Glossary terms - P
Paralysis
Complete loss of movement and muscle function.
Patent foramen ovale
A hole in the heart that allows blood clots to get from the veins into the arteries.
Perception
Awareness and understanding of one's environment (e.g. awareness of touch, sights, sounds).
Perceptual skills
Ability to receive and distinguish information through the prime senses of vision, touch, taste, hearing and smell.
Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG)
Insertion of a tube through the wall of the abdomen into the stomach for the purposes of feeding. It is done with a gastroscope, which is a fibre-optic instrument used to examine the inside of the stomach.
Peripheral nerve block injections
Injection of local anaesthetic in the vicinity of a peripheral nerve to anaesthetize the nerve's area of innervation and prevent pain signals from reaching the brain.
Pharmacist
A person who is qualified in pharmacy and authorised to dispense medicines.
Phlebotomist
Someone who is trained to take blood specimens from people's veins.
Physician
A qualified doctor who specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of disease by other than surgical means.
Physiotherapist
A therapist who specialises in physical methods of treatment to promote healing and return to health and optimal functioning.
Phytochemicals
Non-nutritive plant chemicals that have protective or disease preventive properties. Some of the well-known phytochemicals are lycopene in tomatoes, isoflavones in soy and flavonoids in fruits. Daily dietary recommendation of at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables should ensure adequate intake of phytochemicals.
Platelets
Small blood cells that stick together to form a clot.
Plaque
A mixture of fatty substances, including cholesterol and other lipids, deposited on the inside of artery walls.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
A sensitive medical imaging technique in which a pharmaceutical, marked or "labelled" with a radioactive substance, is injected into the patient to show how well cells are functioning. Useful for diagnosing brain disease, because brain tumors, strokes, and neuron-damaging diseases which cause dementia (such as Alzheimer's disease) all cause great changes in brain metabolism, which in turn causes easily detectable changes in PET scans.
Potassium
Mineral naturally occurring in fruit, especially bananas, vegetables and legumes, which balances sodium levels in the body, helps lower blood pressure and is vital to kidney function.
Primary Antiphospholipid Syndrome
(also known as Hughes Syndrome). Sometimes called 'sticky blood syndrome', because people with it have an increased tendency to form clots in blood vessels. Other symptoms include migraine, DVT, recurrent miscarriages, movement disorder, spinal cord lesions, organ thrombosis including heart, brain, kidney, liver and lung. One in five cases of stroke under 45 is associated with this condition, which can usually be treated once diagnosed.
Prognosis
Assessment of the future course and expected outcome of a patient's illness.
Psychiatrist
A medically qualified physician who specialises in the study and treatment of mental disorders.
Psychologist
A person qualified in the scientific study of the mind. A Clinical Psychologist is trained in the assessment and treatment of people with illness or impairment.
Pulmonary embolism
A blood clot in the lungs, which can very rapidly lead to sudden death.
