol Use Disorders and their Treatment. Updated Sept 2018.

  • Alcohol use disorder

    Professional Description:

    Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use, which may also be called alcoholism. It involves issues with controlling drinking, preoccupation with alcohol, having to increase the amount consumed to get the same effect, the use of alcohol even when it results in problems, or having withdrawal symptoms when alcohol use is quickly reduced or stopped.

  • Algorithm

    Professional Description:

    "An explicit description of an ordered sequence of steps to be taken in patient care under specified circumstances."

    Source: JAMAevidence. Glossary. American Medical Association: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.; 2014. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Allele

    Professional Description:

    Allele is one of the variant forms of a gene at a particular location on a chromosome. Different alleles produce variation in inherited characteristics such as hair color or blood type. In an individual, one form of the allele (the dominant one) may be expressed more than another form (the recessive one).

  • Allergen

    Professional Description:

    An allergen is a special type of antigen that causes an IgE antibody response.

  • Allergen-specific IgE

    Professional Description:

    An allergen-specific IgE is an IgE antibody formed in response to a specifc allergen. These are the antibodies that are detected in allergy tests such as RAST and skin tests.

  • Allergic asthma

    Professional Description:

    Allergic asthma refers is asthma caused by immunological mechanisms.

  • Allergic disease

    Professional Description:

    Allergic disease is caused by exposure to specific antigens (allergens) in people who are sensitized to the antigens.

  • Allergic eosinophilic gastroenteritis

    Professional Description:

    Allergic eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a food-related gastrointestinal hypersensitivity disease involving IgE and/or non-IgE mechanisms. It can occur at any age, including in young infants. Weight loss or failure to thrive is typical for this disorder.

  • Allergic rhinitis

    Professional Description:

    Allergic rhinitis is an inflammation of the nasal mucous membrane induced by IgE antibody to specific allergens.

  • Allergic sensitization

    Professional Description:

    Allergic sensitization is the presence of IgE antibodies against environmental and/or food antigens.

  • Allergy

    Professional Description:

    An allergy is an inappropriate or exaggerated reaction of the immune system to substances that, in the majority of people, cause no symptoms. Symptoms of allergic disease may be caused by exposure of the skin to a chemical, of the respiratory system to particles of dust or pollen (or other substances), or of the stomach and intestines to a particular food. In its broadest sense, it is applied to all types of immunologically-mediated hypersensitivity reactions. Previously, the term was restricted to IgE-mediated hypersensitivity.

  • All-rac-alpha-tocopherol

    Professional Description:

    All-rac (racemic)-alpha-tocopherol is synthetic vitamin E.

  • Alopecia

    Professional Description:

    Alopecia is a complete or partial loss or absence of hair.

  • Alopecia areata

    Professional Description:

    Alopecia areata is a condition of undetermined etiology characterized by non-scarring and circumscribed areas of baldness on the scalp, eyebrows and beard area which are usually asymmetric.

  • Alopecia totalis

    Professional Description:

    Alopecia totalis is a complete loss of scalp hair.

  • Alopecia universalis

    Professional Description:

    Alopecia universalis is the total loss of all body hair.

  • alpha-1 antitrypsin

    Professional Description:

    A serine protease inhibitor present in blood that protects tissue from inflammatory cells enzymes, especially elastase.

  • Alpha-tocopherol

    Professional Description:

    Alpha-tocopherol is the biologically active form of vitamin E. It has three asymmetric carbon atoms in the side chain, at positions 2, 8 and 12, each of which can be designated as "R" or "S". This formation leads to eight possible stereoisomers: RRR, RSR, RRS, RSS, SRR, SSR, SRS, and SSS. The naturally-occurring form of alpha-tocopherol is RRR-alpha-tocopherol. For the purposes of establishing requirements and recommended intakes, vitamin E is defined as the two R-stereoisomers of alpha-tocopherol (i.e. RRR, RSR, RRS and RSS).

  • Alpha-tocopherol equivalents

    Professional Description:

    Alpha-tocopherol equivalents (TE) are used in most nutrient databases to show the vitamin E content of foods. This unit incorrectly attributes vitamin E activity to tocopherols and tocotrienols other than alpha-tocopherol. The new RDA is for alpha-tocopherol only.

  • Anaphylactoid

    Professional Description:

    Anaphylactoid is a reaction with symptoms often indistinguishable from anaphylaxis in people in whom no evidence of IgE-mediated allergy can be demonstrated.

  • Anaphylaxis

    Professional Description:

    Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death. Signs and symptoms can occur within minutes of exposure to an allergen. In rarer cases, the time frame can vary up to several hours after exposure. The ways that these symptoms occur may vary from person to person and even from episode to episode in the same person. An anaphylactic reaction can involve any of the following symptoms: (skin) hives, swelling, itching, warmth, redness, rash, (respiratory)coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest pain/tightness, throat tightness, hoarse voice, nasal congestion or hay fever-like symptoms (runny, itchy nose and watery eyes, sneezing), trouble swallowing, (gastrointestinal) nausea, pain/cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, (cardiovascular) pale/blue colour, weak pulse, passing out, dizzy/lightheaded, shock, (other) anxiety, feeling of “impending doom”, headache, uterine cramps in females. These symptoms may appear alone or in any combination regardless of the triggering allergen.


  • anchor statement

    Professional Description:

    An anchor statement is intended to provide context to individuals by helping them understand the relationship between the caloric content of a menu item and the total amount of energy individuals should consume in one day.

  • Androgenic alopecia

    Professional Description:

    Androgenic alopecia is a gradual decrease of scalp hair due to a familial increased susceptibility of hair follicles to androgen secretion following puberty. This condition is referred to as male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness.

  • Angioedema

    Professional Description:

    Angioedema is swelling similar to urticaria (hives), but the swelling occurs beneath the skin instead of on the surface. Angioedema is characterized by deep swelling around the eyes and lips and sometimes of the hands and feet.

  • Anthropometric Measurements

    Professional Description:

    Include “height, weight, body mass index, growth pattern indices/percentile ranks and weight history”.

    Source: The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. eNCPT: electronic nutrition care process terminology 2020. Available from: http://www.ncpro.org

  • Anthropometrics

    Professional Description:

    Anthropometrics is the measurement of the physical dimensions and gross composition of the human body (e.g. waist circumference, skinfold measurements, height).

  • Antibody

    Professional Description:

    An antibody is a protein, also called an immunoglobulin (Ig), that is manufactured by lymphocytes to neutralize an antigen. Humans make five types of antibodies - IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG,and IgM.

  • Antigen

    Professional Description:

    An antigen is a substance that can trigger an immune response, resulting in production of an antibody as part of the body's defense against infection and disease. Many antigens are foreign proteins (those not found naturally in the body). Bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms commonly contain many antigens, as do pollens, dust mites, molds, foods, and other substances.

  • Antigen presenting cell

    Professional Description:

    An antigen presenting cell is a white blood cell that engulfs and degrades foreign proteins and displays the individual molecules on surface receptors for recognition by T helper cells.

  • Antigen processing

    Professional Description:

    Antigen processing is the display of antigens on the surface of a macrophage that has engulfed and partially degraded them, a preconditioning for recognition and a protective response by T cells.

  • Antigenicity

    Professional Description:

    Antigenicity is the ability of an antigen to trigger an immune response.

  • Antigen-specific IgE

    Professional Description:

    Antigen-specific IgE is an IgE antibody that is formed against a specific antigen.

  • Antioxidant

    Professional Description:

    An antioxidant is a natural compound found in foods that significantly decreases the adverse effects of reactive species, such as reactive oxygen and nitrogen, on normal physiological function in humans.

  • Apolipoprotein E epsilon4

    Professional Description:

    Apolipoprotein E epsilon4 is the only fully established susceptibility allele for Alzheimer's disease. It is an allele of apolipoprotein E, a mediator of plasma lipoprotein metabolism and is a known cardiovascular risk factor for elevated cholesterol, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and a suspected risk factor for dementia.

  • Apoptosis

    Professional Description:

    Apoptosis is programmed cell death.

  • arthroplasty

    Professional Description:

    A surgical procedure performed to restore the function of a joint.

  • Asthenospermia

    Professional Description:

    Asthenospermia is the loss or reduction of motility of the spermatozoa which is frequently associated with infertility.

  • Asthenozoospermia

    Professional Description:

    Asthenozoospermia is the loss or reduction of mobility of the spermatozoa which is frequently associated with infertility.

  • Asthma

    Professional Description:

    Asthma is a condition marked by recurrent episodes of breathing difficulty with wheezing due to spasmodic contraction of the bronchi.

  • Atopic dermatitis

    Professional Description:

    Atopic dermatitis, also called atopic eczema, chronic inflammatory skin disorder seen in individuals with a hereditary predisposition to a lowered cutaneous threshold to pruritus, often accompanied by allergic rhinitis, hay fever, and asthma, and principally characterized by extreme itching, leading to scratching and rubbing that in turn results in the typical lesions of eczema.

  • Atopic disease

    Professional Description:

    Atopic disease is a genetic predisposition toward the development of immediate (Type I) hypersensitivity reactions against common environmental allergens (atopic allergy). The most common clinical manifestations are allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis, and food allergy occurring less frequently.

  • Atopy

    Professional Description:

    Atopy is a personal or familial tendency to produce IgE antibodies in response allergens, and to develop typical symptoms such as asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis or eczema/dermatitis.

  • Autonomic symptoms

    Professional Description:

    Autonomic symptoms are symptoms manifested by activation of the autonomic nervous system: trembling, palpitations, sweating, anxiety, hunger, nausea and tingling.

  • Available Carbohydrate

    Professional Description:

    Refers to digestible carbohydrate that will result in a glycemic response. When carbohydrate counting in some countries such as the USA and Canada, available carbohydrate must be calculated by subtracting the fibre content from the total grams of carbohydrate documented on food labels (19). In other countries such as Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom, this calculation is not required.

    Source: Diabetes Australia. Carbohydrate counting and diabetes. [Internet]; 2016 [cited 2020 Dec 8]. Available from: https://www.diabetesqualified.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/FS_Carbohydrate-counting-and-diabetes_orange_highres.pdf
    Diabetes UK. Reading labels. [Internet] [no date, cited 2020 May]]; Available from: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/carbohydrates-and-diabetes/nuts-and-bolts-of-carb-counting/learn-about-carb-counting/reading-labels.

  • Average Daily Intake

    Professional Description:

    Average Daily Intake refers to the average intake of a particular nutrient over time.

  • Average Requirement

    Professional Description:

    Average Requirement is the nutrient intake value that is estimated to meet the requirement defined by a specified indicator of adequacy in 50% of the individuals in a life stage and gender group. At this level of intake, the remaining 50% of the specified group would not meet their nutrient needs.

  • Baby Friendly Initiative

    Professional Description:

    an international program developed by WHO/UNICEF for the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding as a strategy aimed at increasing the health and well being of children and families

  • Bacterial lipopolysaccharides

    Professional Description:

    Bacterial lipopolysaccharides are a lipid and polysaccharide complex that forms the major component of the cell wall of gram-negative bacteria, such as E.coli, salmonella, shigella and other enterobacteria. Lipopolysaccharides are endotoxins; heat-stable toxins that are released when the bacterial cell is disrupted.

  • Balance of cytokines

    Professional Description:

    Balance of cytokines is the relative quantities of specific cytokines in an immune response Commonly used in reference to Th1/Th2 cytokines and allergy.

  • Bariatric

    Professional Description:

    Bariatric is an area of medicine that supports the study of, assessment, treatment and management of obesity.

  • Bariatric surgery

    Professional Description:

    Bariatric surgery is a branch of medicine that deals with the surgical treatment of obesity.

  • Basal energy expenditure

    Professional Description:

    Basal energy expenditure is the energy expended for respiration, circulation, brain activity and other vital body functions. It is measured in the resting condition, while fasting, free from stress and in a thermoneutral environment.

  • Basal metabolic rate

    Professional Description:

    The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the energy needed to sustain the metabolic activities of cells and tissues, plus the energy needed to maintain blood circulation, respiration, and gastrointestinal and renal processing (i.e. the basal cost of living).

  • Baseline Risk

    Professional Description:

    "The risk of an adverse outcome in the control group."


    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Basic Carbohydrate Counting

    Professional Description:

    A strategy that uses pre-set carbohydrate quantity targets for each meal alongside fixed doses of diabetes medications.

    Source: Warshaw H, Bolderman K. Practical carbohydrate counting: A how-to-Teach Guide for Health Professionals. American Diabetes Association. 2009.

  • Before-After Design (One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design)

    Professional Description:

    "A study in which the investigators compare the status of a group of study participants before and after the introduction of an intervention."


    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • behavioural counselling techniques

    Professional Description:

    Behaviour counselling techniques are methods to change behaviour including self-monitoring of diet and physical activity (food and physical activity logs), cue elimination, stimulus control, goal setting, problem solving, action planning, modeling, limit setting, and rewards for reaching goals modifying specific eating behaviours (e.g. slowing the rate of eating, controlling where eating occurs, delaying gratification), and reinforcement management.

  • Benign prostatic hyperplasia

    Professional Description:

    Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a progressive enlargement of the prostate due to hyperplasia of both glandular and stromal components. It typically begins in the fifth decade and sometimes causes obstructive or irritative symptoms or both; it does not evolve into cancer.

  • Beta thalassemia intermedia

    Professional Description:

    A moderate beta thalassemia phenotype with symptom severity between beta thalassemia minor and major. Caused by inheritance of two defective genes.

    Source:
    Braunstein EM. Thalassemias. Merck Manual Professional Version. Updated September 2020. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/en-ca/professional/hematology-and-oncology/anemias-caused-by-hemolysis/thalassemias

  • Beta thalassemia major

    Professional Description:

    The most severe phenotype of beta thalassemia, caused by inheritance of two defective genes. Typically manifests in early life (one to two years of age) and results in severe anemia, bone marrow hyperactivity and iron overload.

    Source:
    Braunstein EM. Thalassemias. Merck Manual Professional Version. Updated September 2020. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/en-ca/professional/hematology-and-oncology/anemias-caused-by-hemolysis/thalassemias

  • Beta thalassemia minor

    Professional Description:

    The mildest phenotype of beta thalassemia, caused by inheritance of only one defective gene. Results in mild to moderate anemia and is typically asymptomatic.

    Source:
    Braunstein EM. Thalassemias. Merck Manual Professional Version. Updated September 2020. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/en-ca/professional/hematology-and-oncology/anemias-caused-by-hemolysis/thalassemias

  • Betalactoglobulin

    Professional Description:

    Betalactoglobulin is one of the most abundant milk proteins and a significant milk allergen. Along with casein, it is one of the most frequently and intensively recognized protein by IgE antibodies.

  • Biallelic

    Professional Description:

    “of, relating to, or affecting both alleles of a gene”

    Source: Merriam-Webster. Biallelic. [cited October 20, 2020]. Available from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/biallelic

  • Bias

    Professional Description:

    "A systematic error in the design, conduct or interpretation of a study that may cause a systematic deviation from the underlying truth."

    Source: JAMAevidence. JAMAevidence glossary. American Medical Association; 2021.

  • Bifidobacterium

    Professional Description:

    Bifidobacterium is a genus of gram-positive, anaerobic bacteria of the family Actinomycetaceae, order Actinomycetales. The organisms occur as irregularly staining rods of bifurcated Y and V forms and club or spatulate shapes.

  • bioactive compounds

    Professional Description:

    Bioactive compounds are constituents that are found in small quantities in foods. They can vary in chemical structure and their functions. Some examples include phenolic organosulfur and carotenoids compounds.

  • Bioavailability

    Professional Description:

    Bioavailability is the proportion of an ingested nutrient that is absorbed and utilized. It can be influenced by the physiological state of an individual and the interaction of other nutrients consumed in diet.

  • Biochemical Data, Medical Tests and Procedures

    Professional Description:

    Include “laboratory data, (e.g., electrolytes, glucose, and lipid panel) and tests (e.g., gastric emptying time, resting metabolic rate)”.

    Source: The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. eNCPT: electronic nutrition care process terminology 2020. Available from: http://www.ncpro.org

  • Biofilm

    Professional Description:

    Biofilm is a thin layer of inorganic or organic microorganisms that adhere to the surface of a structure, together with the polymers that they secrete.

  • bird-days

    Professional Description:

    Bird-days is "the standard denominator used to calculate all proportions, or percentages. For the year, it is the mean daily population of birds in the Lion scheme (including breeding birds and pullets in rear) multiplied by 365."

    Source: Farm Antibiotics. Laying hens. 2017 Jul. Available from: https://www.farmantibiotics.org/progress-updates/progress-by-sector/egg-production/

  • Bisphenol A

    Professional Description:

    Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in the manufacture of epoxy resins for internal food can linings and polycarbonate plastics. It is a known endocrine disruptor.

  • Bitter Melon

    Professional Description:

    Bitter melon flourishes in India, Asia, South America, Africa and the Caribbean. The bitter melon plant is a vine with green leaves and yellow flowers and the fruit is oblong and green, resembling a cucumber. The extracts of the unripe fruit are most frequently used are the fruit and the seeds.

  • Blind

    Professional Description:

    Within a clinical trial, "Patients [participants], clinicians, data collectors, outcome adjudicators, or data analysts are unaware of which patients [participants] have been assigned to the experimental or control group".

    JAMAevidence. JAMAevidence glossary. American Medical Association; 2021.

  • Body mass index

    Professional Description:

    Body Mass Index (BMI) is weight(kg)/height(m)2 (squared).

  • Bone Marrow Transplant

    Professional Description:

    A procedure that delivers healthy bone marrow stem cells into an individual to replace bone marrow that is either not working properly or has been destroyed by chemotherapy or radiation.

    Source: Medline Plus. Bone marrow transplant. Abstract available from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003009.htm

  • Bone mineral density

    Professional Description:

    Bone mineral density (BMD) is a measure of the amount of calcium in bones. A BMD test detects osteopenia (bone loss usually without symptoms and osteoporosis (more severe bone loss which may cause symptoms).

  • Borborygmi

    Professional Description:

    Borborygmi is a rumbling sound made by the movement of gas in the intestine. Borborygmus is the plural version.

  • Borborygmus

    Professional Description:

    Stomach rumbling

    Consumer Description:

    Stomach rumbling

  • Bovine lipase

    Professional Description:

    Bovine lipase is a bovine preparation offered as an alternative to porcine preparations for those who refuse the consumption of porcine products for religious or other reasons. The lipase activity of bovine preparations reaches approximately 25% that of porcine extracts, and consequently a substantially greater number of tablets may be required to achieve the same effect.

  • Bradykinesia

    Professional Description:

    Slow movements

  • Brain infarct

    Professional Description:

    A brain infarct is tissue death in the brain due to a lack of oxygen.

  • Breastmilk substitute

    Professional Description:

    Any food that is being marketed or represented as a partial or total replacement for breastmilk, whether or not it is suitable for that purpose.

  • Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid

    Professional Description:

    Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid is fluid obtained by washout of the epithelial lining fluid of the of the lung. It is used to assess biochemical and inflammatory changes in and effects of therapy on the interstitial lung tissue.

  • Bronchospasm

    Professional Description:

    A contraction of smooth muscle in the walls of the bronchi and bronchioles, causing narrowing of the lumen.

  • Brucellosis

    Professional Description:

    Brucellosis is a rare foodborne illness caused by consuming infected raw milk or undercooked meat.

    Source: Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Brucellosis Transmission. 2019 Mar 8. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/brucellosis/transmission/index.html#:~:text=Person%2Dto%2Dperson%20spread%20of,tissue%20transplantation%20or%20blood%20transfusions.

  • Calcimimetics

    Professional Description:

    Drugs that mimic calcium and that are used to treat hyperparathyroidism.

  • Cannabis Use Disorder

    Professional Description:

    The continued use of cannabis despite clinically significant distress or impairment. Cannabis use disorder severity can range from mild (two or three symptoms), moderate (four or five symptoms) or severe (six or more symptoms).

    Source: DSM-5. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.

  • Carotenoids

    Professional Description:

    Carotenoids are a family of pigmented compounds found in plants.

  • Case Reports

    Professional Description:

    A case report, also known as a case study, describes an in depth study of a unique case (a single individual or specific group) reporting on the diagnosis, treatment and follow up

    Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health (NIH): National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms. Case report. 2020

  • Case Series

    Professional Description:

    "A study reporting on a consecutive collection of patients treated in a similar manner, without a control group."

    Source: JAMAevidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun.

  • Case-control Studies

    Professional Description:

    A comparison of two groups of people not followed over time, where one group presents with a disease or condition being studied (i.e. cases) and the other is a very similar group of people who do not have the disease or condition (i.e. control) to ascertain different characteristics or experiences.

    Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health (NIH): National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms. Case-control study. 2020.

  • causality

    Professional Description:

    A cause is something that produces an event or condition, and effect is what results from said event or condition. This represents a direct relationship between an exposure (cause) and an outcome (effect).

    Source: Susser M. Glossary: causality in public health science. J Epidemiol Comm Health 2001;55:376-378.

  • Channeling Effect

    Professional Description:

    "Tendency of clinicians to prescribe treatment based on a patient’s prognosis. As a result of the behavior, in observational studies, treated patients are more likely to be high risk patients than untreated patients, leading to biased estimate of treatment effect."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Chlorella pyrenoidosa

    Professional Description:

    Chlorella pyrenoidosa is a unicellular fresh water green alga rich in proteins, vitamins, and minerals.

  • Chromium

    Professional Description:

    An essential mineral required by the human body for normal carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Chromium (Cr3+) is found in foods and supplements and is available in several forms.

  • Chromosome

    Professional Description:

    A structure of DNA and protein that is found in the cell nucleus. Each chromosome contains hundreds or thousands of the genes that form an individual''s hereditary blueprint. Chromosomes occur in pairs: one obtained from the mother; the other from the father, for a total of 23 pairs.

  • Chronic diverticulitis

    Professional Description:

    Chronic abdominal pain related to ongoing diverticulitis.

    Source: Baum JA, Ching Companioni RA. Colonic Diverticulosis. Merck Manual Professional Version. 2019 Mar. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/gastrointestinal-disorders/diverticular-disease/colonic-diverticulitis

  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

    Professional Description:

    A respiratory disorder largely caused by smoking, and is characterized by progressive, partially reversible airway obstruction and lung hyperinflation, systemic manifestations, and increasing frequency and severity of exacerbations.

  • Classical Learning Theory

    Professional Description:

    Classical learning theory is when a conditioned stimulus becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus in order to produce a conditioned response.

  • Client History

    Professional Description:

    (IDNT) Client history includes current and past information related to personal, medical, family and social history.

  • Clinical Practice Guidelines

    Professional Description:

    "A strategy for changing clinician behavior. Systematically developed statements or recommendations to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances. They present indications for performing a test, procedure, or intervention, or the proper management for specific clinical problems. Guidelines may be developed by government agencies, institutions, organizations such as professional societies or governing boards, or by convening expert panels."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Clinical Trial

    Professional Description:

    "An experiment to compare the effects of two or more healthcare interventions. Clinical trial is an umbrella term for a variety of designs of healthcare trials, including uncontrolled trials, controlled trials, and randomized controlled trials."

    Source: The Cochrane Collaboration. Glossary. [cited 2019 Aug 17]. Available from: https://community.cochrane.org/glossary

  • Coagulopathy

    Professional Description:

    A disease or condition affecting the blood's ability to coagulate.

    Source: Merriam-Webster. Coagulopathy. [cited October 20, 2020]. Available from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/coagulopathy

  • Coefficient of variation

    Professional Description:

    The coefficient of variation is the standard deviation of the requirement divided by the mean requirement (SD/Mean), and expressed as a percentage (CV=SD/Mean x 100). It is a term used to describe variability of observations in a population.

  • Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument

    Professional Description:

    The Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI)has a score range of 0 to 100 and provides quantitative assessment on attention, concentration, orientation, short-term memory, long-term memory, language abilities, visual construction, list-generating fluency, abstraction, and judgment.

  • Cognitive interviewing techniques

    Professional Description:

    Cognitive interviewing technique is a method to obtain informant perceptions about a topic or issue that involves asking informants to verbalize what comes to mind as they read/use a section of or an entire resource.

  • Cohort

    Professional Description:

    "A group of persons with a common characteristic or set of characteristics. Typically, the group is followed for a specified period of time to determine the incidence of a disorder or complications of an established disorder (prognosis)."

    Source: JAMAevidence. American Medical Association. 2014 Jun.

  • Cohort Studies

    Professional Description:

    A cohort study compares a particular outcome in a group of individuals who are alike in many ways but differ by one or more certain characteristics. Cohort studies can be prospective or retrospective. Prospective cohort studies involve collecting data from a group of participants in the presence of risk factors/exposures but free of the disease/outcome at the start of the study. Participants are followed up over a period to determine the occurrence of outcomes. Retrospective cohort studies asses past events or situations. There is no follow up of participants. The data is collected from previously obtained records or by asking participants to recall exposures.

    Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health (NIH): National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms. Cohort. 2020.

  • Co-interventions

    Professional Description:

    "Intervention other than intervention under study that may be differentially applied to intervention and control groups and, thus, potentially bias the results of a study."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Colony forming units

    Professional Description:

    Colony forming units are the number of bacteria in a given sample size that is viable (i.e. capable of initiating the development of a colony).

  • Commensal

    Professional Description:

    Commensal is an organism living on or within another, but not causing injury to the host.

  • Community-based interventions

    Professional Description:

    A community-based intervention is an intervention that is implemented within one or more community groups (ad hoc or formal), that promotes change through policy, social marketing, and/or environmental changes, and that targeted members of certain groups or community members at large.

  • Co-morbidity

    Professional Description:

    "Disease(s) that coexist(s) in study participants in addition to the index condition that is the subject of the study."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Complementary feeding

    Professional Description:

    Complementary feeding is defined by the World Health Organization as "the transition from exclusive breastfeeding to family foods". Complementary feeding may also be referred to as weaning foods.

  • Complicated diverticulitis

    Professional Description:

    Diverticulitis with presence of abscess, fistula, obstruction or perforation.

    Source: Baum JA, Ching Companioni RA. Colonic Diverticulosis. Merck Manual Professional Version. 2019 Mar. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/gastrointestinal-disorders/diverticular-disease/colonic-diverticulitis

  • Computer-assisted dietary assessment

    Professional Description:

    A computer-assisted dietary assessment is when a health professional, practitioner or researcher utilizes a nutrient analysis program to calculate client-reported food intake which may be compared to recommended intakes (DRIs) and related to client personal, anthropometric and other data.

  • Computer-tailored information

    Professional Description:

    In computer-tailored information, personal dietary intakes can be compared with recommended intake levels (personal feedback), with the consumption patterns of peers (normative feedback) and with perceived risk behavior.

  • Confidence Interval

    Professional Description:

    "Represents a range of values within which one can be confident that a population parameter is estimated; the range within which the truth plausibility lies; indicates the reliability of an estimate. The smaller the sample size, the wider the confidence interval. As the sample size gets very large, we become increasingly certain that the truth is not far from the point estimate (although the true value lies somewhere in the neighborhood, it is unlikely to be precisely correct) calculated in the experiment and the confidence interval is smaller."

    Source: Guyatt G, Rennie D. Users’ guides to the medical literature. Essentials of evidence-based clinical practice. AMA Press; 2002.

  • Confounder

    Professional Description:

    “A factor that is associated with the outcome of interest and is differentially distributed in patients exposed and unexposed to the outcome of interest. Unless it is possible to adjust for confounding variables, their effects cannot be distinguished from those of the factors being studied.”

    Source: JAMAevidence. JAMAevidence glossary. American Medical Association; 2021.

  • Conjunctivitis

    Professional Description:

    Conjuctivitis is the inflammation of the conjunctivae (membrane covering the front of the eye and lining of the eyelids) causing redness, swelling, and a watery discharge.

  • Consecutive Sample

    Professional Description:

    "A sample in which all potentially eligible patients seen over a period of time are enrolled."

    Source: Guyatt G, Rennie D. Users’ guides to the medical literature. Essentials of evidence-based clinical practice. AMA Press; 2002.

  • Construct Validity

    Professional Description:

    "A construct is a theoretically derived notion of the domain(s) we wish to measure. An understanding of the construct will lead to expectations about how an instrument should behave if it is valid. Construct validity therefore involves comparisons between measures, and examination of the logical relationships, which should exist between a measure and characteristics of patients and patient groups."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion

    Professional Description:

    Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion is a method of insulin delivery. Insulin is delivered by a microcomputer (pump) in very small amounts from a syringe reservoir through a thin tube (infusion set) that is connected to a needle or cannula which is inserted into the subcutaneous tissue. The pump is programmed to deliver a continuous infusion of basal insulin according to physiological needs and then programmed to deliver boluses of fast or rapid-acting insulin as needed to cover carbohydrate intake or to correct hyperglycemia.

  • Continuous Variables

    Professional Description:

    "A variable that can theoretically take any value and in practice can take a large number of values with small differences between them (e.g. height). Continuous variables are also sometimes called interval data."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Control Group

    Professional Description:

    "A group that does not receive the experimental intervention. In many studies, the control group receives either usual care or a placebo."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Convenience Sample

    Professional Description:

    "Individuals or groups selected at the convenience of the investigator or primarily because they were available at a convenient time or place."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Correction Factor or Insulin Sensitivity Factor (ISF)

    Professional Description:

    A calculation used in advanced carbohydrate counting to more accurately predict the amount of insulin required for food when pre-meal blood glucose levels are outside of target values. This calculation is dependent on the bolus insulin type used. ISF predicts by how much one unit of rapid-acting insulin reduces blood glucose levels.

    Source: Warshaw H, Bolderman K. Practical carbohydrate counting: A how-to-Teach Guide for Health Professionals. American Diabetes Association. 2009.

  • Cost-Benefit Analysis

    Professional Description:

    "An economic analysis in which both the costs and the consequences (including increases in the length and quality of life) are expressed in monetary terms."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

    Professional Description:

    "An economic analysis in which the consequences are expressed in natural units. Examples include cost per life saved or cost per unit of blood pressure lowered."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Cover crop

    Professional Description:

    Plants growing close to the ground that provide soil protection, seeding protection and soil improvement.

    Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/cover-crop

  • Craniotabes

    Professional Description:

    Craniotabes is the softening of the skull.

  • C-reactive protein

    Professional Description:

    C-reactive protein is an acute phase reactant used as a marker for inflammation.

  • Cretan diet

    Professional Description:

    The Cretan diet originates from Crete, Greece and is characterized by a high content of cereals, vegetables, legumes, fruits and olive oil. Like the Mediterranean diet, it contains less meat and more fish than Western diets and moderate intakes of wine.

  • Critical paradigm

    Professional Description:

    A critical paradigm is a theory to understand communication, challenges norms and fosters positive social change.

  • Cronbach's alpha

    Professional Description:

    Cronbach's alpha is used to assess reliability of a survey. An acceptable Cronbach alpha (reliability) for a psychometric scale is 0.70. However, criterion can be lower if there are fewer than 10 items and evidence of validity and sound theoretical and practical reasoning for use is given.

  • Cronobacter spp.

    Professional Description:

    The proposed reclassification for Enterobacter sakazakii.

  • Crossover Study

    Professional Description:

    "A method of comparing two (or more) treatments or interventions in which subjects, upon completion of one treatment, are switched to the other. In the case of two treatments, A and B, half the patients are randomly allocated to receive these in the order “A first, then B,” and half to receive them in the order “B first, then A"."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Cross-sectional Study

    Professional Description:

    "a study that identifies participants with and without the condition or disease under study and the characteristic or exposure of interest at the same point in time”.

    Source: JAMAevidence. JAMAevidence glossary. American Medical Association; 2021.

  • Cultural Competence

    Professional Description:

    The possession of the awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to work effectively with clients from different cultures.

  • Cytokine

    Professional Description:

    Cytokines are non-antibody proteins released by one cell population on contact with a specific antigen. Cytokines act as intercellular mediators and trigger an immune response.

  • DASH Diet

    Professional Description:

    DASH stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension”. This eating plan:
    • suggests limiting salt or sodium to between 1500 mg (2/3 tsp) to 2300 mg (1 tsp) per day.
    • is low in saturated fat, cholesterol and total fat
    • emphasizes fruit, vegetables, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products.
    • includes whole grain products, fish, poultry and nuts.
    • is low in lean red meat, sweets, added sugars and sugar-containing beverages
    • is rich in potassium, magnesium, and calcium as well as protein and fibre.

  • Decision Analysis

    Professional Description:

    "A systematic approach to decision making under conditions of uncertainty. It involves identifying all available alternatives and estimating the probabilities of potential outcomes associated with each alternative, valuing each outcome, and, on the basis of the probabilities and values, arriving at a quantitative estimate of the relative merit of the alternatives."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Deft Index

    Professional Description:

    Dmft or deft index is a count of decayed, missing or filled teeth with a maximum score of 20.

  • Dehydration

    Professional Description:

    Dehydration is the depletion in total body water content due to pathologic water losses, diminished water intake or a combination of both.

  • Descriptive Study

    Professional Description:

    "A study that describes characteristics of a sample of individuals. Unlike an experimental study, the investigators do not actively intervene to test a hypothesis, but merely describe the health status or characteristics of a sample from a defined population."

    Source: The Cochrane Collaboration. Glossary. [cited 2019 Aug 17]. Available from: https://community.cochrane.org/glossary.

  • Detection Bias

    Professional Description:

    "Tendency to look more carefully for an outcome in one of the comparison groups (also known as surveillance bias)."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Development Coordination Disorder

    Professional Description:

    Development Coordination Disorder is associated commonly with difficulties in learning, behavior, and psychosocial adjustment, in addition to core deficits in motor function.

  • Diabetic ketoacidosis

    Professional Description:

    Diabetic ketoacidosis is a very serious condition which results in alterations in pH and electrolyte balance leading to acidosis and dehydration caused by a lack or relative deficiency of insulin.

  • Diarrhea

    Professional Description:

    Diarrhea is frequent and watery bowel movements; commonly qualified as the passage of three or more loose or watery stools/day.

  • Dietary fibre

    Professional Description:

    A collective term for a variety of plant substances that are resistant to digestion by human gastrointestinal enzymes.

  • Dietary Reference Intakes

    Professional Description:

    An "umbrella" term for four nutrient-based reference values that are used to assess and plan the diets of healthy people. The reference values include: the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), the Adequate Intake (AI) and the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL). Relevant to U.S.A. and Canada only.

  • Dietary Reference Standards

    Professional Description:

    Dietary Reference Standards are nutrient intake values established as goals for individuals or groups for good nutrition and health.

  • Dietary status

    Professional Description:

    The condition of an individual or group as a result of food and nutrient intake. Dietary status also refers to the sum of dietary intake measurements for an individual or a group.

  • Dieting

    Professional Description:

    Any change in eating and/or lifestyle habits where weight loss is seen as the, or one of the, desired outcomes. Dieting can also include any externally regulated eating or lifestyle plan to control or manage one’s weight, shape or body composition.

    Sources:
    Golden NH, Schneider M, Wood C; COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION; COMMITTEE ON ADOLESCENCE; SECTION ON OBESITY. Preventing Obesity and Eating Disorders in Adolescents. Pediatrics. 2016 Sep;138(3):e20161649. doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-1649. Epub 2016 Aug 22. PMID: 27550979.
    Tomiyama AJ, Ahlstrom B, Mann T. Long-term Effects of Dieting: Is Weight Loss Related to Health?: Weight-loss Diets and Health. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. 2013;7(12):861-877.
    Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH). The Health At Every Size® (HAES®) Approach. 2014.

  • Dietitian

    Professional Description:

    A regulated dietitian has the following titles and credentials:
    Australia and New Zealand: Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD)
    Canada: Registered Dietitian (RD) in all provinces, except Quebec (P.Dt.)
    New Zealand: New Zealand Registered Dietitian (NZRD)
    United Kingdom: Registered Dietitian (RD) and HCPC Registered.

  • Discourse

    Professional Description:

    Discourse refers to bodies of knowledge created through subjective thought, power structures, people and experiences.

  • Disinhibition

    Professional Description:

    The tendency to overeat in response to different stimuli.

  • Distribution of observed intakes

    Professional Description:

    The distribution of observed intakes represents the variability of observed intakes in the population of interest.

  • Distribution of Requirements

    Professional Description:

    The distribution of requirements reflects the individual-to-individual (between person) variability in requirements. Variability exists because not all individuals in a group have the same requirements for a nutrient, even if they are similar in characteristics such as age and sex.

  • Distribution of usual intakes

    Professional Description:

    The distribution of usual intakes is the long-run average nutrient intakes of individuals in the population. The distribution should reflect only the individual-to-individual (between-person) variability in intakes. Statistical procedures may be used to adjust the distribution of observed intakes by partially removing the day-to-day variability in individual intakes, so the adjusted distribution more closely resembles a usual intake distribution. Sometimes referred to as the "usual intake distribution".

  • Diverticula

    Professional Description:

    Two or more diverticulum.

    Source: Baum JA, Ching Companioni RA. Definition of Diverticular Disease. Merck Manual Professional Version. 2019 Mar. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/gastrointestinal-disorders/diverticular-disease/definition-of-diverticular-disease

  • Diverticulitis

    Professional Description:

    Infection or inflammation of one or more diverticula.

    Source: Baum JA, Ching Companioni RA. Definition of Diverticular Disease. Merck Manual Professional Version. 2019 Mar. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/gastrointestinal-disorders/diverticular-disease/definition-of-diverticular-disease

  • Diverticulosis

    Professional Description:

    Presence of diverticula in the gastrointestinal tract.

    Source: Baum JA, Ching Companioni RA. Definition of Diverticular Disease. Merck Manual Professional Version. 2019 Mar. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/gastrointestinal-disorders/diverticular-disease/definition-of-diverticular-disease

  • Diverticulum

    Professional Description:

    A sac-like pouch in the intestinal wall.

    Source: Baum JA, Ching Companioni RA. Definition of Diverticular Disease. Merck Manual Professional Version. 2019 Mar. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/gastrointestinal-disorders/diverticular-disease/definition-of-diverticular-disease

  • Dominant paradigm

    Professional Description:

    A dominant paradigm is the knowledge and guidance that is most widely accepted.

  • Dose-response assessment

    Professional Description:

    Dose-response assessment is the second step in a risk assessment in which the relationship between nutrient intake and adverse effect (in terms of incidence and/or severity of the effect) is determined.

  • Double-Blind

    Professional Description:

    "A procedure of blind assignment to study and control groups and blind assessment of outcome, designed to ensure that ascertainment of outcome is not biased by knowledge of the group to which an individual was assigned. Double refers to both parties –the subjects in the study and control groups, and the observer(s) in contact with the subjects; those describing a randomized controlled trial should provide a specific description of who among those involved in the trial were blinded."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Doubly-labelled water

    Professional Description:

    Doubly-labelled water is a form of indirect calorimetry where the average metabolic rate is measured over a period of time. This process is done by administering a dose of doubly-labelled water (water in which both the hydrogen and the oxygen have been partly or completely replaced with an uncommon isotope), then tracking the loss of deuterium and O-18 in the subject, over time, through the use of regular sampling of heavy isotope concentrations in the body water (by sampling saliva, urine, or blood).

  • Drug Identification Number

    Professional Description:

    Drug Identification Number is an eight-digit (8) numerical code assigned to each drug product marketed under or in accordance with the Food and Drugs Act and Food and Drug Regulations of Health Canada.

  • Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

    Professional Description:

    Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a type of scan that uses X-rays to measure the amount of fat, muscle and bone minerals either in the whole body or in specific parts of the body (e.g. arms, pelvis).

    Source: National Cancer Institute. Dictionary of Cancer Terms. Bethesda, Maryland: National Institutes of Health; n.d. [cited 2023 Jul 26].

  • Dyskinesia

    Professional Description:

    Abnormal movements or difficulty movement as muscles move involuntarily and unexpectedly.

  • Dysphagia

    Professional Description:

    Difficulty swallowing

  • EAR cut-point method

    Professional Description:

    EAR cut-point method is used to determine the prevalence of inadequacy for a group or more specifically the proportion of a group with intakes below the EAR.

  • ECE

    Professional Description:

    Early Childhood Educator or Education

  • Ecologic Study

    Professional Description:

    "A study in which the units of analysis are populations or groups of people rather than individuals. An example is the study of the relationship between the distribution of income and mortality rates in states or provinces. Conclusions of ecological studies may not apply to individuals; thus caution is needed to avoid the ecological fallacy."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Ecological Fallacy

    Professional Description:

    "An erroneous inference that may occur because an association observed between variables on an aggregate level does not necessarily represent or reflect the association that exists at an individual level; a causal relationship that exists on a group level or among groups may not exist among the group individuals."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Effect Size

    Professional Description:

    "This term has different meanings in different disciplines. it is sometimes used to refer to a standardized measure of a treatment effect, but in epidemiology it usually refers to the strength of association of a health outcome with a risk factor."

    Source: Patton SB. Epidemiology for Canadian students, principles, methods and critical appraisal, 2nd edition. Canada: Brush Education Inc.; 2018.

    Consumer Description:

    This is the difference in outcomes between the intervention and the control groups, which is expressed in the units of comparison, i.e. such as the difference between the averages, proportions, the correlations or the ratio: risk ratio, hazard ratio or odds ratio.

  • Encopresis

    Professional Description:

    Encopresis or fecal incontinence occurs when stool (formed, semi-formed or liquid) seeps around the fecal mass and leaks out.

  • Endophenotype

    Professional Description:

    Measurable components unseen by the unaided eye along the pathway between disease and distal genotype. It may be neurophysiological, biochemical, endocrinological, neuroanatomical, cognitive, or neuropsychological in nature.

    Source: Gottesman II, Gould TD. The endophenotype concept in psychiatry: etymology and strategic intentions. Am J Psychiatry. 2003;160(4):636-45. Abstract available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12668349

  • Endurance capacity

    Professional Description:

    Endurance capacity is the time to fatigue (or time to exhaustion) at a fixed exercise intensity or pace.

  • Enteric coated

    Professional Description:

    Enteric coated is being or possessing a coating designed to pass through the stomach unaltered and to disintegrate in the intestines.

  • Enteric Hyperoxaluria

    Professional Description:

    A condition that occurs in individuals with intestinal malabsorption of fat.

  • Enterobacter sakazakii

    Professional Description:

    Referred to now as Cronobacter spp.

  • Enterohepatic circulation

    Professional Description:

    Enterohepatic circulation is circulation between the liver and gastrointestinal tract.

  • Enteropathy

    Professional Description:

    Enteropathy is a disease of the intestinal tract.

  • Environmental Racism

    Professional Description:

    "Intentional or unintentional racial discrimination in environmental policy‐making, enforcement of regulations and laws, and targeting of communities for the disposal of toxic waste and siting of polluting industries".

    Source: Oxford Reference. Available from: https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095753679

  • Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

    Professional Description:

    Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)is a rapid immunochemical test that involves an enzyme and an antibody or antigen. ELISA tests are utilized to detect substances that have antigenic properties, primarily proteins.

  • Epididymis

    Professional Description:

    Epididymis is an elongated structure connected to the posterior surface of the testis that stores and matures spermatozoa and transports spermatozoa from the testis to ductus deferens (vas deferens).

  • Epitope

    Professional Description:

    An epitope is a single antigenic site on a protein against which an antibody reacts. An epitope is composed of several amino acids in a sequence and configuration that elicits an immunological response and the production of antibodies designed to couple with that specific structure.

  • Equity-seeking Groups

    Professional Description:

    Groups that take an active role in changing processes and structures that influence health. It may also refer to socially disadvantaged, excluded or marginalized populations who experience significant barriers to fully participating in society. These barriers include attitudinal, historic, social and environmental barriers.

    Sources:
    National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH). Let’s talk: Populations and the power of language. National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health, St. Francis Xavier University; 2013.
    Equity and Inclusion Office. Equity & Inclusion Glossary of Terms: Equity Seeking. The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. No date.

  • Erythropoiesis

    Professional Description:

    Erythropoiesis, also called erythroctopoiesis, is the production of red blood cells.

  • Escape extinction

    Professional Description:

    Escape extinction involves not allowing an escape from, or avoidance of, the appropriate eating behaviour. An example of this may involve positioning the spoon in front of the child’s mouth until the bite is accepted, thereby preventing the child from escaping or avoiding the bite.

    Source: MacNaul HL, Neely LC. Systematic review of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior without extinction for individuals with autism. Behavior modification. 2018 May;42(3):398-421.

  • Estimated Average Requirement

    Professional Description:

    Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) is the nutrient intake value that is estimated to meet the requirement defined by a specified indicator of adequacy in 50% of the individuals in a life stage and gender group.

  • Estimated Energy Requirement

    Professional Description:

    Estimated Energy Requirement (EER) is the average dietary energy intake that is predicted to maintain energy balance in a healthy adult of a defined age, gender, weight, height, and a level of physical activity that is consistent with good health.

  • Estrogen receptor negative

    Professional Description:

    Breast cancer cells that do not have receptors for estrogen.


    Source: breastcancer.org

  • Estrogen receptor positive

    Professional Description:

    The breast cancer cells that have receptors for estrogen.


    Source: breastcancer.org

  • Euvolemia

    Professional Description:

    Euvolemia is the presence of the proper amount of blood or fluid in the body.

  • Evidence-based Dietetics Practice

    Professional Description:

    Evidence-based dietetics practice is about asking questions, systematically finding research evidence, and assessing the validity, applicability and importance of that evidence. This evidence-based information is then combined with the dietitian's expertise and judgment and the client’s or community’s unique values and circumstances to guide decision-making in dietetics.

    International Confederation of Dietetic Associations (2010)

  • Evidence-Based Medicine

    Professional Description:

    "1. The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. Evidence-based clinical practice requires integration of individual clinical expertise and patient preferences with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research, and consideration of available resources. 2. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) can be considered a subcategory of evidence-based health care, which also includes other branches of health care practice such as evidence-based nursing or evidence-based physiotherapy. EBM subcategories include evidence-based surgery and evidence-based cardiology."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Evidence-Based Practice

    Professional Description:

    "The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. Evidence-based clinical practice requires integration of individual clinical expertise and patient preferences with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research, and consideration of available resources."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Excitotoxicity

    Professional Description:

    A process where neurons are damaged or destroyed through excess stimulation and receptor activation because of imbalances in neurotransmitters and ions. Neuronal cell membranes are damaged because of the primary injury, leading to a loss of K+ and an influx of Na+ and Ca+ ions. Neurons use electrical signaling to communicate, and this ion imbalance causes depolarization of the cell, which leads to random propagation of nerve impulses. Uncontrolled firing of neurons results in the undesired release of neurotransmitters and glutamate, which damage receptors on surrounding neurons, increasing the rate of cell death by up-regulating cell apoptosis pathways.

  • Excitotoxins

    Professional Description:

    Excitotoxins are molecules that act as excitatory neurotransmitters, and can lead to neurotoxicity when taken in excess.

  • Exclusive breastfeeding

    Professional Description:

    Exclusive breastfeeding is when no food or liquid other than breastmilk, not even water, is given to the infant from birth by the mother, health care provider, or family member/supporter.

  • Exogenous iron source

    Professional Description:

    An exogenous iron source is iron from dietary or supplementary sources.

  • Exposure technique

    Professional Description:

    Exposure techniques involve exposing the individual to the anxiety source or its context without the intention to cause any danger. Doing so is thought to help overcome anxiety or distress.

    Source: Reilly EE, Anderson LM, Gorrell S, Schaumberg K, Anderson DA. Expanding exposure‐based interventions for eating disorders. Inter J Eating Dis. 2017 Oct;50(10):1137-41.

  • Extensively hydrolyzed infant formula

    Professional Description:

    An extensively hydrolyzed infant formula is a formula in which the constituents, especially the proteins, have been hydrolyzed (“digested”) by enzymatic activity to yield single amino acids and small peptides to achieve a product that has few proteins capable of initiating an immunological response.

  • Factorial Method

    Professional Description:

    Factorial method is a way to measure total energy expenditure. The factorial method allows theoretical estimation of TEE using information for the amount of time spent in and energy spent for doing different activities in a theoretical 24-hour period.

  • False diverticula

    Professional Description:

    Diverticula that protrude only through the mucosal and submucosal layers of the gastrointestinal wall (e.g. colonic diverticula).

    Source: Baum JA, Ching Companioni RA. Definition of Diverticular Disease. Merck Manual Professional Version. 2019 Mar. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/gastrointestinal-disorders/diverticular-disease/definition-of-diverticular-disease

  • Family-style meal

    Professional Description:

    A style of serving a meal which allows eaters to help themselves to portions from a common serving dish.

  • FAO

    Professional Description:

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

  • Fat acceptance/Fat Activism

    Professional Description:

    A political movement that advocates for the rights and dignity of fat people. Activism means working together toward collective good and creating a more just world (Matacin & Simone, 2019).

    Sources:
    Cooper C. Fat Activism: A Radical Social Movement. United Kingdom: Intellect Publishers Ltd; 2016.
    Matacin ML, Simone M. Advocating for Fat Activism in a Therapeutic Context. Women Ther. 2019 Apr 3;42(1–2):200-15.

  • Feingold Diet

    Professional Description:

    A diet based on the theory that many children are sensitive to dietary salicylates and artificially added colours, flavours and preservatives and that eliminating the offending substances from the diet could improve learning and behavioural problems.

  • FEP

    Professional Description:

    free erythrocyte protoporphyrin

  • First pass metabolism

    Professional Description:

    A phenomenon of drug metabolism where the concentration of a drug is greatly reduced before it reaches the systemic circulation.

  • Flagging

    Professional Description:

    the technique used to sell or bring extra attention to your key messages, helping the audience "take home" what you want them to remember from this interview.

  • Flavanols

    Professional Description:

    Procyanidins which can inhibit platelet function and low-density lipoprotein oxidation and increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Flavanols are found in chocolate, tea, red wine, beans, apricot, cherry, grape, peach, blackberry and apple.

  • Flavonoids

    Professional Description:

    Flavonoids, a subclass of polyphenols, are micronutrients derived from plants, primarily fruits and vegetables. Flavonoids can be divided on the basis of their structure into flavones, flavanols, flavonols and anthocyanins.

  • Flow-mediated dilation

    Professional Description:

    The most commonly used test for endothelial function ultrasound is used in to measure the percent change in brachial artery diameter after a substantial increase in blood flow is induced by vessel occlusion with a blood pressure cuff.

  • Focus groups

    Professional Description:

    A method of gathering in depth insights into a topic or issue through a structured, facilitated discussion of no more than eight participants

  • FODMAP

    Professional Description:

    FODMAP is an acronym for Fermentable Oligo-Di-Mono-saccharides And Polyols.

    Consumer Description:

    FODMAP is an acronym for Fermentable Oligo-Di-Mono-saccharides And Polyols.

  • Folic acid

    Professional Description:

    Vitamin of the B complex which is an essential component in many major metabolic reactions in the body. Folate is a form of folic acid.

  • Food and Nutrition Board

    Professional Description:

    The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) is a unit of the Institute of Medicine, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in the United States.

  • Food Disappearance Data

    Professional Description:

    Total amount of food available for domestic consumption. It is based on the residual after exports, industrial uses, seed and feed use; year-end inventories are subtracted from the sum of production, beginning inventories, and imports. Consumption estimates based on food disappearance are higher than actual consumption because spoilage and waste are not accounted for. Most appropriately used to track trends in consumption over time.

  • Food fortification

    Professional Description:

    The addition of one or more essential nutrients to a food, whether or not the nutrient is normally found in the food, for the purpose of preventing or correcting a demonstrated deficiency of the nutrient or nutrients in the population or specific sub-groups of the population.

  • Food jag

    Professional Description:

    A food jag is when a child will only eat one food item meal after meal.

  • Food literacy

    Professional Description:

    Food literacy is a collection of inter-related knowledge, skills and behaviours required to plan, manage, select, prepare and eat foods to meet needs and determine food intake.

    Source: Vidgen H A, Gallegos D. Defining food literacy and its components. Appetite. 2014:76:50-59. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.01.010

  • Food Matrix

    Professional Description:

    The nutrient and non-nutrient components of foods and the molecular relationships (i.e. chemical bonds) to each other.

  • Food sovereignty

    Professional Description:

    Food sovereignty “is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems”.

    Source: European Coordination Via Campesina. Food Sovereignty Now: A guide to food sovereignty. 2018. Available from: https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/02/Food-Sovereignty-A-guide-Low-Res-Vresion.pdf

  • Food/Nutrition-related Comparative Standards

    Professional Description:

    Include estimations of an individual’s energy needs, macronutrient needs, fluid needs, micronutrient needs and recommended body weight/body mass Index/growth, using tools such as international dietary reference values, growth charts and body mass index calculations.

    Source: The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. eNCPT: electronic nutrition care process terminology 2020. Available from: http://www.ncpro.org

  • Food/Nutrition-related History

    Professional Description:

    “food and nutrient intake, food and nutrient administration, medication and complementary/alternative medicine use, knowledge/beliefs/attitudes, behavior, food and supply availability, physical activity and function, nutrition-related patient/client-centered measures”.

    Source: The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. eNCPT: electronic nutrition care process terminology 2020. Available from: http://www.ncpro.org

  • Forced expiratory volume

    Professional Description:

    The volume of air that can be forced out taking a deep breath, an important measure of pulmonary function. The forced expiratory volume in the first second is the FEV1

  • Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second

    Professional Description:

    The maximal volume of air exhaled during the first second of a forced expiration from a position of full inspiration; expressed in litres at body temperature and ambient pressure saturated with water vapour (BTPS).

  • Forced Vital Capacity

    Professional Description:

    The maximal volume of air exhaled with maximally forced effort from a maximal inspiration (i.e. vital vapacity performed with a maximally forced expiratory effort); expressed in litres at body temperature and ambient pressure saturated with water vapour (BTPS).

  • Formative evaluation

    Professional Description:

    Ongoing and continuous feedback to learners to facilitate their learning and progress through a program of learning.

  • Four-compartment model

    Professional Description:

    The four-compartment model of assessing body composition considers body mass, body volume, total body water and bone mineral content.\

    Source: Smith-Ryan AE, Mock MG, Ryan ED, Gerstner GR, Trexler ET, Hirsch KR. Validity and reliability of a 4-compartment body composition model using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry-derived body volume. Clin Nutr. 2017 Jun;36(3):825-830. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2016.05.006. Epub 2016 May 15. PMID: 27237796; PMCID: PMC5110400.

  • frail older adults

    Professional Description:

    According to ESPEN guidelines, frail older adults are limited in their activities of daily living due to physical, mental, psychological and/or social impairments as well as recurrent disease. They suffer from multiple pathology, which seriously impairs their independence and are therefore in particular need of care and are vulnerable to complications.

  • Free Radicals

    Professional Description:

    Free radicals are compounds with an unpaired electron. Those present in the human body include the superoxide radical, the hydroxyl radical, the hydroperoxy radical, lipid radicals and lipid peroxy radicals.

  • Free sugars

    Professional Description:

    Free sugar is defined by the World Health Organization as all monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer, cook, or consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, and fruit juices.

  • Fructose

    Professional Description:

    A six-carbon monosaccharide with a very sweet taste.

    Source: MedlinePlus Medical Dictionary. Fructose. [cited October 25, 2020]. Available from: http://c.merriam-webster.com/medlineplus/fructose

  • Fructosemia

    Professional Description:

    The presence of fructose in the blood.

    Source: The Free Dictionary by Farlex. Fructosemia. [cited January 8, 2021]. Available from: https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/fructosemia#:~:text=%5Bfruk%E2%80%B3to%2Dse%C2%B4,blood%2C%20as%20in%20fructose%20intolerance.

  • Fructosuria

    Professional Description:

    The presence of fructose in the urine.

    Source: Merriam-Webster. Fructosuria. [cited January 8, 2021]. Available from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/fructosuria

  • full blood count

    Professional Description:

    Full blood count (FBC) or complete blood count (CBC) is a test requested by a doctor or other medical professional that gives information about the cells in a patient's blood.

  • Full fluid diets

    Professional Description:

    Consists of clear fluids, fluid milk products and foods that liquefy at body temperature.

  • Functional anemia

    Professional Description:

    Functional anemia is a hemoglobin concentration that is within the normal range but that is lower than physiologically normal for an individual and therefore responds to supplementation with an increase. Functional anemia can be diagnosed only retrospectively after supplementation.

  • Functional Constipation

    Professional Description:

    Functional constipation is chronic constipation with no specific organic cause.

  • Functional fecal retention

    Professional Description:

    accumulation of fecal mass in the rectum, caused by repetitive attempts to avoid defecation because of fears associated with defecation. It is the most common cause of constipation and fecal soiling in children.

  • Functional fibre

    Professional Description:

    isolated, nondigestible carbohydrates that have beneficial physiological effects in humans.

  • Functional Food

    Professional Description:

    Whole, fortified, enriched or enhanced foods that provide health benefits beyond the provision of essential nutrients when they are consumed at efficacious levels as part of a varied diet on a regular basis.

  • Functional foods

    Professional Description:

    Foods and food components that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Examples may include conventional foods; fortified, enriched, or enhanced foods; and dietary supplements. Some functional foods provide essential nutrients beyond quantities necessary for normal maintenance, growth, and development, and/or provide other biologically active components that impart health benefits or desirable physiological effects.

  • Functional iron

    Professional Description:

    essential iron, involved in biochemical functions in the form of hemoglobin, myoglobin, and in enzymes, as well as a small amount transported attached to the protein transferrin.

  • Galactitol

    Professional Description:

    A metabolite of galactose metabolism that results from the reduction of galactose. Accumulation of galactitol in cells creates.

    Source: Demirbas D, Coelho AI, Rubio-Gozalbo ME, Berry GT. Hereditary galactosemia. Metabolism. 2018;83:188-96.. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2018.01.025. Epub 2018/02/08. Abstract available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29409891/

  • Galactokinase

    Professional Description:

    An enzyme in the Leloir pathway which converts galactose to galactose-1-phosphate, deficiency of this enzyme causes a type of galactosemia.

    Source: Demirbas D, Coelho AI, Rubio-Gozalbo ME, Berry GT. Hereditary galactosemia. Metabolism. 2018;83:188-96.. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2018.01.025. Epub 2018/02/08. Abstract available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29409891/

  • Galactonate

    Professional Description:

    A metabolite of galactose metabolism that results when galactose dehydrogenase converts galactose into galactonolactone. It is excreted via urine or broken down further. Galactonate is not elevated in the red blood cells of individuals wirth galactosemia.

    Source: Demirbas D, Coelho AI, Rubio-Gozalbo ME, Berry GT. Hereditary galactosemia. Metabolism. 2018;83:188-96.. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2018.01.025. Epub 2018/02/08. Abstract available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29409891/
    Coelho AI, Rubio-Gozalbo ME, Vicente JB, Rivera I. Sweet and sour: an update on classic galactosemia. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2017;40(3):325-42. doi: 10.1007/s10545-017-0029-3. Epub 2017/03/11. Abstract available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28281081/

  • Galactonolactone

    Professional Description:

    The crystalized form of galactonate.

    Source: Wehrli SL, Berry GT, Palmieri M, Mazur A, Elsas L, 3rd, Segal S. Urinary galactonate in patients with galactosemia: quantitation by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Pediatr Res. 1997;42(6):855-61. doi: 10.1203/00006450-199712000-00022. Epub 1997/12/13 20:04. Abstract available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9396569/

  • Galactose-1-phosphate uridylyl transferase (GALT)

    Professional Description:

    An enzyme in which its reduced activity (deficiency) is indicative of galactosemia, as the body cannot sufficiently metabolize galactose.

    Source:
    Macdonald A, Dixon M, White F. Disorders of galactose metabolism. In: Shaw V, editor. Clinical paediatric dietetics. Fifth edition ed. New Jersey, U.S.A: John Wiley and Sons Ltd; 2020.
    Berry GT. Classic galactosemia and clinical variant galactosemia. Seattle: University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2020; 2000 [updated 2020; cited 2020 November 20th]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/

  • Gallbladder Disease

    Professional Description:

    "A general term for any disorder of the gallbladder (e.g. gallstones, cholecystitis, gallbladder cancer)."

    Source: Cleveland Clinic. Gallbladder Disease. Updated 2022 Mar 5. Available from: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22976-gallbladder-disease

  • Gastroesophageal reflux

    Professional Description:

    The passage of gastric contents into the esophagus. Most episodes are brief and asymptomatic and do not extend above the distal esophagus. GER is considered to be a normal physiologic process that occurs throughout the day in healthy infants, children, and adults.

  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease

    Professional Description:

    Occurs when gastric contents reflux into the esophagus or oropharynx and produce symptoms including anorexia, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), odynophagia (painful swallowing), arching of the back during feedings, irritability, hematemesis, anemia or failure to thrive.

  • Gender dysphoria

    Professional Description:

    Gender dysphoria “refers to psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity”.

    Source: American Psychiatric Association. What is gender dysphoria? American Psychiatric Association. 2022

  • Gene

    Professional Description:

    The functional and physical unit of heredity passed from parent to offspring. Genes are pieces of DNA. Most genes contain the information for making a specific protein.

  • Gene expression

    Professional Description:

    The process of converting the information encoded in the DNA into RNA (mRNA, tRNA, rRNA); most genes are transcribed into mRNA and ultimately into a protein product.

  • Gene therapy

    Professional Description:

    The process of transferring a normal gene into an organism in order to replace or repair a malfunctioning gene; essentially changing the genetic makeup of an organism to improve its function.

  • Generalizability

    Professional Description:

    "The degree to which the results of a study can be generalized to settings or samples other than the ones studied."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Genome scans meta analysis

    Professional Description:

    The GSMA method is a way to analyze separate but similar experiments from different researchers that involves pooling the data and using the pooled data to test the effectiveness of the results.

  • Genotype

    Professional Description:

    All or part of the genetic constitution of an individual or group.

  • German Commission E

    Professional Description:

    The German Federal Health Agency established the German Commission E, a regulatory body that evaluates the safety and efficacy of herbs on the basis of clinical trials, cases, and other scientific literature. The German Commission E has published more than 320 monograms on herbs and the American Botanical Council has translated the monograms into English.

  • Gestational Hypertension

    Professional Description:

    when elevated blood pressure without proteinuria develops after 20 weeks of gestation and blood pressure returns to normal within 12 weeks after delivery. One fourth of women with gestational hypertension develop proteinuria and thus progress to pre-eclampsia.

  • Glossitis

    Professional Description:

    Glossitis is a condition where the tongue is swollen, has a smooth surface (normally it is covered by small bumps called papillae), and feels sore or tender. The colour of the tongue can be paler than usual or bright red. There are many possible causes of glossitis, including allergies, very dry mouth (as in Sjogren syndrome), infection or injuries to the tongue. Glossitis can affect the ability to chew, swallow and talk. It generally resolves once the underlying cause is addressed.

  • Glucocorticoid

    Professional Description:

    Any of a group of corticosteroids that are involved especially in carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism, that tend to increase liver glycogen and blood sugar by increasing gluconeogenesis, that are anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive, and that are used widely in medicine (as in the alleviation of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis).

  • Gluconeogenesis

    Professional Description:

    Formation of glucose within the animal body especially by the liver from substances (such as fats and proteins) other than carbohydrates.

    Source: Merriam-Webster. Gluconeogenesis. [cited October 20, 2020]. Available from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gluconeogenesis

  • GLUT-4

    Professional Description:

    Isoform of glucose transporter that is found in the sarcolemma of muscle fibers.

  • Glycemic Index

    Professional Description:

    The glycemic index (GI) is a scale used to rate the increase in blood glucose two hours after consuming a portion of a food containing 25 or 50 grams of available carbohydrate compared to a specific portion of a standard food (white bread or glucose). A low GI food, using the glucose scale, is defined as having a GI ≤55 and a high GI ≥70.

  • Glycemic Load

    Professional Description:

    The glycemic load (GL) is a measure that combines both the GI (quality) and the quantity of available carbohydrate in a given amount of food (i.e. GL = (GI of food x carbohydrate (g))/100 g or per 1000 kcal).

  • Glycoconjugates

    Professional Description:

    Compounds that contain carbohydrates and lipids (glycolipids) or proteins (glycoproteins).

    Source: Myers R, Fredenburgh J, Grizzle W. Carbohydrates. In: Bancroft J, Gamble M, editors. Bancroft's theory and practice of histological techniques. Edinburgh, UK.: Churchill Livingstone.; 2008. p. 161.

  • Glycogen

    Professional Description:

    A polymer of glucose used as a storage form of carbohydrate in the muscles and liver.

  • Glycogenolysis

    Professional Description:

    The breakdown of glycogen especially to glucose in the animal body.

    Source: Merriam-Webster. Glycogenolysis. [cited October 20, 2020]. Available from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glycogenolysis

  • Goiter

    Professional Description:

    A goiter is an enlargement of the thyroid gland, which often results from insufficient intake of iodine and is usually accompanied by hypothyroidism. It is typically visible as a swelling of the anterior part of the neck. It can be associated with toxic symptoms and exophthalmos.

  • Gold Standard

    Professional Description:

    “A method having established or widely accepted accuracy for determining a diagnosis that provides a standard to which a new screening or diagnostic test can be compared. The method need not be a single or simple procedure but could include follow-up of patients to observe the evolution of their conditions or the consensus of an expert panel of clinicians”

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Golgi Apparatus

    Professional Description:

    An organelle made up of folded membrane and vesicles that releases glycoconjugates.

    Source: NIH National human genome research institute. Golgi body. [cited 2021 January 3rd]. Available from: https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/golgi-body.

  • Granulocyte

    Professional Description:

    A type of white blood cell that is made from small protein-containing granules. The types of these cells are neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils.

    Source: National Library of Medicine (US): PubMed Health. Granulocytopenia. Abstract available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0025030/

  • Granulocytopenia

    Professional Description:

    A condition characterized by a lower-than-normal number of granulocytes.

    Source: Cermak J. Granulocytopenia. Vnitr Lek. 2018. 64(5):520-5. Abstract available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30193521

  • Greene Climacteric Scale

    Professional Description:

    A validated tool used to measure 21 menopausal symptoms on a scale from 0 to 3; no symptoms to extreme symptoms. It provides a numerical score based on somatic, vasomotor and psychological symptoms associated with menopause.

  • Growth Factor

    Professional Description:

    When extrapolating downwards from an EAR for B vitamins for adults to an EAR for children, an increment is added to account for the requirements for growth. The percentage additional B vitamins and choline required for growth in children and adolescents of a given age is similar to the percentage additional protein required for growth at the same age.

  • guaiac test

    Professional Description:

    A test that detects the presence of hidden (occult) blood in the stool. The stool guaiac is the most common form of Fecal Occult Blood test (FOBT) in use today. Brand names include: Hemoccult, Hemoccult SENSA, ColoScreen, ColoScreen-ES, Seracult, and Seracult Plus®. Laboratory procedures may vary. A small sample of the stool is placed on a special paper card, pad or wipe containing guaiac (a leuco-dye) then a chemical developer solution is put on top of the sample. If the card, pad, or cloth turns blue, there is blood in the stool and the stool is consider guaiac-positive.

  • Guided interview

    Professional Description:

    Sometimes referred to as cognitive interview techniques involve asking informants specifically about each aspect of a resource material and asking informants to verbalize what comes to mind as they read/use a resource. Use the findings from these interviews to revise drafts of nutrition education resources.

  • H. pylori infection

    Professional Description:

    Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a spiral-shaped bacterium that is found in the gastric mucous layer or adherent to the epithelial lining of the stomach.

  • H2 receptor antagonists

    Professional Description:

    These medications block the production of acid from the stomach

  • Half and half nails

    Professional Description:

    A division of the nail by a transverse line into a proximal dull white part and a distal pink/brown part.

  • Health Equity

    Professional Description:

    Health equity is having a fair opportunity to attain full health potential without disadvantages or barriers from achieving this potential.

  • Health literacy

    Professional Description:

    The ability to access and understand health information as well as use the information to improve health of self, family and community. The ability to read and write is not required to access and use health information.

  • Healthism

    Professional Description:

    The preoccupation with personal health as a primary, often the primary, focus for the definition and achievement of well-being. A goal which is to be obtained primarily through the modification of personal lifestyles.

    Sources:
    Hunger JM, Smith JP, Tomiyama AJ. An Evidence‐Based Rationale for Adopting Weight‐Inclusive Health Policy. Soc Issues Policy Rev. 2020 Jan;14(1):73-107.
    Overend A, Bessey M, Hite A, Noriega A. Introduction to against healthisms: Challenging the paradigm of “eating right.” J Crit Diet. 2020;5(1):1-3.

  • Helminth parasites

    Professional Description:

    Worms classified as parasites and include roundworms (e.g. Trichinella), pinworms, tapeworms and flukes.

  • Hematological Malignancies

    Professional Description:

    Cancers of or relating to the blood.

  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant

    Professional Description:

    A procedure in which precursor cells capable of developing into normal bone marrow are delivered to an individual; typically performed as part of therapy to eliminate a bone marrow infiltrative process, such as leukemia, or to correct genetic immunodeficiency disorders.

    Source: Powell J, Hingorani P, Grupp S, Kolb E. Hematopoietic stem cell transplant. eMedicine. Abstract available from: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/204821-overview

  • Heme

    Professional Description:

    The deep red iron-containing prosthetic group C34H32N4O4Fe of hemoglobin and myoglobin that is a ferrous derivative of protoporphyrin and readily oxidizes to hematin or hemin.

  • hemochromatosis

    Professional Description:

    An hereditary disease caused by increased absorption and excessive storage of iron in the tissues, especially the liver; the untreated disorder can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease, diabetes mellitus, testicular atrophy, and arthritis

  • Herbal products

    Professional Description:

    The word herb comes from the Latin word for grass. Technically, herbs are plants that wither each autumn, plants other than shrubs or trees. When used as a natural health product, herbs are plants with medicinal value.

  • Heritability

    Professional Description:

    The proportion of observed variation in a particular trait (as intelligence) that can be attributed to inherited genetic factors in contrast to environmental ones.

  • Herpes

    Professional Description:

    Herpes is a popular, ulcerative or vesicular eruption of skin or mucous membranes caused by a local infection with herpes virus 1 or 2 (herpes simplex) or by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus.

  • Herpes labialis

    Professional Description:

    Herpes labialis is herpes simplex that affects the lips and nose.

  • High intensity intermittent exercise

    Professional Description:

    Exercise that consists of alternating bouts of high and low intensity exercise. This type of exercise is seen in interval training and also “stop and go” type sports like soccer, hockey, football, basketball and rugby where fast sprints are interspersed with lower intensity phases.

  • High risk for allergy

    Professional Description:

    An infant with a strong (biparental; parent, and sibling) family history of allergy; an infant with documented hereditary atopy risk (an affected parent or sibling).

  • high-intensity physical activity

    Professional Description:

    High-intensity exercise is defined as working at about 75 to 85% or more of your maximum heart rate.

  • Hirsutism

    Professional Description:

    The presence of excessive body and facial terminal hair, in a male pattern, especially in women.

  • Histamine

    Professional Description:

    Histamine is a chemical present in cells throughout the body and is an essential neurotransmitter in a variety of processes. It is responsible for the release of gastric acid during digestion. Histamine is released during an allergic reaction and is one of the substances responsible for the symptoms of inflammation. It is the major reason for running of the nose, sneezing, and itching in allergic rhinitis. It also contributes to the narrowing of the bronchi (airways) in the lungs in asthma.

  • Homozygous

    Professional Description:

    Having the two genes at corresponding loci on homologous chromosomes identical for one or more loci.

  • Hooking

    Professional Description:

    the technique of hooking sets up a question that you want to be asked, leading the
    interviewer in a direction you want to go.

  • Hormone replacement therapy

    Professional Description:

    combined estrogen and progestin therapy or estrogen-only therapy (for women without an intact uterus).

  • Human Genome

    Professional Description:

    The complete genetic content (the complete set of genes) of a human.

  • Hydrops Fetalis

    Professional Description:

    hydrops fetalis is an abnormal fluid accumulation in the foetus in two or more compartments, such as ascites, pleural effusion, pericardial effusion and skin edema.

    Source: Hamdan AH. Pediatric Hydrops Fetalis. Emedicine. 2017 Jul . Available from: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/974571-overview

  • Hyerglucidic meal

    Professional Description:

    A mixed meal containing high glycemic index foods.

  • Hypercalciuria

    Professional Description:

    Clinically defined as urine calcium greater than 250 mg for 24 hours (6.2 mmol/day). Hypercalciuria is the most common abnormality associated with calcium oxalate stones.

  • Hyperemesis gravidarum

    Professional Description:

    Persistent vomiting that leads to weight loss greater than 5% of pre-pregnancy weight, with associated electrolyte imbalance and ketonuria, occurring in about 1% of pregnancies.

  • Hypersensitivity

    Professional Description:

    Presence of objectively reproducible symptoms or signs, initiated by exposure to a defined stimulus at a dose tolerated by normal subjects. Includes both immunologically and non-immunologically-mediated mechanisms

  • Hypertension

    Professional Description:

    Hypertension is abnormally high pressure in the arteries with a systolic pressure at rest that averages 140 mm Hg or more and/or a diastolic pressure at rest that averages 90 mm Hg or more.

  • Hypocitraturia

    Professional Description:

    A deficiency of the naturally occurring stone inhibitor citrate and clinically defined as urine citrate less than 450 mg for 24 hours (2.34 mmol/day). Following hypercalciuria, it is the second most common abnormality associated with calcium oxalate stone formation.

  • Hypodermoclysis

    Professional Description:

    Hypodermoclysis, also known as clysis, is the infusion of isotonic fluids into the subcutaneous space for rehydration or for the prevention of dehydration.

  • Hypoglycemia

    Professional Description:

    A state in which an individual has a low plasma glucose level (less than <4 mmol/L), experiences typical symptoms (trembling, palpitations, sweating, anxiety and/or neuroglycopenic symptoms- difficulty concentrating, confusion, weakness, dizziness, fatigue), and attains relief with the administration of a carbohydrate.

  • Hypokinesia

    Professional Description:

    Decreased movements

  • hypospadias

    Professional Description:

    A birth defect with the penis opening on the underside of the organ.

  • Hypotension

    Professional Description:

    Hypotension is systolic blood pressure <100 mmHg with associated symptoms (including syncope, dizziness, weakness or fatigue.

    Source: Akosah KO, McHugh VL, Mathiason MA, Kallies KJ, Pinter R, Thayer VB. Closing the heart failure management gap in the community: managing hypotension and impact on outcomes. J Card Fail. 2009 Dec;15(10):906-11. doi: 10.1016/j.cardfail.2009.06.438. Epub 2009 Aug 5.

  • IgE Antibody

    Professional Description:

    A type of immunoglobulin. Levels of IgE antibody are elevated in individuals with atopic conditions such as asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis. IgE antibodies are produced against specific allergens and determined by both genetic factors and exposure to allergens. Allergens will trigger an allergic response, in sensitized individuals, by attaching to IgE antibodies bound to mast cells. This results in mast cell release of inflammatory mediators, which trigger acute tissue inflammation.

  • IgE mediated

    Professional Description:

    Immunological hypersensitivity due to formation of excessive amounts of immunoglobulin E (IgE) in response to otherwise innocuous antigens (allergens) in the environment or in food.
    Immediate-type hypersensitivity, type 1 hypersensitivity and allergic sensitivity can be synonymous

  • Immunoglobulin E

    Professional Description:

    Abbreviated IgE. A class of immunoglobulins that includes the antibodies elicited by an allergic substance (allergen). A person who has an allergy usually has elevated blood levels of IgE. IgE antibodies attack and engage the invading army of allergens

  • Immunoglobulins

    Professional Description:

    Immunoglobulins are proteins found in blood and in tissue fluids. Immunoglobulins make up gamma globulin; all antibodies are immunoglobulins. There are five classes (IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM) of immunoglobulins which differ in the structure of their polypeptide heavy chains. Immunoglobulins are produced by cells of the immune system called B-lymphocytes. Their function is to bind to substances in the body that are recognized as foreign antigens (often proteins on the surface of bacteria and viruses). This binding is a crucial event in the destruction of the microorganisms that bear the antigens. Immunoglobulins also play a central role in allergies when they bind to antigens that are not necessarily a threat to health and provoke an inflammatory reaction.

  • immunomodulation

    Professional Description:

    Adjustment of the immune response to a desired level

  • Immunomodulatory drug or agent;

    Professional Description:

    An agent that specifically or non-specifically augments or diminishes immune responses i.e. an adjuvant, immunostimulant, or immunosuppressant

  • Immunonutrition

    Professional Description:

    Enteral and parenteral nutritional formulas that have been supplemented with components intended to improve immune function such as arginine, glutamine, omega-3 fatty acids and nucleic acids.

  • Imputed

    Professional Description:

    (nutrient data), a process whereby missing nutrient data may be estimated using nutrient data from comparable similar foods (e.g. same biological plant family)

  • In vitro

    Professional Description:

    outside the living body and in an artificial environment

  • in vivo

    Professional Description:

    in the living body of a plant or animal; in a real-life situation

  • Inadequacy of Nutrient Intake

    Professional Description:

    Intake of a nutrient that fails to meet the individual's requirement for that nutrient.

  • Incidence

    Professional Description:

    "The rate at which new diagnoses occur within a given population over a defined time period; a prospective measure of disease occurrence in a defined population."

    Source: Porta M, Greenland S, Hernán M, dos Santos Silva I, Last JM, ed. A dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Section 2: Morbidity frequency measures. In Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice. 3rd Edition. 2012. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson3/section2.html

  • Incidence proportion

    Professional Description:

    The number of new cases of condition/disease over the total number of people in the population at risk of having a condition/disease during a specified period.

  • Incident rate

    Professional Description:

    The number of new cases a condition/disease over the total amount of person-time at risk for having the condition/disease during a specific period.

  • Incorporation Bias

    Professional Description:

    "Occurs when investigators study a diagnostic test that incorporates features of the target outcome. The result is a bias toward making the test appear more powerful in differentiating target positive from target negative than it actually is."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary

  • Indicator of Adequacy

    Professional Description:

    "Indicators of adequacy" are criteria that can be used to determine a requirement for a nutrient. Examples include absence of clinical deficiency signs and symptoms; biochemical parameters reflecting the function or storage of the nutrient; circulating levels of a nutrient; etc. For each nutrient, different intakes are required to meet different indicators of adequacy. For example, more iron is needed to maintain iron stores (for which the indicator of adequacy would be a defined level of serum ferritin) than to prevent anemia (for which the indicator of adequacy would be a defined level of hemoglobin).

  • Indirect calorimetry

    Professional Description:

    Calculation of the energy expenditure in the form of heat production based on respiratory gas exchange.

  • Individual Requirement

    Professional Description:

    The lowest continuing intake level of a nutrient that, for a specified indicator of adequacy, will maintain a defined level of nutriture in an individual.

  • Infant dyschezia

    Professional Description:

    A condition that occurs during the first few months of life when an infant strains and screams during prolonged attempts to defecate, lasting for up to 20 minutes, until soft or liquid stools pass. This can occur several times a day. Symptoms resolve spontaneously in a few weeks.

  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease

    Professional Description:

    IBD is a condition in which the gastrointestinal tract is chronically inflamed, which causes diarrhea, abdominal pain and other symptoms.

    Source: Walfish AE, Companioni RAC. Overview of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Rahway, NJ: Merck & Co, Inc.; 2022 Sep.

  • influenza

    Professional Description:

    Influenza, commonly called the flu, is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses which can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Influenza usually starts with a cough, headache and chills; followed by fever, loss of appetite, muscle aches and fatigue, runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes and throat irritation. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are uncommon symptoms in adults but may occur in children.

  • Informed consent

    Professional Description:

    Informed consent means voluntarily agreeing to participate in something after having gained a thorough understanding of the risks and benefits that participation would involve.

  • Insoluble Fibre

    Professional Description:

    Insoluble fibre is generally resistant to bacterial fermentation in the large bowel and thus increases stool bulk (e.g. wheat bran)

  • Insulin Analogue

    Professional Description:

    Insulin is primarily produced by recombinant DNA technology and is formulated as either chemically identical to human insulin or as a modification of human insulin (insulin analogue). This modification results in improved pharmacokinetics. There are currently insulin analogues for short-acting insulin (called rapid-acting insulins) and analogues for longer-acting insulins (basal insulins).

  • Insulin to Carbohydrate Ratio (ICR)

    Professional Description:

    A ratio that specifies the number of grams of carbohydrate covered by each unit of rapid-acting insulin.

    Source: Warshaw H, Bolderman K. Practical carbohydrate counting: A how-to-Teach Guide for Health Professionals. American Diabetes Association. 2009.

  • insulinemic index

    Professional Description:

    A measure of postprandial insulin rise.

  • Insulin-on-board (IOB)

    Professional Description:

    An estimation of active insulin in the body used in modern insulin therapy with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) to prevent insulin stacking that may lead to hypoglycaemia.

    Source: Warshaw H, Bolderman K. Practical carbohydrate counting: A how-to-Teach Guide for Health Professionals. American Diabetes Association. 2009.

  • Integrated Pest Management

    Professional Description:

    A process that combines biological, cultural, physical and chemical methods to manage pests so that the benefits of pest control are maximized while the risk to human health and the environment are minimized. IPM ensures that pesticides are only used when needed and that they are used responsibly as part of an overall pest management strategy (22).

  • Intense Sweeteners

    Professional Description:

    Intense sweeteners impart greater sweetness and contribute less energy than sugar. The term nutritive intense sweeteners usually refers to the sugar alcohols, which provide some carbohydrate and energy, but less than sugar. Non-nutritive intense sweeteners impart sweetness in extremely small quantities and deliver no energy or an insignificant amount of energy. Some of the intense sweeteners are also referred to as artificial sweeteners, while some are naturally occurring.

  • Intensive insulin therapy

    Professional Description:

    Multiple daily injections (MDI) consisting of intermediate or long-acting insulin, or extended insulin analogue as the "basal" insulin and fast-acting insulin or rapid-acting insulin analogue as the "bolus" insulin for food intake at each meal. This type of regimen also includes continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) or insulin pump therapy.

  • Intention to Treat Analysis

    Professional Description:

    "A fundamental way to analyze a randomized controlled trial in which all subjects allocated to each arm of the trial are analyzed “as intended” upon randomization, whether or not they actually received the exposure allocated or completed treatment. Failure to follow this approach defeats the main purpose and advantage of random allocation and can cause serious confounding bias. This approach is virtually always required as part of the primary analysis of studies aiming to influence clinical or public-health decisions and policy formulation. It may be complemented by an explanatory analysis, in which subjects are analyzed according to the exposure they actually experienced (with adjustment for possible confounders, i.e., with an analytic approach similar to an observational cohort study), or in which some participants (e.g., subjects who complied poorly with the protocol) are excluded from analyses. An intention-to-treat analysis does not determine whether and how to impute missing data on the outcome measure. Because of its pragmatic nature, ITT can underestimate treatment efficacy or have a low explanatory capacity."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Interactive behaviour change technology

    Professional Description:

    computer based tools and systems to enhance behaviour change e.g. web-based behaviour change programs, CD-ROM interventions using touch screen kiosks, interactive voice response technologies (automated telephone disease management systems), personal digital assistants (PDA's) or other handheld devices, electronic medical records or registries that include behaviour change information.

  • Internal consistency

    Professional Description:

    The degree to which every test item measures the same concept in a measurement tool.

  • Internalization

    Professional Description:

    In psychology, internalization refers to the unconscious mental process whereby characteristics, beliefs, feelings, and attitudes of others are integrated into the self.

  • Internalized Weight Stigma

    Professional Description:

    Internalized weight stigma or self-directed weight stigma refers to negative attitudes, beliefs and stereotypes based on one’s personal weight.

  • International Normalized Ratio

    Professional Description:

    International Normalized Ratio is the prothrombin time ratio that would be obtained if a standard reagent was used in a prothrombin time determination. The prothrombin time ratio is derived for a working reagent in the laboratory with the use of a parameter designated the international sensitivity index and is expressed as an individual’s prothrombin time divided by the mean of the prothrombin time reference interval.

  • International Normalized Ratio

    Professional Description:

    INR is an international measure of blood coagulation that standardizes the responsiveness of different anticoagulants. INR is calculated using the individual’s prothrombin time, the mean normal prothrombin time, and the international sensitivity index for thromboplastin reagents (ISI).

  • Interoceptive awareness

    Professional Description:

    One’s conscious ability to sense, interpret and integrate signals originating from within the body. In the context of intuitive eating, there is often a focus on one’s ability to sense, interpret and respond to their hunger and fullness cues.

    Sources:
    Mehling WE, Acree M, Stewart A, Silas J, Jones A. The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version 2 (MAIA-2). PLOS ONE, 2018;13(12):e0208034.
    Tribole E, Resch E. Intuitive eating: a revolutionary anti-diet approach. 4th edition. New York: St. Martin’s Essentials; 2020. ISBN 9781250758286.

  • Intersectionality

    Professional Description:

    Intersectionality is the understanding that inequities in society result from the interconnection of multiple factors, rather than one specific characteristic or factor. Intersections can occur between social factors and identities such as race, gender, age, poverty status, etc. from power structures such as laws, governments, religious institutions, etc.

  • Interstitial cystitis

    Professional Description:

    The accepted criteria for diagnosis of interstitial cystitis or painful bladder syndrome is the presence of pain related to the bladder, usually accompanied by frequency and urgency; and the absence of other diseases that could cause the symptoms.

  • Interval Data/Scales

    Professional Description:

    "An (equal) interval involves assignment of values with a natural distance between them, so that a particular distance (interval) between two values in one region of the scale meaningfully represents the same distance between two values in another region of the scale. Examples include Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature, date of birth."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Interviewer Bias

    Professional Description:

    "Greater probing by an interviewer in one of the groups being compared, contingent on particular features of the participants."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Intravenous therapy

    Professional Description:

    Intravenous administration of Ringers lactate solution or normal saline at a rate of 20 mL/kg over 1 hour. Larger quantities or more rapid administration may be required

  • Intrinsic factor

    Professional Description:

    A substance produced by the normal gastrointestinal mucosa that facilitates absorption of vitamin B12.

  • Iron deficiency

    Professional Description:

    the second stage in the development of iron deficiency anemia in which the supply of iron to the functional compartment (bone marrow) is low (low transferrin saturation, high FEP) due to depleted iron stores (low serum ferritin), but not yet low enough to impair production of hemoglobin.

  • Iron deficiency anemia

    Professional Description:

    hemoglobin is below the normal reference range for age as a result of depleted iron stores. Mean cell volume is also decreased.

  • Iron depletion

    Professional Description:

    the first stage in the development of iron deficiency anemia in which storage levels of iron are low, reflected by serum ferritin levels below the normal reference range for age. Levels of iron in transit, reflected by transferrin saturation or total iron binding capacity, and levels of hemoglobin are not yet affected.

  • Irritable bowel syndrome

    Professional Description:

    Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common, chronic gastrointestinal disorder of gut-brain interaction with no identified structural pathology and a symptom-based diagnosis.

  • Isokinetic exercise

    Professional Description:

    Exercise performed with a specialized apparatus that provides variable resistance to a movement so that movement takes place at a constant speed regardless of how much effort is exerted.

  • Isometric contraction

    Professional Description:

    A contraction in which the muscle does not shorten, due to the load being too heavy, but internal tension increases.

  • Isotonic

    Professional Description:

    Having the same or equal osmotic pressure.

  • Isotonic contraction

    Professional Description:

    A contraction in which the muscle shortens and muscle tension remains constant.

  • Joint counts

    Professional Description:

    Outcome measure used in arthritis research and in clinical practice.  Physicians or patients report the absolute number of painful, tender or swollen joints they have.

  • Journalist Beat

    Professional Description:

    A journalist's specialty area of coverage.

  • Journalist Style

    Professional Description:

    The style of the journalist is the way he or she typically writes.

  • Kaempferol

    Professional Description:

    A natural flavonoid which has been isolated from tea, broccoli, grapefruit and other plant sources.

    Consumer Description:

  • Key message

    Professional Description:

    short, primary information points that tell a story.

  • Koilonychia

    Professional Description:

    A malformation of the nails in which the outer surface is concave; also commonly referred to as spoon nails.

  • Kupperman Index

    Professional Description:

    A tool used to measure 11 menopausal symptoms on a scale from 0 to 3; no symptoms to most severe.

  • Lactase nonpersistence

    Professional Description:

    Determined by biopsy or genetic testing, is a genetically programmed decrease of the enzyme lactase, leading to lactose malabsorption, and for some, to lactose intolerance.

  • lacto vegetarian

    Professional Description:

    An eating pattern based on grains, vegetables, legumes, seeds, nuts, and dairy but excludes meat, fish or fowl and eggs or products containing these foods.

  • Lactobacillus

    Professional Description:

    A genus of bacteria of the family Lactobacillaceae, occurring as large, gram-positive, asporogenous, rod-shaped organisms. They are anaerobic or microaerophilic and occur widely in nature and in the human mouth, vagina, and intestinal tract. They are separable into two groups, the homofermentative group producing only lactic acid, and the heterofermentative group producing other end-products of fermentation.

  • lacto-ovo vegetarian

    Professional Description:

    An eating pattern based on grains, vegetables, legumes, seeds, nuts, dairy products and eggs but excludes meat, fish or fowl or products containing these foods.

  • Lactose intolerance

    Professional Description:

    A clinical syndrome of one or more of the following symptoms: abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, flatulence, and bloating after the ingestion of lactose or lactose-containing foods.

  • Lactose Malabsorption

    Professional Description:

    Lactose malabsorption is a physiological problem that presents as lactose intolerance. It is caused by the imbalance between the amount of ingested lactose and the capacity for lactase to hydrolyze the disaccharide due to a deficiency in levels of the lactase enzyme. It is measured by a breath hydrogen test after the ingestion of a lactose load.

  • Lactose Nonpersistance

    Professional Description:

    Lactose nonpersistance is a genetically programmed decrease of lactase resulting in lactose malabsorption, and in some cases results in lactose intolerance.

  • Lactulose/Mannitol Test

    Professional Description:

    Clinical test to measure intestinal permeability. After an overnight fast and having passed the first morning urine, subjects drink a test solution containing lactulose and mannitol, and urine is collected for the next five hours. Mannitol is absorbed through small pores in the enterocyte membrane, and decreased excretion indicates reduced mucosal surface area. In contrast, lactulose in unable to pass through the healthy mucosa, so increased excretion of lactulose indicates increased intestinal permeability or "leaky" mucosa.

  • Lead time

    Professional Description:

    Before a health condition has fully developed, there is usually a period of time when risk factors and early symptoms are present but the condition has not yet progressed to the point of symptomatic disease diagnosis.

  • Learning

    Professional Description:

    The act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill.

  • Learning objectives

    Professional Description:

    Brief, clear, specific statements of what learners will be able to perform at the conclusion of instructional activities.

  • Learning outcomes

    Professional Description:

    Statements of what a student is expected to be able to do as a result of a learning activity.

  • Leloir Pathway

    Professional Description:

    The main route or pathway that is responsible for galactose metabolism.

    Source: Rosenberg R, Pascual J. Rosenberg's molecular and genetic basis of neurological and psychiatric disease. 2015.

  • Leptin

    Professional Description:

    A peptide hormone that is produced by fat cells and plays a role in body weight regulation by acting on the hypothalamus to suppress appetite and burn fat stored in adipose tissue.

  • Letter to the Editor

    Professional Description:

    Letter written and submitted by a non-publications staff member, usually complementing or criticizing the coverage of an issue by the publication.

  • Leukonychia

    Professional Description:

    The occurrence of white spots, streaks, or patches under the nails due to the presence of air bubbles between the nail and its bed.

  • Likert Scale

    Professional Description:

    A type of response format used in surveys developed by Rensis Likert. Likert items have responses on a continuum and response categories such as "strongly agree," "agree," "disagree," and "strongly disagree."

  • Lipase

    Professional Description:

    An enzyme that is used by the body to break down dietary fats into a readily absorbable form. When insufficient levels of lipase are produced, dietary fats cannot be absorbed as easily, often resulting in the production of greasy, light-coloured stools (or steatorrhea). Most of the body’s lipase is produced by the pancreas.

  • LOAEL

    Professional Description:

    A LOAEL is the Lowest Observed Adverse Effects Level, which would be the lowest continuing intake at which the adverse effect was observed in one or more individuals.

  • Logarithm

    Professional Description:

    The power to which a number must be raised to obtain a secondary number. For example, 10 to the power of 6 would be 1,000,000 (one million).

  • Logistic regression

    Professional Description:

    A statistical method which determines the likelihood that an observation will fall into one of two categories of a dichotomous dependent variable based one or more continuous or categorical variables.

  • Longitudinal Studies

    Professional Description:

    "The investigator identifies exposed and non-exposed groups of people, each a cohort, and then follows them forward in time, monitoring the occurrence of the predicted outcome."

    Source: Guyatt G, Rennie D. Users’ guides to the medical literature. Essentials of evidence-based clinical practice. AMA Press; 2002.

  • Loop diuretics

    Professional Description:

    act on the ascending loop of Henle in the kidney to inhibit reabsorption of sodium; thereby promoting sodium and subsequent water excretion in the urine. Furosemide is the most common loop diuretic prescribed to patients with heart failure and edematous disorders such as liver failure and nephrotic syndrome. Loop diuretics are the most powerful diuretics for promoting urinary sodium and water excretion.

  • Low Birth Weight

    Professional Description:

    An infant weighing less than 2500 g or 5.5 lbs.

  • low intensity exercise

    Professional Description:

    Low-intensity exercise is defined as working at a heart rate of about 60% to 65% of your maximum heart rate (which is equal to 220 - your age = maximum heart rate, thus if you are 20 years old, 220 - 20 = 200 max HR). High-intensity exercise is defined as working at about 75 to 85% or more of your maximum heart rate.

  • Major histocompatibility complex

    Professional Description:

    Genes located on chromosome 6 and encoded for the human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), present on all body cells, that distinguish self from non-self. Their products are primarily responsible for the rapid rejection of grafts between individuals. The function of the products of the MHC is signaling between lymphocytes and cells expressing antigens.

  • Malnutrition

    Professional Description:

    Malnutrition includes deficiency, excess or imbalance of energy, protein and/or other nutrients. In clinical practice, undernutrition is the typical focus resulting from reduced food intake/assimilation or disease burden/inflammation leading to altered body composition and diminished function.

  • Maltodextrin

    Professional Description:

    A glucose polymer that contains six to 12 glucose molecules and exerts lesser osmotic effects compared with glucose. It is used in a variety of sports drinks as the main source of carbohydrate.

  • Marginalization

    Professional Description:

    Marginalization is the social exclusion or stigmatizing groups or individuals.

  • Mass Media

    Professional Description:

    Includes the traditional forms of media such as television, radio, newspapers and magazines as well as, but not limited to, the contemporary music videos, music lyrics, video games, movies, web pages and text messaging.

  • Mast cell

    Professional Description:

    Mast cells play an important role in the body's allergic response. Mast cells are present in most body tissues, but are particularly numerous in connective tissue, such as the dermis (innermost layer) of skin. In an allergic response, an allergen stimulates the release of antibodies, which attach themselves to mast cells. Following subsequent allergen exposure, the mast cells release substances such as histamine (a chemical responsible for allergic symptoms) into the tissue.

  • Mattis Dementia Rating Scale

    Professional Description:

    designed to measure and track mental status in adults (56-105) with cognitive impairment. The DRS-2 is very useful in the assessment and progression of dementia of Alzheimer's type, vascular dementia, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and age-related dementia in mental retardation and Down's syndrome. The (DRS-2) is individually administered and is comprised of a 36- task and 32-stimulus card. The DRS-2 assesses cognitive functioning on five subscales: Attention (ATT, 8 items); Initiation-Perseveration (I-P, 11 items); Construction (CONST, 6 items); Conceptualization (CONCEPT, 6 items); and Memory (MEM, 5 items). The reliability and validity properties of the DRS-2 are excellent. The DRS-2 uses the previously established reliability and validity scores. A test-retest reliability correlation coefficient was .97 with subscale correlation coefficients ranging from .61 to .94. The DRS was administered twice with a 1-week interval between administrations to a group of 30 patients

  • MCV

    Professional Description:

    mean cell volume

  • Mean intake

    Professional Description:

    Average intake of a particular nutrient or food for a group or population of individuals. Also average intake of a nutrient or food over two or more days for an individual.

  • Mean Requirement

    Professional Description:

    Average requirement of a particular nutrient for a group or population of individuals.

  • meat analogues

    Professional Description:

    A classification of foods made from vegetable proteins, nuts, or processed poultry or fish designed to imitate or be used in place of beef, pork, poultry, and dairy products.

  • Media Advisory

    Professional Description:

    A brief summary of a recent news event, followed by the background credentials of an expert willing to comment on it. Also known as an Interview Alert; often precedes a News Conference.

  • Media contact list

    Professional Description:

    A list of reporters and/or editors strategically chosen to reach a specific audience to the person or story being pitched.

  • Media Literacy

    Professional Description:

    Media literacy is the ability to apply critical thinking skills to analyze media messages in order to understand and assess their meaning.

    Source: Truman E, Bischoff M, Elliott C. Which literacy for health promotion: health, food, nutrition or media? Health Promot Int. 2020 Apr 1;35(2):432-444. Doi: 10.1093/heapro/daz007. PMID: 30793740.

  • Median

    Professional Description:

    The median, is defined as "the middle value of the relevant set of data". The median is the value that divides the set of data in half, 50 percent of the measurement being above it and 50 percent being below it.

  • mediated approach

    Professional Description:

    intervention strategies implemented indirectly using media such as print mailings and telecommunication

  • Medicalization

    Professional Description:

    Medicalization is the phenomenon whereby common human variations come to be defined as a medical problem, needing medical treatment.

  • Medication Resistant Epilepsy

    Professional Description:

    A “failure of adequate trials of two tolerated, appropriately chosen and used antiepileptic drug schedules (whether as monotherapies or in combination) to achieve sustained seizure freedom”.

    Source: Kwan P, Arzimanoglou A, Berg AT, Brodie MJ, Hauser WA, Mathern G, et al. Definition of drug resistant epilepsy: consensus proposal by the ad hoc task force of the ILAE commission on therapeutic strategies. Epilepsia 2010 Jun:51(6):1069-77.

  • Mediterranean Diet

    Professional Description:

    The Mediterranean diet is characterized by a high intake of vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, non-refined cereals and olive oil, a moderate intake of alcohol, a low to moderate intake of dairy products, fish, poultry and a low intake of red meat and refined sugar.

    Source: Papadaki A, Nolen-Doerr E, Mantzoros CS. The Effect of the Mediterranean Diet on Metabolic Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Trials in Adults. Nutrients. 2020 Oct 30;12(11):3342. doi: 10.3390/nu12113342. PMID: 33143083; PMCID: PMC7692768.

  • megaloblastic anemia

    Professional Description:

    Low red blood cell count, characterized by the presence in the blood of large, immature, nucleated cells (megaloblasts) that are forerunners of red blood cells. Red blood cells, when mature, have no nucleus.

  • Mentor

    Professional Description:

    A trusted counsellor, guide or advisor. Mentors are not typically involved in evaluation of learners unless in a formal facilitated mentoring program.

  • Mentoring

    Professional Description:

    The process of a mentor/mentee partnership with the more experienced person serving as a guide or advisor to the less experienced person.

  • Menu labelling

    Professional Description:

    The provision of information on calories, fat, sodium and other selected nutrients in menu items at point of purchase.

  • Meta-Analysis

    Professional Description:

    "A statistical technique for quantitatively combining the results of multiple studies that measure the same outcome into a single pooled or summary estimate".

    Source: JAMAevidence. JAMAevidence glossary. American Medical Association; 2021.

  • Metabolic Body Weight

    Professional Description:

    Metabolic body weight is weight (kg)0.75. Many physiological variables (such as metabolic rate) do not appear to vary in direct proportion to body weight. Instead, they vary in proportion to what is known as metabolic body weight.

  • Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis

    Professional Description:

    The term metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is a replacement term for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

    Source: Rinella ME, Lazarus JV, Ratziu V, Francque SM, Sanyal AJ, Kanwal F, Romero D, Abdelmalek MF, Anstee QM, Arab JP, Arrese M, Bataller R, Beuers U, Boursier J, Bugianesi E, Byrne C, Castro Narro GE, Chowdhury A, Cortez-Pinto H, Cryer D, Cusi K, El-Kassas M, Klein S, Eskridge W, Fan J, Gawrieh S, Guy CD, Harrison SA, Kim SU, Koot B, Korenjak M, Kowdley K, Lacaille F, Loomba R, Mitchell-Thain R, Morgan TR, Powell E, Roden M, Romero-Gómez M, Silva M, Singh SP, Sookoian SC, Spearman CW, Tiniakos D, Valenti L, Vos MB, Wai-Sun Wong V, Xanthakos S, Yilmaz Y, Younossi Z, Hobbs A, Villota-Rivas M, Newsome PN; NAFLD Nomenclature consensus group. A multi-society Delphi consensus statement on new fatty liver disease nomenclature. J Hepatol. 2023 Jun 20:S0168-8278(23)00418-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2023.06.003. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37364790. Abstract available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37364790/

  • Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease

    Professional Description:

    Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the presence of hepatic steatosis in conjunction with at least one cardiometabolic risk factor (e.g. elevated waist circumference, blood glucose, blood pressure or dyslipidemia). The term MetALD is used to describe individuals with MASLD who consume greater amounts of alcohol (>140 g/week for women and >210 g/week for men). MASLD was previously referred to as nonalcoholic fatty liver or nonalcohol-related fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD).

  • metabolic syndrome

    Professional Description:

    Metabolic syndrome is a collection of risk factors (at least three of the following: large waist circumference, high blood pressure, high fasting blood glucose, high serum triglycerides, low serum HDL cholesterol) that is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease beyond what is expected from individual risk factors.

    Source: Cardiometabolic Risk Working Group: Executive Committee, Leiter LA, Fitchett DH, Gilbert RE, Gupta M, Mancini GB, McFarlane PA, et al. Cardiometabolic risk in Canada: a detailed analysis and position paper by the cardiometabolic risk working group. Can J Cardiol. 2011 Mar-Apr;27(2):e1-e33. doi: 10.1016/j.cjca.2010.12.054. PMID: 21459257.

  • Metastasis

    Professional Description:

    Metastasis is the spread or a change of position or form of a disease-producing cells from the initial or primary site of disease to another part of the body.

  • Methacholine challenge

    Professional Description:

    Methacholine is a pharmacologic agent used to assess airway hyperresponsiveness. Methacholine challenge is the most common method for quantifying airway responsiveness. Responsiveness is determined from the changes in lung function resulting from inhaling increasing concentrations of methacholine. Heightened airway responsiveness to a number of stimuli is characteristic of asthma.

  • Métis

    Professional Description:

    "The term "Métis" is used broadly to describe people with mixed First Nation and European ancestry who identify themselves as Métis, distinct from Indian, Inuit or non-Indigenous people."

    Source: Government of Canada. Métis Genealogy. 2020 Sept 9. Available from: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/metis/Pages/metis-genealogy.aspx

  • Microcytic

    Professional Description:

    Pertaining to abnormally small red blood cell present especially as in microcytic anemias

  • Migraine

    Professional Description:

    A symptom complex occurring periodically that s characterized by pain in the head, nausea and vomiting, vertigo, photophobia, and scintillating appearances of light. Migraine subtypes include classic migraine, common migraine, cluster headache, hemiplegic migraine, ophthalmoplegic migraine, and ophthalmic migraine.

  • Migraineur

    Professional Description:

    An individual who experiences migraines.

  • Migraineurs

    Professional Description:

    An individual who experiences migraines.

  • Mild or Moderate Hypoglycemia

    Professional Description:

    Associated with the presence of autonomic symptoms and the ability to self-treat.

  • Mild-intensity exercise

    Professional Description:

    Generally do not cause heavy breathing, only mildly elevate the heart rate, and do not affect blood glucose levels unless performed for more than 10 minutes.

  • Mildly/Moderately dehydrated

    Professional Description:

    Mild dehydration is when some deficits or abnormalities in laboratory values exist but they do not seriously impair an individual''s circulation, organ function or level of functioning. Moderate dehydration is when some deficits or laboratory abnormalities exist that impair or are likely to impair circulation or organ function but are not immediately life threatening.

  • Moderate alcohol intake

    Professional Description:

    no more than 1 drink a day and no more than 7 drinks a week where one standard drink is considered 1 bottle (350 mL/12 oz.) of 5% beer, 150 mL/5 oz. of 10-14% wine or 50 mL/1 1/2 oz. 40 % alcohol spirits

  • Moderate Hypoglycemia

    Professional Description:

    Associated with the presence of autonomic and neuroglycopenic symptoms and the ability to self-treat.

  • Moderate intensity aerobic exercise

    Professional Description:

    Includes jogging, walking, cycling or swimming

  • Moderate intensity counselling

    Professional Description:

    Face to face sessions which consist of 2-3 group or individual sessions ≥ 30 minutes delivered by a dietitian or other health professional

  • Moderate to high intensity counselling

    Professional Description:

    High is more than 6 contacts lasting more than 30 minutes, low is 1 contact lasting less than 30 minutes, medium is between low and high

  • Moderate-intensity exercise

    Professional Description:

    Described as 40-60% VO2max (50-70% of maximum heart rate, glucose uptake increased by 2-3mg per kg per minute above usual requirements). Examples include brisk walking, biking, continuous swimming, dancing, water aerobics, raking leaves.

  • modifiable risk factors

    Professional Description:

    factors which increase risk of a certain disease or disorder that can be adjusted by the individual. They include smoking, inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption, stress, excessive weight

  • MONICA Project

    Professional Description:

    Monitoring Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease Project

  • Monoclonal

    Professional Description:

    Referring to a single clone. Example: Monoclonal antibodies are produced by a single clone of cell and therefore are a single type of antibody.

  • Monogenic

    Professional Description:

    A descriptive term of or relating to an inheritable characteristic that is influenced by a single gene.

  • morbidly obese

    Professional Description:

    BMI of 40 or greater, or BMI of 35 or greater in the presence of significant co-morbidities

  • Moro reaction

    Professional Description:

    a scoring system for neonatal narcotic withdrawal.

  • Mucins

    Professional Description:

    Any of a group of glycoproteins found especially in the secretions of mucous membranes.

  • Multicultural nutrition counselling

    Professional Description:

    Nutrition counselling which involves a nutrition professional and a client who are from different cultures.

  • Multiple Daily Injections

    Professional Description:

    a form of intensive therapy using an intermediate- or long-acting insulin, or extended long-acting insulin analogue once or twice daily as the basal insulin, and a fast-acting or rapid-acting insulin analogue as the bolus insulin for food intake at each meal. This type of insulin regime permits adjustment of insulin doses for variable carbohydrate intake.

  • Multivitamin/mineral supplement

    Professional Description:

    Any supplement containing three or more vitamins or minerals, but no herbs, hormones or drugs, with each component at a level less than the tolerable upper intake level (UL).

  • murine

    Professional Description:

    Relating to the subfamily Murinae, which includes mice and rats.

  • Mycoprotein

    Professional Description:

    Mycoprotein is the main constituent of Quorn™ a high protein, high fibre food made from fungi.

  • myelodysplastic syndrome

    Professional Description:

    Any of a group of bone marrow disorders that are marked especially by an abnormal reduction in one or more types of circulating blood cells due to defective growth and maturation of blood-forming cells in the bone marrow and that sometimes progress to acute myelogenous leukemia -- called also myelodysplasia

  • myoglobin

    Professional Description:

    A red iron-containing protein pigment in muscles that is similar to hemoglobin but differs in the globin portion of its molecule

  • Myosin

    Professional Description:

    A major contractile protein in muscle found in thick filaments.

  • N of 1 Randomized Controlled Trials

    Professional Description:

    "A single participant undertakes pairs of treatment periods in which they receive target treatment during one period of each pair and a placebo or alternative treatment during the other period. Patients and clinicians are blind to allocation, the order of the target and control is randomized."

    Source: Guyatt G, Rennie D. Users’ guides to the medical literature. Essentials of evidence-based clinical practice. AMA Press; 2002.

  • nadir

    Professional Description:

    The lowest blood glucose concentration on the curve.

  • National Academy of Sciences

    Professional Description:

    The NAS is an American private non-profit society of scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the advancement of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare of the public. The Academy's mandate requires it to advise the U.S. federal government on scientific and technical matters.

  • National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

    Professional Description:

    National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a survey conducted periodically by the National Center for Health Statistics, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

  • Natural Health Product

    Professional Description:

    In Canada the term "Natural Health Product" is used to refer to certain vitamins, minerals, herbal products, as well as several other items. In the United States the term "Dietary Supplement" is used rather than NHP. It is described by the U.S. Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994 as: products made of one or more of the essential nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and protein, herbs or other botanicals and any dietary substance that can be used to supplement the diet.

  • Natural Product Number

    Professional Description:

    Natural Product Number is an eight (8) digit numerical code assigned to each natural health product approved to be marketed under the Natural Health Products Regulations.

  • negative correlation

    Professional Description:

    A relationship between two factors (called variables) where a positive change of one creates a negative change of the second.

  • Network analysis

    Professional Description:

    The use of "both direct comparisons of interventions within randomized controlled trials and indirect comparisons across trials based on a common comparator”.

    Source: https://training.cochrane.org/online-learning/cochrane-methodology/network-meta-analysis-nma [cited 2020 Apr 14]

  • Network Meta-analysis

    Professional Description:

    “a systematic review that allows the comparison of multiple interventions, including head-to-head evaluations at the same time as indirect comparisons, in a connected network of comparisons”.

    Source: JAMAevidence. JAMAevidence glossary. American Medical Association; 2021.

  • Neural Tube Defects

    Professional Description:

    The neural tube is the tube that forms from fusion of the neural folds from which the brain and spinal cord arise. Defects can occur during development of the brain and spinal cord eg. spina bifida

  • Neuroglycopenic Symptoms

    Professional Description:

    Symptoms manifested as a result of decreased glucose to the brain: difficulty concentrating, confusion, weakness, drowsiness, vision changes, difficulty speaking, headache, dizziness and tiredness.

  • Neuropsychology

    Professional Description:

    A branch of clinical psychology that studies how the brain and nervous system work together to affect daily human functioning.

  • Neutropenia

    Professional Description:

    A decrease in circulating neutrophils in the blood. Neutropenia is classified as mild (1000-1500/µL blood), moderate (500-1000/µL blood) or severe (<500/µL blood).

    Source: Taplitz RA, Kennedy EB, Bow EJ, Crews J, Gleason C, Hawley DK, et al. Antimicrobial Prophylaxis for Adult Patients With Cancer-Related Immunosuppression: ASCO and IDSA Clinical Practice Guideline Update. J Clin Oncol. 2018;36(30):3043-54. Epub 2018/09/05. doi: 10.1200/jco.18.00374. Abstract available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30179565

  • Neutrophil

    Professional Description:

    Neutrophil is a white blood cell that acts primarily to fight infections.

  • News Conference

    Professional Description:

    Prearranged gather of media representatives to announce and explain a significant and newsworthy subject or event.

  • News Release

    Professional Description:

    The most common written form used in public relations, announcing a client's news and information.

  • Newsworthy

    Professional Description:

    information that is new, unusual, unexpected, controversial or of wide significance or interest to the audience of a publication or program.

  • NHIS

    Professional Description:

    National Health Interview Survey, a survey conducted periodically by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.

  • Niacin Equivalent (NE)

    Professional Description:

    1 mg of "niacin equivalent (NE)" = 60 mg of tryptophan and 1 mg of preformed niacin.

  • No breastmilk

    Professional Description:

    the infant/child receives no breastmilk

  • NOAEL

    Professional Description:

    A NOAEL is the No Observed Adverse Effects Level, which would be the highest observed level of chronic intake that was NOT associated with development of the adverse effect in any of the individuals studied.

  • Nocturnal Hypoglycemia

    Professional Description:

    Hypoglycemic episodes that first occur during the night, usually defined as the period between midnight and 8 AM.

  • Nominal Data/Scales

    Professional Description:

    "This allows subjects to be classified with respect to some characteristic—pairs of categorical variables can be cross-classified to form a contingency table.
    Properties of a nominal scale:
    1. Data categories are mutually exclusive (an individual can belong to only one category).
    2. Data categories have no logical order – numbers may be assigned to categories but merely as convenient labels.
    A nominal scale classifies without the categories being ordered."

    Source: Everitt BS. Statistical methods for medical investigations. 2nd ed. New York: Halsted Press; 1994.

  • non modifiable risk factors

    Professional Description:

    factors which increase risk of a certain disease or disorder that are beyond the control of the individual. They include age, gender, ethnicity, family history

  • Non-diet

    Professional Description:

    Non-diet describes someone or something that does not use or promote intentional weight loss or dieting.

    Source: Marchessault G, Thiele K, Armit E, Chapman GE, Levy-Milne R, Barr SI. Canadian dietitians' understanding of non-dieting approaches in weight management. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2007 Summer;68(2):67-72. doi: 10.3148/68.2.2007.67. PMID: 17553191.

  • Non-functional iron

    Professional Description:

    storage iron, found mainly in the liver, spleen, muscle or bone marrow. Ferritin is the major form of storage iron (95%), with the balance being hemosiderin.

  • Nonradical Reactive Species

    Professional Description:

    A term used to describe substances that do not contain an unpaired electron, but are nevertheless highly reactive. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 or HOOH) and lipid peroxides (LOOH) are examples of nonradical reactive oxygen species. These compounds, however, can react to form free radicals. For example, hydrogen peroxide can react with the superoxide radical to form water, oxygen and the hydroxyl radical.

  • Normal Distribution

    Professional Description:

    When values are normally distributed the shape of the distribution will be symmetrical and will have a specific "bell" shape, with 95% of all values falling within 2 standard deviations of the mean.

  • Normocytic

    Professional Description:

    Characterized by red blood cells that are normal in size and usually also in hemoglobin content

  • NPO

    Professional Description:

    Nothing by mouth

  • NRC

    Professional Description:

    National Research Council, the organization arm of the National Academies

  • Number Needed to Treat

    Professional Description:

    "The number of patients who need to be treated over a specific period of time to achieve one additional good outcome. When discussing NNT, it is important to specify the intervention, its duration, and the good outcome. It is the inverse of the absolute risk reduction (1/ARR)."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Nutraceuticals

    Professional Description:

    Purified or isolated natural health products in medicinal form. For example, genistein isolated from fermented soy meal and sold in tablet form as a soy dietary supplement.

  • Nutramigen

    Professional Description:

    A hypoallergenic formula that contains extensively hydrolyzed or broken down casein. Originally intended for the treatment of food allergy in infants, it is also used for the prevention of allergy in high risk infants.

  • Nutrient Panels

    Professional Description:

    The nutrient panels are composed of scientists who are experts on one or more of the nutrients addressed by a panel.

  • Nutrient Requirement

    Professional Description:

    The lowest continuing intake level of a nutrient that will maintain a defined level of nutriture in a healthy individual; also called individual requirement.

  • Nutrition Counselling

    Professional Description:

    Nutrition counselling is a targeted dietary intervention wherein counselling has clear goals that are understood to have prescribed nutritive content and a timetable. This involves in-depth assessment, health education, and behavioural counselling to develop skills and motivation to undertake the specific diet and exercise changes with follow-up evaluation. Usually it occurs over several encounters. Counselling is usually directed to individuals, and may be directed at addressing any of health promotion, disease prevention and/or disease treatment strategies.

  • Nutrition Screening

    Professional Description:

    The process of identifying characteristics known to be associated with dietary or nutritional problems. Its purpose is to differentiate individuals who are at high risk of nutritional problems or have poor nutritional status.

  • Nutrition Service Record

    Professional Description:

    An information management document containing demographics, record of nutritional risk information, referral and follow-up services offered. Useful in evaluation process during and at completion of initiative.

  • Nutritional Status

    Professional Description:

    Condition of an individual or group resulting from nutrient intake and utilization of a nutrient at the tissue level.

  • nutritionally-at-risk

    Professional Description:

    According to ASPEN guidelines, adults are considered at nutritional risk if they have any of the following:
    -actual or potential for developing malnutrition (involuntary loss or gain of ≥10% of usual body weight within six months or ≥ 5% of usual body weight in one month, a weight of 20% over or under ideal weight)
    -altered diets or diet schedules (receiving parenteral nutrition or enteral nutrition, recent surgery, illness or trauma)
    -inadequate nutrition intake, including not receiving food or nutrition products (impaired ability to ingest or absorb food adequately) for more than seven days

  • Nutrition-focused Physical Findings

    Professional Description:

    Are “findings from a nutrition-focused physical exam, interview, or the medical record including muscle and subcutaneous fat, oral health, suck/swallow/breathe ability, appetite, and affect”.

    Source: The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. eNCPT: electronic nutrition care process terminology 2020. Available from: http://www.ncpro.org

  • Obesity

    Professional Description:

    "Obesity is a complex chronic disease in which abnormal or excess body fat (adiposity) impairs health, increases the risk of long-term medical complications and reduces lifespan. Epidemiologic studies define obesity using the body mass index (BMI; weight/height2), which can stratify obesity-related health risks at the population level. Obesity is operationally defined as a BMI exceeding 30 kg/m2 and is subclassified into class 1 (30–34.9), class 2 (35–39.9) and class 3 (≥ 40)."

    Source: Wharton S, Lau DCW, Vallis M, Sharma AM, Biertho L, Campbell-Scherer D, et al. Obesity in adults: a clinical practice guideline. CMAJ. 2020 Aug 4;192(31):E875-E891. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.191707. PMID: 32753461.

  • Observational Studies

    Professional Description:

    In order to study the relationships among variables, observational studies are performed. Unlike controlled experimental designs where only certain variables are allowed to vary (at prespecified levels), in observational studies the variables are observed and recorded. Often some of the variables are controlled as much as possible. Consider a long term study on a drug involving humans where a variable that needs to be controlled is diet. The diet guidelines are set but these will probably be broken from time to time (or maybe often) by some of the human subjects. Contrast this with a lab setting, where the diet of animals can be controlled.

    In observational studies, cause and effect are hard (often impossible) to establish. But associations and predictabilities among variables can be investigated. Such associations and predictabilities may be further studied in a lab setting.

  • Obstructive sleep apnea

    Professional Description:

    A sleep disorder characterized by the repetitive collapse of the pharyngeal airway during sleep yielding hypoxia and hypercapnia, with arousal being required to re-establish airway patency.

  • occult blood

    Professional Description:

    Not manifest or detectable by clinical methods alone

  • Ochratoxin

    Professional Description:

    Ochratoxin A, B, and C are mycotoxins produced by some Aspergillis species and Penicillium species. Ochratoxin A, a human carcinogen, is known to occur in food and beverages such as cereals, coffee, dried fruit and red wine.

    Consumer Description:

  • Odds Ratio

    Professional Description:

    "The ratio of two odds. The term odds is defined differently according to the situation under discussion”…usually either “the ratio of the odds in favor of exposure among the cases to the odds in favor of exposure among noncases” or “the ratio of the odds in favor of disease among the exposed to the odds in favor of disease among the unexposed."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Odynophagia

    Professional Description:

    Painful swallowing

  • Oligoantigenic diet

    Professional Description:

    A type of elimination diet used to test for multiple food intolerances by selectively limiting food choices.

  • Oligosaccharide

    Professional Description:

    A carbohydrate which on hydrolysis yields a small number (from two to four or as many as 10, according to various authorities) of monosaccharides. Two examples are fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) and galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS).

  • Oligospermia

    Professional Description:

    A subnormal concentration of spermatozoa in the penile ejaculate.

  • One repetition maximum

    Professional Description:

    The maximum amount of weight that can be lifted one time with correct form during a standard weight lifting exercise.

  • Onycholysis

    Professional Description:

    The loosening of the nail from the nail bed.

  • Onychomalacia

    Professional Description:

    The softening of the nails.

  • Onychoschizia

    Professional Description:

    The splitting of the nail in layers.

  • Op-Ed Letter

    Professional Description:

    Opinion and column page usually opposite the editorial page.

  • open-label study

    Professional Description:

    An open-label study is where both the researchers and the study participants know which treatment each individual is receiving.

  • Operant Learning Theory

    Professional Description:

    Operant learning theory involves implementing positive (giving a stimulus) or negative (removing a stimulus) reinforcement after a response to a stimulus.

    Source: Wong SE. Operant learning theory. Comprehensive handbook of social work and social welfare. 2008 Jul 15;2.

  • Oral Allergy Syndrome

    Professional Description:

    Itching and swelling in the mouth and oropharynx associated with pollen allergies, especially to birch, grass, ragweed and mugwort as a result of eating a fruit or vegetable which cross-reacts with pollen.

  • Oral Immunotherapy

    Professional Description:

    Oral immunotherapy involves repeated exposure to increasing doses of the allergen over time with the goal to reduce allergic reactions by desensitization.

    Source:
    Chu DK, Wood RA, French S, Fiocchi A, Jordana M, Waserman S, et al. Oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy (PACE): a systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy and safety. Lancet. 2019 Apr 25. pii: S0140-6736(19)30420-9.

  • oral rehydration solutions

    Professional Description:

    Special combinations of water, carbohydrate, sodium, potassium, chloride, and a base precursor in an osmolar or hypoosmolar solution that help rehydrate the body when fluid has been lost due to diarrhoea. ORS vary primarily in their carbohydrate and sodium content.

  • oral rehydration therapy

    Professional Description:

    The preferred method of treating dehydration in infants who have diarrhea due to acute gastroenteritis. It includes a rehydration phase in which stool losses of fluid and electrolytes are rapidly replaced enterally with an oral rehydration solution (ORS), and a maintenance phase, which involves replacement of continuing fluid and electrolyte losses with ORS to prevent further dehydration, and continued feeding to achieve adequate dietary intake

  • Ordinal Data/Scales

    Professional Description:

    "Classification into ordered qualitative categories, e.g., social class (I, II, III, etc.), where the values have a distinct order but their categories are qualitative in that there is no natural (numerical) distance between their possible values."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Organochlorines

    Professional Description:

    Pesticide category that persist in the environment long after use. Banned pesticide orgnochlorines include DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, and heptachlor. Some of these chemicals were banned as pesticides in the 1970s.

  • Orthorexia Nervosa

    Professional Description:

    The pathological obsession with eating biologically pure and healthy food.
    Ref: Bratman S. Original orthorexia essay.

  • osteoblast

    Professional Description:

    a bone-forming cell

  • Osteomalacia

    Professional Description:

    A condition of impaired mineralization caused by vitamin D and calcium deficiency.

  • Osteopenia

    Professional Description:

    A condition of too little bone mass during any stage of life.

  • Outcome variable

    Professional Description:

    “The target variable of interest. The variable that is hypothesized to depend on or be caused by another variable (the independent variable).”

    Source: JAMAevidence. JAMAevidence glossary. American Medical Association; 2021.

  • Outcomes research

    Professional Description:

    Outcomes research seeks to understand the end results of particular health care practices and interventions. End results include effects that people experience and care about, such as change in the ability to function. In particular, for individuals with chronic conditions where cure is not always possible, end results include quality of life as well as mortality. Outcomes research is also referred to as medical effectiveness research or outcomes and effectiveness research.

  • Ovalbumin

    Professional Description:

    An allergen found in egg white. Ovalbumin is a glycoprotein.

  • ovo vegetarian

    Professional Description:

    An eating pattern based on grains, vegetables, legumes, seeds, nuts, and eggs but excludes meat, fish or fowl and dairy or products containing these foods.

  • Ovomucoid

    Professional Description:

    An allergen found in egg white. Ovomucoid is a glycoprotein.

  • Oxidative Stress

    Professional Description:

    Oxidative Stress is defined as an imbalance between the production of various reactive species and the ability of the organism's natural protective mechanisms to cope with these reactive compounds and prevent adverse effects.

  • Paired Comparison

    Professional Description:

    A methodology which involves repeatedly presenting all pairs of stimuli (competencies) one at a time and asking which stimulus (competency) of the pair is preferred over the other.

  • Pancreatic Insufficiency

    Professional Description:

    Present in nearly 90% of patients with CF and characterized by a fecal elastase-1 concentration of less than or equal to 200 mcg/g of stool. Small intestinal transit in patients with PI can be accelerated by up to 50%, significantly decreasing available time for digestion and absorption. Enzyme replacement therapy can, to some extent, help to correct GI transit disturbances. Due to severe lipase and protease deficiency, unabsorbed lipid and protein reach the colon, potentially inducing steatorrhea and creatorrhea, respectively.

  • Pancytopenia

    Professional Description:

    A reduction in the number of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in the blood.

  • Para Thyroid Hormone

    Professional Description:

    "A hormone of the parathyroid gland that regulates the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus in the body -- abbreviation PTH; called also parathormone"

  • Paradigm

    Professional Description:

    A paradigm is the foundation on which ideas, concepts, beliefs and values are used by members of the scientific community.

  • Parent training

    Professional Description:

    A behavioural counseling method where parents are guided through a series of techniques to improve their parenting skills, including positive reinforcement, role modeling and limit setting.

  • Parkinsonism

    Professional Description:

    It is a term that includes PD (e.g. tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity), but is also caused by other conditions including multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranulcear palsy (PSP), corticobasal syndrome (CBS) and Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).

  • Partial breastmilk feeding

    Professional Description:

    breastmilk, given by the mother, health care provider, or family member/supporter plus 3 or more feeds of any food or liquid including non-human milk, during the past 7 days.

  • Pasteurization

    Professional Description:

    Pasteurization is the heating of liquids to a prescribed temperature for a specified period of time to destroy disease-causing bacteria

  • Peak flow meter

    Professional Description:

    A portable, inexpensive, hand-held device used to measure how air flows from lungs in one "fast blast" to measure the ability to push air out of the lungs. Measurements with a peak flow meter help the patient and physician monitor asthma. These measurements can be important in helping a physician prescribe medicines to keep asthma in control.

  • Pearson's r

    Professional Description:

    The usual measure of correlation, sometimes called product-moment correlation

  • Perennial rhinitis

    Professional Description:

    Non-seasonal inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nose.

  • Periconceptional

    Professional Description:

    pertaining to the period before conception through to the first two months of pregnancy

  • Pernicious anemia

    Professional Description:

    A severe hyperchromic anemia marked by a progressive decrease in number and increase in size and hemoglobin content of the red blood cells and by pallor, weakness, and gastrointestinal and nervous disturbances and associated with reduced ability to absorb vitamin B12 due to the absence of intrinsic factor -- called also addisonian anemia

  • Pfeiffer's Mental Status Questionnaire

    Professional Description:

    an instrument used to detect the presence of intellectual impairment. A 10-item Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ), easily administered by any clinician in the office or in a hospital, has been designed, tested, standardized and validated. The standardization and validation procedure included administering the test to 997 elderly persons residing in the community, to 141 elderly persons referred for psychiatric and other health and social problems to a multipurpose clinic, and to 102 elderly persons living in institutions such as nursing homes, homes for the aged, or state mental hospitals. It was found that educational level and race had to be taken into account in scoring individual performance. On the basis of the large community population, standards of performance were established for: 1) intact mental functioning, 2) borderline or mild organic impairment, 3) definite but moderate organic impairment, and 4) severe organic impairment. In the 141 clinic patients, the

  • P-Glycoprotein

    Professional Description:

    Is a plasma membrane-bound protein, a member of a larger family of efflux transporters encoded by multi-drug resistance genes, MDR1 or ABCB1. P-GP plays an important role in drug absorption and disposition, acting as a biological barrier by expelling toxins and xenobiotics from cells.

  • Pharmacogenomics

    Professional Description:

    The ability to use genetic information to design drugs that specifically target a susceptible protein or to classify a population into those who will respond to a particular drug and thereby benefit from its use, those who will experience side effects, and those for whom the drug will have no effect at all.

  • Phenotype

    Professional Description:

    The observable properties of an organism that are produced by the interaction of the genotype and the environment.

  • Physical activity

    Professional Description:

    Defined as bodily movement produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that requires energy expenditure in excess of resting energy expenditure.

  • Phytate

    Professional Description:

    is a salt or ester of phytic acid. It is associated with dietary fiber and is present in a wide variety of plant foods, especially wheat bran, whole grains, seeds, and legumes.

  • Phytic acid

    Professional Description:

    is the principal storage form of phosphorus in many plant tissues including seeds, cereal grains, legumes, and nuts and is abundant in bran. When ingested it binds with minerals such as zinc, calcium, and magnesium, interfering with their intestinal absorption.

  • Phytoestrogen

    Professional Description:

    A plant compound that has physiological properties similar to estrogen.

  • Pitch

    Professional Description:

    An angle encompassing a unique or interesting aspect or a story or a person used to catch the media's attention and to sell reporters on a particular story or interview.

  • Placebo

    Professional Description:

    "An inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance (such as a nutritional supplement).”

    Source: Merriam-Webster since 1828. Placebo. 2021 Apr.

  • Plain language

    Professional Description:

    An approach to writing that avoids complex language and complicated expressions. Often used in developing resources for low literacy audiences. Also referred to as "clear language".

  • Plasma histamine levels

    Professional Description:

    The level of histamine in blood plasma can be measured by a variety of techniques. A “normal” level of histamine is always present in the body, which is required for various essential physiological processes. In an allergic reaction this level rises as histamine is released from mast cells during the process of IgE-mediated degranulation.

  • Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1

    Professional Description:

    An acute phase reactant involved in fibrinolysis. It has been found to be present in high levels in obesity and the metabolic syndrome. It is linked to the increased occurrence of thrombosis (blood clot formation) in individuals who are obese and/or have metabolic syndrome.

  • Pneumomediastinum

    Professional Description:

    Air in the mediastinum, the space in the middle of the chest.

  • Pneumothorax

    Professional Description:

    A collapsed lung.

  • Pollinosis

    Professional Description:

    The allergic reaction in the body to the air-borne pollen of plants, resulting in the seasonal type of hay fever

  • polycarbonate

    Professional Description:

    A widely used plastic that is made from bisphenol A. On bottles, its universal recycling code is listed under #7.

  • polycythemia

    Professional Description:

    An elevated concentration of red blood cells.

  • Polygenic

    Professional Description:

    A descriptive term of or relating to an inheritable characteristic that is influenced by several genes.

  • Polymorphism

    Professional Description:

    "Natural variations in a gene, DNA sequence, or chromosome that have no adverse effects on the individual and occur with fairly high frequency in the general population.” A “polymorphism involves one of two or more variants of a particular DNA sequence. The most common type of polymorphism involves variation at a single base pair."

    Source: US National Library of Medicine. What are single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)? [Internet]. Genetics Home Reference. 2020. Available from: https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/genomicresearch/snp

  • Polyol Pathway

    Professional Description:

    A pathway or process that converts glucose to fructose and reduces galactose to galactitol. Also known as the sorbitol-aldose reductase pathway.

    Source: Demirbas D, Coelho AI, Rubio-Gozalbo ME, Berry GT. Hereditary galactosemia. Metabolism. 2018;83:188-96.. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2018.01.025. Epub 2018/02/08. Abstract available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29409891/

  • polyphenols

    Professional Description:

    General term for several groups of compounds found in plants that contain more than one benzene ring in their chemical structure. Several biologically important plant chemicals belong to this class including bioflavonoids and tannins. Many of these compounds function as effective antioxidants.

  • Pomelo/Pummelo

    Professional Description:

    An ancient ancestor of the common grapefruit, also know as a Chinese grapefruit.

  • Population Attributable Risk Percent

    Professional Description:

    Population attributable risk percent is the proportion of incidence of a disease that would be eliminated if the risk factor were eliminated.

  • Porcine Lipase

    Professional Description:

    The current standard for enzyme replacement therapy. They are enzymes derived from pork and are currently prepared with an enteric coating to protect them from the acidic gastric environment.

  • Post-operative ileus

    Professional Description:

    (POI) occurs after abdominal surgery and involves a transient cessation of bowel function. There may be a reduction in activity sufficient to prevent effective transit of intestinal contents. POI is caused by a complex interaction between inhibitory neural reflexes, neurotransmitters, inflammatory mediators, and endogenous and exogenous opioids and usually resolves within two to three days. It can cause patient discomfort, increase postoperative complications, negatively affects patient nutritional status, and increases length of stay.

  • Post-Translational Processing

    Professional Description:

    A process that inactive proteins go through after translation is complete to become active such as adding sugars to a protein or cleaving it into a smaller molecule.

  • Pouchitis

    Professional Description:

    Pouchitis is the inflammation of a surgically constructed ileal pouch (made from a loop of the small intestine), which acts as an artificial rectum for patients with ulcerative colitis who have had their rectum and colon removed. The surgical procedure is known as ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). Acute pouchitis typically refers to symptoms (e.g. diarrhea, cramping, fecal urgency or incontinence) lasting <4 weeks; whereas in chronic pouchitis symptoms typically are present for >4 weeks.

  • Prader-Willi syndrome

    Professional Description:

    A genetic disorder characterized by short stature, mental retardation, hypotonia, abnormally small hands and feet and uncontrolled appetite leading to extreme obesity.

  • Prebiotics

    Professional Description:

    Prebiotics are defined as non-digestible food ingredients (dietary fibre) that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one of more limited number of bacteria in the colon and thus improve host health. For a food ingredient to be considered a prebiotic, it must meet several criteria. These criteria include: it must neither be hydrolysed, nor absorbed in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract; be selectively fermented by one or a limited number of potentially beneficial bacteria in the intestine; and it must be able to alter the colonic microflora towards a healthier composition.

  • Precede-Proceed Model

    Professional Description:

    helps determine a patient's needs within a given counselling context by assessing motivational characteristics, physical, manual and economic barriers and facilitators, and specific circumstantial rewards and penalties. The approach can avoid inappropriate techniques, for example trying to persuade an already-motivated patient that change is necessary. Skipping unnecessary steps frees time to focus on aspects of the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and understanding that require modification.

  • Preceptee

    Professional Description:

    A participant in a program as an active learner and colleague.

  • preceptoring

    Professional Description:

    The process of working with students for the purpose of training.

  • Precision

    Professional Description:

    "1. [In statistics:] A measure of the likelihood of random errors in the results of a study, meta-analysis or measurement. The greater the precision, the less random error. Confidence intervals around the estimate of effect from each study are one way of expressing precision, with a narrower confidence interval meaning more precision.
    2. [In trial searching:] The proportion of relevant articles identified by a search strategy expressed as a percentage of all articles (relevant and irrelevant) identified by that strategy. Highly sensitive strategies tend to have low levels of precision. It is calculated as follows: Precision = Number of relevant articles/Number of articles identified."

    Source: The Cochrane Collaboration. Glossary. [cited 2019 Aug 17]. Available from: https://community.cochrane.org/glossary.

  • Prediabetes

    Professional Description:

    Describes blood glucose levels that are below the diagnostic threshold for diabetes but are a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

    Source: Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guideline Expert Committee. Diabetes Canada 2018 clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and management of diabetes in Canada. Can J Diabetes. 2018;42(suppl 1):S1-S325. Available from http://guidelines.diabetes.ca/cpg

  • Predictive value theory

    Professional Description:

    The predictive value of a test is a measure of the times that the value (either positive or negative) is the true value; i.e. the percent of all positive tests that are true positives is the positive predictive value.

  • Predominant breastmilk

    Professional Description:

    breastmilk, given by the mother, health care provider, or family member/supporter plus 1 or a maximum of 2 feeds of any food or liquid including non-human milk, during the past 7 days.

  • Pre-eclampsia

    Professional Description:

    A condition in pregnancy manifested by hypertension, edema and/or proteinuria (excess protein in urine).

  • Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis (PUQE) scoring system

    Professional Description:

    a scoring system to quantify the severity of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy.  Based on quantification of the three physical symptoms including nausea, vomiting and retching; PUQE closely correlates with the validated but much more complex Rhodes' score

  • Premature Infant

    Professional Description:

    An infant who is born before the 37th week of pregnancy.

  • Pressure ulcer

    Professional Description:

    A pressure ulcer is a localized injury to the skin and/or underlying tissue that is typically over a bony prominence resulting from pressure, or pressure in combination with shear and/or friction.

  • Prevalence

    Professional Description:

    The percentage of a defined population that is affected by a specific condition at the same time.

  • Prevalence of Nutrient Inadequacy

    Professional Description:

    The percentage of a population or group that has intakes below requirements.

  • Prick-by-prick test

    Professional Description:

    The prick-by-prick test involves insertion of a sterilized needle into the test food in its raw state. The food is then transferred to the patient by inserting the needle a little way into the skin. The same wheal and flare response as in the skin tests indicates a positive reaction

  • Prickly Pear Cactus

    Professional Description:

    Is also known as Nopal, is found throughout the Western hemisphere and is used commonly in Mexico. The used parts are the leaves, flowers, stems, and fruit.

  • Primary Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

    Professional Description:

    Primary prevention of CVD focuses on strategies to prevent CVD morbidity and mortality in healthy individuals.

  • primary dentition

    Professional Description:

    Teeth developed and erupted first in order of time; the first set of teeth to develop; the first baby teeth; they begin to erupt at about 6 months and consist of 20 teeth

  • Primary Health Care

    Professional Description:

    "Primary health care ""is a comprehensive and egalitarian idea. It connects health and health care to social and economic organization. It is organized to meet the needs of everyone, but particularly disadvantaged populations. It strikes a balance between health promotion and health care; health and social services; individuals and communities. It entails the transfer of power from professionals to citizens and breaks down many of the traditional hierarchies within health care..."" Primary health care is “a set of universally accessible first-level services that promote health, prevent disease and provide diagnostic, curative, rehabilitative, palliative and supportive services”. Primary health care ""refers to an approach to health and a spectrum of services beyond the traditional health care system. It includes all services that play a part in health, such as income, housing, education, and environment”"

  • Primary lactase deficiency

    Professional Description:

    A relative or absolute absence of the enzyme, lactase, that develops in childhood

  • Probability

    Professional Description:

    Risk or likelihood of an occurrence.

  • Probability Approach

    Professional Description:

    A method of assessing the nutrient adequacy of groups. It uses the distribution of usual intakes and the distribution of requirements to estimate the prevalence of inadequate intakes in a group. Also known as the NRC approach.

  • Probability of Inadequacy

    Professional Description:

    Outcome of a calculation that compares an individual's usual intake to the distribution of requirements for persons of the same life stage and gender to determine the probability that the individual's intake does not meet his or her requirements.

  • Probiotic

    Professional Description:

    Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.

  • Processed Meat

    Professional Description:

    Processed meat is meat preserved through salting, curing, fermentation and smoking. (e.g. ham, salami, bacon, hotdogs, sausage, chorizo).

    World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research. Continuous Update Project Expert Report 2018. Diet, nutrition, physical activity and liver cancer. 2018. Available from: https://www.wcrf.org/dietandcancer/liver-cancer

  • Prodrome

    Professional Description:

    A technical term used by mental health professionals to describe a specific group of symptoms that may precede the onset of a mental illness.

  • Progesterone receptor positive

    Professional Description:

    The breast cancer cells that have receptors for progesterone.

    Source: breastcancer.org

  • Prognostic Study

    Professional Description:

    "A study that enrolls patients at a point in time and follows them forward to determine the frequency and timing of subsequent events."

    Source: Health Evidence. Glossary. 2019. Available from: https://www.healthevidence.org/glossary.aspx.

  • Promoter Region

    Professional Description:

    A region in DNA that encodes regulatory sequences needed for gene transcription.

  • pro-oxidant

    Professional Description:

    A substance that causes oxidation and damage to cells and surrounding molecules. Some Antioxidants in very high doses can turn into pro-oxidants.

  • prospective epidemiologic studies

    Professional Description:

    A type of epidemiological studies designed to examine events from a point in time into the future. Epidemiological studies are of two basic types depending on (a) whether the events have already happened (retrospective) or (b) whether the events may happen in the future (prospective). The most common studies are the retrospective studies which are also called case-control studies. A case-control study may begin when an outbreak of disease is noted and the causes of the disease are not known, or the disease is unusual within the population studied.

  • Prospective Study

    Professional Description:

    "The investigator identifies exposed and non-exposed groups of people, each a cohort, and then follows them forward in time, monitoring the occurrence of the predicted outcome."

    Source: Guyatt G, Rennie D. Users’ guides to the medical literature. Essentials of evidence-based clinical practice. AMA Press; 2002.

  • prostate specific antigen

    Professional Description:

    A single-chain glycoprotein with 240 amino acid residues and four carbohydrate side chains, found in normal seminal fluid and produced by the prostatic epithelial cells. Elevated levels in the blood are associated with prostatic enlargement and prostatic adenocarcinoma.

  • Protein-coding Region

    Professional Description:

    A region in DNA that dictates the genetic recipe which is used to produce the protein.

  • Proteolytic enzymes

    Professional Description:

    Enzymes that break down proteins

  • Prothrombin time

    Professional Description:

    The time it takes plasma to clot after an addition of tissue factor (obtained from animals) which measures the quality of the pathway of blood coagulation.

  • proton pump inhibitors

    Professional Description:

    The most powerful type of acid suppressors. These medications work by preventing acid pumps in the stomach from producing too much acid. Also known as acid pump inhibitors.

  • Psychrophilic Bacteria

    Professional Description:

    Bacteria capable of thriving at a relatively low temperature.

    Consumer Description:

  • Public Service Announcements

    Professional Description:

    Advertising with a message in the interest of the public, usually run free of charge at the station's discretion.

  • Publication Bias

    Professional Description:

    "Occurs when the publication of research depends on the direction of the study results and whether they are statistically significant."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Pulque

    Professional Description:

    mildly alcoholic beverage (4-6% ethanol by volume) that is consumed at meals.

  • Qualitative Research

    Professional Description:

    "Qualitative research focuses on social and interpreted, rather than quantifiable, phenomena and aims to discover, interpret, and describe rather than to test and evaluate. Qualitative research makes inductive, descriptive inferences to theory concerning social experiences or settings, whereas quantitative research makes causal or correlational inferences to populations. Qualitative research is not a single method but a family of analytic approaches that rely on the description and interpretation of qualitative data. Specific methods include, for example, grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenology, case study, critical theory, and historiography."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Quantitative Research

    Professional Description:

    "The investigation of phenomena that lend themselves to test well-specified hypotheses through precise measurement and quantification of predetermined variables that yield numbers suitable for statistical analysis."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Quasi-experimental Trial

    Professional Description:

    "A situation in which the investigator lacks full control over the allocation and/or timing of intervention but nonetheless conducts the study as if it were an experiment, allocating subjects to groups."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Quercetin

    Professional Description:

    Aflavonol found in capers, apples, tea, onions, red grapes, citrus fruits, broccoli and other leafy green vegetables, cherries, and several berries including raspberry, lingonberry, cranberry

    Consumer Description:

  • radioallergosorbent test

    Professional Description:

    RAST is an abbreviation for RadioAllergoSorbent Test, a trademark of Pharmacia Diagnostics, which originated the test. RAST is a laboratory test used to detect IgE antibodies to specific allergens (2). CAP-RAST is a specific type of RAST.
    RAST is a allergy test carried out on a sample of blood. The aim with RAST, as with skin tests, is to check for allergic sensitivity to specific antigens. In the test, the sample of blood is mixed with substances known to trigger allergies. The test measures the level of IgE allergy antibodies to specific antigens in the blood which are present if there is a allergic reaction

  • Random Sample

    Professional Description:

    "A sample derived by selecting sampling units (for example, individual patients) such that each unit has an independent and fixed chance of selection. Whether a given unit is selected is determined by chance (for example, by a table of randomly ordered numbers)."

    Source: JAMA Instructions for authors. JAMA. 1996;275(1):8. Available from: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/393429.

  • Randomized Controlled Trial

    Professional Description:

    “an experiment in which individuals are randomly allocated to receive or not receive an experimental diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, or palliative procedure and then followed up to determine the effect of the intervention”.

    Source: JAMAevidence. JAMAevidence glossary. American Medical Association; 2021.

  • Ratings of perceived exertion

    Professional Description:

    A subjective rating using a numerical scale that expresses the perceived difficulty of a given exercise task.

  • Raw Food Diet

    Professional Description:

    A raw food diet is a diet of uncooked foods. Typically this is a vegan diet, although in a small proportion of cases animal products such as raw meat or fish are included.

  • RCT

    Professional Description:

    Randomized control trial

  • Reactive Species

    Professional Description:

    This is a general term used to describe substances that are highly reactive - i.e., they can react with and damage other molecules. The primary reactive species include reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). These in turn react with other compounds in the body and generate radical intermediates of lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids that ultimately form the chemical end products of oxidative stress.

  • Recall Bias

    Professional Description:

    A systematic error that occurs when participants are unable to remember previous events or experiences accurately or omit details. As well, the accuracy and number of recollections may be influenced by subsequent events and experiences.

    Source: Catalogue of Bias Collaboration, Spencer EA, Brassey J, Mahtani K. Recall bias. In: Catalogue Of Bias 2017.

  • Recommended Intake

    Professional Description:

    For an individual, the recommended intake is one that is almost certain to meet or exceed their individual requirement. The RDA and the AI are both recommended intakes for individuals.

  • Recommended Nutrient Intakes

    Professional Description:

    Recommended Nutrient Intakes

  • Reference Body Weights

    Professional Description:

    Reference body weight is the weight for individuals at the median height, at a median BMI within an age range, calculated from national reference data.

  • Refractory HF

    Professional Description:

    The most advanced form of heart failure which occurs when a heart failure patient remains symptomatic despite optimal medical therapies.

  • Regulated discretionary fortification

    Professional Description:

    The optional addition of any nutrient from a defined list of vitamins and minerals, over defined ranges, at the discretion of food manufacturers.

  • Regurgitation

    Professional Description:

    Passage of refluxed gastric contents into the oral pharynx.

  • Reinforcement management

    Professional Description:

    A technique in which a person is rewarded for completing a specific behaviour.

  • Relative Risk

    Professional Description:

    "Ratio of the risk of an event among an exposed population to the risk among the unexposed."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Relative Risk Reduction

    Professional Description:

    "The proportional reduction in rates of harmful outcomes between experimental and control participants. It is calculated by dividing the rate of harmful outcome in the control group (CER) minus the rate of harmful outcome in the experimental group (EER) by the rate of harmful outcome in the control group [(CER–EER)/CER]. Used with a beneficial exposure or intervention."

    Source: JAMA evidence. American Medical Association; 2014 Jun. Available from: http://www.jamaevidence.com/glossary.

  • Release of inflammatory mediators from mast cells

    Professional Description:

    Inflammatory mediators such as histamine and degradative enzymes stored within the intracellular granules of mast cells are released into the surrounding tissues, resulting in symptoms of allergy after degranulation.

  • Reliability

    Professional Description:

    Reliability refers to the extent to which a measure or tool obtains similar results over repeated trials/ uses (i.e. the trustworthiness). There are several types of reliability: Test-retest Reliability - whether the self-administered measure obtains similar results when repeated by the same individuals over time. Inter-rater Reliability - whether the measure obtains similar results when rated or scored by different people. Intra-rater Reliability - whether the measure obtains similar results when rated or scored by the same person over time.

    Source: The Cochrane Collaboration. Glossary. [cited 2019 Nov 4 17]. Available from: https://community.cochrane.org/glossary
    Last JM. A dictionary of epidemiology. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2001.

  • Reliability Measures of Categorical Data

    Professional Description:

    "1. “inter-observer bias: reflected in differences in the marginal distributions of the response variable for each of the observers
    2. observer disagreement: indicated by how observers classify individual subjects into the same category on the measurement scale.

    K Strength of agreement
    0.01 Poor
    0.00 - 0.20 Slight
    0.21 – 0.40 Fair
    0.41 – 0.60 Moderate
    0.61 – 0.80 Substantial
    0.81 – 1.00 Almost perfect"

    Source: Everitt BS. Statistical methods for medical investigations. 2nd ed. New York: Halsted Press; 1994.

  • Renal solute load

    Professional Description:

    Renal solute load (RSL) refers to all solutes of endogenous or dietary origin that require excretion by the kidneys

  • Research

    Professional Description:

    "A class of activities designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge, consisting of theories, principles, or relationships, or accumulation of information on which these are based, that can be corroborated by acceptable scientific methods of observation, inference, and/or experiment."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Residual confounding

    Professional Description:

    the effect that remains after one has attempted to statistically control variables that cannot be measured perfectly. These unknown variables could obscure or exaggerate existing associations, and could significantly change conclusions made on the basis of epidemiological research

  • Resistance exercise

    Professional Description:

    Consists of activities that use muscular strength to move a weight or work against a resistant load. Examples include weight lifting and exercises using weight machines.

  • Response bias

    Professional Description:

    Factors or conditions that take place during the process of responding to surveys that affect the way responses are provided, leading to a nonrandom deviation of answers from their true value.

  • Resting energy expenditure

    Professional Description:

    Resting metabolic rate extrapolated to 24 hours to be more meaningful. (see resting metabolic rate).

  • Resting metabolic rate

    Professional Description:

    Energy expenditure under resting conditions.

  • Retinol

    Professional Description:

    Retinol, the dietary form of vitamin A, is a fat-soluble, antioxidant vitamin important in vision and bone growth. It belongs to the family of chemical compounds known as retinoids. Retinol is ingested in a precursor form; animal sources (milk and eggs) contain retinyl esters, whereas plants (carrots, spinach) contain carotenoids. Tissue cells convert these precursors to retinol, and then to either retinal or retinoic acid.

  • Retinol Activity Equivalent

    Professional Description:

    The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for vitamin A are listed as Retinol Activity Equivalents (RAE) to account for the different activities of retinol and provitamin A carotenoids. Sometimes RDAs are also listed in International Units (IU) because food and some supplement labels list vitamin A content in International Units (1 RAE in micrograms = 3.3 IU).

  • Review Paper

    Professional Description:

    "A summary of the literature on a topic; tend to be descriptive. The identification of studies and their interpretation is determined by the author(s) and may be biased."

    Source: Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of epidemiology, 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.

  • Rhinoconjunctivitis

    Professional Description:

    An immunologically-mediated hypersensitivity reaction in the nose and conjunctiva. Most cases are IgE-mediated.

  • Rhinorrhea

    Professional Description:

    Runny nose with watery discharge characteristic of the common cold.

  • Rhodes Index

    Professional Description:

    a self-report form that has eight questions, each answered with a five-point Likert-type scale that measures the patient’s perceived duration, frequency and distress from nausea, vomiting and retching

  • Rickets

    Professional Description:

    Rickets is a childhood disease where growing bone matrix fails to mineralize, which can lead to skeletal deformities, bone pain and delayed motor development.

  • Risk Assessment

    Professional Description:

    An organized framework for evaluating scientific information, which has as its objective a characterization of the nature and likelihood of harm resulting from excess human exposure to an environmental agent (in this case, a dietary nutrient). It includes the development of both qualitative and quantitative expressions of risk. The process of risk assessment can be divided into four major steps; hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization.

  • Risk Management

    Professional Description:

    The process by which risk assessment results are integrated with other information to make decisions about the need for, method of, and extent of risk reduction. In addition to risk assessment results, risk management considers such issues as the public health significance of the risk, the technical feasibility of achieving various degrees of risk control, and the economic and social cost of this control.

  • Rosacea

    Professional Description:

    A chronic inflammatory disorder consisting of vascular and follicular dilation primarily of the skin of the nose, forehead and cheeks. It is characterized by erythema (redness due to capillary dilation), hyperplasia of sebaceous glands, papules and pustules, and telangiectasia (dilation of the vessels).

  • Roux-en-Y gastric bypass

    Professional Description:

    The most common form of gastric by-pass surgery is a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. In this procedure the stomach is made smaller by creating a small pouch at the top of the stomach with surgical staples or a plastic band. The smaller stomach is connected directly to the middle portion of the small intestine (jejunum), bypassing the rest of the stomach and the upper portion of the small intestine (duodenum).

  • Run-in Period

    Professional Description:

    "A period before a trial is commenced when no treatment is given. The data from this stage of a trial are only occasionally of value but can serve a valuable role in screening out ineligible or non-compliant participants, in ensuring that participants are in a stable condition, and in providing baseline observations. A run-in period is sometimes called a washout period if treatments that participants were using before entering the trial are discontinued."

    Source: The Cochrane Collaboration. Glossary. [cited 2019 Aug 17]. Available from: https://community.cochrane.org/glossary.

  • Salba®

    Professional Description:

    A gluten-free whole grain which is white in colour. It is obtained from the original herbaceous plant Salvia hispanica L., which is over 90 per cent black grain in colour and 10 per cent white grain (1). Salvia hispanica L. is also known as chia.

  • Salt Sensitivity

    Professional Description:

    Salt sensitivity is expressed as either the reduction in blood pressure in response to a lower salt intake or the rise in blood pressure in response to sodium loading. Salt sensitivity differs among subgroups of the population and among individuals within a subgroup.

  • Sarcopenia

    Professional Description:

    Sarcopenia refers to a decline in muscle mass and strength.

  • Sarcopenic Obesity

    Professional Description:

    Sarcopenic obesity refers to a combination of sarcopenia and excess body fat.

  • SCORAD Index

    Professional Description:

    Severity Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis. Physician evaluation of atopic dermatitis based on extent of skin covered, intensity and subjective score of pruritis (itching) and loss of sleep. Mild AD <25; moderate 25-50; severe >50.

  • SCREEN©

    Professional Description:

    A screening index designed and validated by Prof. Heather Keller consisting of 15 questions covering issues that influence the nutritional health of seniors.

  • Screening Administrator

    Professional Description:

    Any person who assists in the process of administering and collecting information related to the administration of your screening initiative. This includes collection of the nutritional risk data, demographic information and potentially data for evaluation.

  • Seafood

    Professional Description:

    Any edible animal obtained from the sea, including fish, crustaceans, and molluscs.

  • Secondary Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

    Professional Description:

    Application of interventions to prevent the progression of cardiovascular disease in individuals with a history of CVD and individuals at high CVD risk (as determined by Cardiovascular Risk Assessment) or those with metabolic syndrome presenting with a constellation of risk factors including abdominal obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and/or impaired glucose tolerance. To view Cardiovascular Risk Assessment, use the PEN search function.

  • Secondary lactase deficiency

    Professional Description:

    A lactase deficiency that results from small intestinal injury including acute chemotherapy, gastroenteritis, persistent diarrhea or small bowel overgrowth.

  • Selection bias

    Professional Description:

    Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health (NIH): National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI Dictionaries. Selection bias. [cited 2021 Aug 19]

  • Selenocysteine

    Professional Description:

    Selenocysteine is the form of selenium that has biological activity in humans and is present in a number of selenoproteins. A selenoprotein is a protein that contains selenium in stoichiometric amounts.

  • Self monitoring

    Professional Description:

    Keeping detailed records of situations where unhealthy behaviours occur. Details of the precipitants, consequences and moderating factors are recorded and analyzed to determine goals for change.

  • Sensitivity

    Professional Description:

    The sensitivity of a scale or index refers to the statistical likelihood that it will correctly identify individuals with the condition of interest. In the case of nutritional screening, the higher the sensitivity of the index the more likely it will correctly identify individuals who are genuinely "at risk". If an index is 100% sensitive there would be no false negatives.

    Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Section 2: Morbidity frequency measures. In Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice. 3rd Edition. 2012. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson3/section2.html
    Last JM. A dictionary of epidemiology. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2001.

  • Sensors

    Professional Description:

    People who are practical, detail-oriented and focus on facts and procedures.

  • Serum Fructosamine

    Professional Description:

    is a measure of glycemic control over a period of two to three weeks. It can be used if one needs to see the average glycemic control more quickly.

  • Severe Hypoglycemia

    Professional Description:

    Associated with need for assistance to treat and BG level < 2.8 mmol/L.

  • Severe Pre-eclampsia

    Professional Description:

    Blood pressure: 160 mm Hg or higher systolic or 110 mm Hg or higher diastolic on two occasions at least 6 hours apart in a woman on bed rest / Proteinuria: 5 g or higher in a 24-hour urine collection or 3+ on urine dipstick testing of two random urine samples collected at least 4 hours apart / Other features: oliguria (less than 500 mL in 24 hours), cerebral or visual disturbances, pulmonary edema or cyanosis, epigastric or right upper-quadrant pain, elevated liver enzymes, thrombocytopenia, or intrauterine growth restriction.

  • Short chain fatty acids

    Professional Description:

    End product of bacterial hydrolysis and fermentation of complex carbohydrate that reaches the colon.

  • Shuttle run test

    Professional Description:

    Also commonly known as the beep test, requires the participant to run back and forth over a 20 meter marked distance in time with recorded beeps until they fail to reach the mark at the “beep” on a certain (usually three) consecutive laps or shuttles.

  • Shwachman score

    Professional Description:

    An overall clinical scoring system in CF, where an increase in the score indicates improvement in clinical conditions.

  • sick quitter bias

    Professional Description:

    The sick quitter bias occurs when studies examining potentially hazardous lifestyle habits do not differentiate between participants who have abstained from the habit over their lifetime and participants who used to partake but have since abstained due to illness.

    Reference: Visontay R, Sunderland M, Slade T, Wilson J, Mewton L. Are there non-linear relationships between alcohol consumption and long-term health?: a systematic review of observational studies employing approaches to improve causal inference. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2022 Jan 14;22(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s12874-021-01486-5. PMID: 35027007; PMCID: PMC8759175.

  • Sickle Cell Trait

    Professional Description:

    Sickle cell trait is when an individual inherits a normal Hb gene (from one parent) and a sickle cell Hb gene Hb S (from their other parent) and rarely have symptoms.

    Source: Braunstein EM. Thalassemias. Merck Manuals, 2020 Sep. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/en-ca/professional/hematology-and-oncology/anemias-caused-by-hemolysis/thalassemias

  • Significant Ethnic Effect

    Professional Description:

    A result which indicates that one of the ethnic groups’ preferences for a competency differed significantly from the average preference for that competency across all three ethnic groups.

  • Single Nucleotide Polymorphism

    Professional Description:

    A genetic variation caused by a change in a single DNA nucleotide; most of the variation among individuals results from SNPs. The number of different SNPs in the human population is thought to be 6 million.

  • Sizeism

    Professional Description:

    Sizeism is being discriminated against because of one’s body size (height or weight).

  • Skewed Distribution

    Professional Description:

    If the distribution of requirements is skewed, the median will not equal the mean.

  • Skin exposure

    Professional Description:

    means exposure of skin, face and arms or an equivalent surface area of skin. The time involved is five to 15 minutes per day in summer months for people with light skin colour.

  • Skin Prick Test

    Professional Description:

    The skin test is designed to detect any IgE that has been made by the immune system in a previous response to the allergen. A drop of commercial allergen extract is placed onto the surface and the skin underneath is pricked with a lancet.

  • Skin rash

    Professional Description:

    A lay term for a skin eruption.

  • Skin testing

    Professional Description:

    The skin test is a method of measuring the patient's level of IgE antibodies to specific allergens. Using diluted solutions of specific allergens, the physician either injects the patient with the solutions (intradermal test), or scratches (scratch test) or pricks the skin with a sharp lancet (prick test) through the allergen drop. A positive reaction appears as a small raised area surrounded by a flat red area on the skin (the wheal and flare reaction). A positive reaction to the skin test, especially with food allergens, does not always mean that the patient is will develop symptoms when the food is eaten.