Doctors found a snake parasite in a woman's brain — still alive - Science News Explores

autoimmune: An adjective to describe inappropriate reactions in which the immune system turns against its host's body. This can cause disease instead of curing it. Autoimmune diseases can be quite severe and hard to treat. They include rheumatoid arthritis (affecting joints, such as knees), multiple sclerosis (targeting nerves and muscles), Crohn's disease (affecting the gut), psoriasis and lupus (affecting skin) and the type of diabetes that typically develops in young children. In all of these cases, the immune system generates out-of-control inflammation.

bacteria: (singular: bacterium) Single-celled organisms. These dwell nearly everywhere on Earth, from the bottom of the sea to inside other living organisms (such as plants and animals). Bacteria are one of the three domains of life on Earth.

biopsy: The removal and examination of a small sample of tissue to discover the presence, cause or extent of a disease, including cancer.

brain scan: A technique to view structures inside the brain, typically with X-rays or a magnetic resonance imaging (or MRI) machine. With MRI technology — especially the type known as functional MRI (or fMRI) — the activity of different brain regions can be viewed during an event, such as viewing pictures, computing sums or listening to music.

cancer: Any of more than 100 different diseases, each characterized by the rapid, uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. The development and growth of cancers, also known as malignancies, can lead to tumors, pain and death.

CT scan: (Also known as a CAT scan). The term is short for computerized axial tomography. It is a special type of X-ray scanning technology that produces cross-sectional views of the inside of a bone or body.

diarrhea: (adj. diarrheal) Loose, watery stool (feces) that can be a symptom of many types of microbial infections affecting the gut.

dissolve: To turn a solid into a liquid and disperse it into that starting liquid. (For instance, sugar or salt crystals, which are solids, will dissolve into water. Now the crystals are gone and the solution is a fully dispersed mix of the liquid form of the sugar or salt in water.)

edible: Something that can be eaten safely.

emerging infectious disease: A disease that suddenly has begun infecting increasing numbers of people or other organisms and could increase dramatically, more so in the near future.

feces: A body's solid waste, made up of undigested food, bacteria and water. The feces of larger animals are sometimes also called dung.

focus: (in behavior) To look or concentrate intently on some particular point or thing.

fungi: (sing: fungus) Organisms with one or more cells that reproduce via spores and feed on living or decaying organic matter. Examples include mold, yeasts and mushrooms.

gut: An informal term for the gastrointestinal tract, especially the intestines.

host: (in biology and medicine) The organism (or environment) in which some other thing resides. Humans may be a temporary host for food-poisoning germs or other infective agents. (v.) The act of providing a home or environment for something.

infect: (n. infection; adj. infectious) To spread a disease from one organism to another. This usually involves introducing some sort of disease-causing germ to an individual.

inflammation: (adj. inflammatory) The body's response to cellular injury and obesity; it often involves swelling, redness, heat and pain. It also is an underlying feature responsible for the development and aggravation of many diseases, especially heart disease and diabetes.

ingest: (n. ingestion) To eat or deliberately bring nutrients into the body by mouth for digestion in the gut.

larvae: Immature insects that have a distinctly different form (body shape) than when they are adults. For instance, caterpillars are larval butterflies and maggots are larval flies. (Sometimes this term also is used to describe such a stage in the development of fish, frogs and other animals.)

liver: An organ of the body of animals with backbones that performs a number of important functions. It can store fat and sugar as energy, break down harmful substances for excretion by the body, and secrete bile, a greenish fluid released into the gut, where it helps digest fats and neutralize acids.

lobe: A rounded and somewhat flat projection. Many leaves, for instance, have lobed edges. The lungs and brain also have lobes.

mammal: A warm-blooded animal distinguished by the possession of hair or fur, the secretion of milk by females for feeding their young, and (typically) the bearing of live young.

MRI: Short for magnetic resonance imaging. It's an imaging technique to visualize soft, internal organs, like the brain, muscles, heart and cancerous tumors. MRI uses strong magnetic fields to record the activity of individual atoms.

native: Associated with a particular location; native plants and animals have been found in a particular location since recorded history began. These species also tend to have developed within a region, occurring there naturally (not because they were planted or moved there by people). Most are particularly well adapted to their environment.

New South Wales: One of Australia's eastern states. Home to some 8 million people, it's the oldest, largest and most urban of those states. Located in the east-central and southeastern part of the nation, most of its residents live in or near the state capital of Sydney.

organ: (in biology) Various parts of an organism that perform one or more particular functions. For instance, an ovary is an organ that makes eggs, the brain is an organ that makes sense of nerve signals and a plant's roots are organs that take in nutrients and moisture.

parasite: An organism that gets benefits (such as food) from another species, called a host, while usually causing some degree of harm or discomfort to the host. Classic examples of parasites include ticks, fleas and tapeworms.

population: (in biology) A group of individuals (belonging to the same species) that lives in a given area.

protein: A compound made from one or more long chains of amino acids. Proteins are an essential part of all living organisms. They form the basis of living cells, muscle and tissues; they also do the work inside of cells. Antibodies, hemoglobin and enzymes are all examples of proteins. Medicines frequently work by latching onto proteins.

python: A large, heavy-bodied, nonpoisonous constrictor snake.

secrete: (noun: secretion) The natural release of some liquid substance — such as hormones, an oil or saliva — often by an organ of the body.

species: A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring that can survive and reproduce.

symptom: A physical or mental indicator generally regarded to be characteristic of a disease. Sometimes a single symptom — especially a general one, such as fever or pain — can be a sign of any of many different types of injury or disease.

tissue: Made of cells, it is any of the distinct types of materials that make up animals, plants or fungi. Cells within a tissue work as a unit to perform a particular function in living organisms. Different organs of the human body, for instance, often are made from many different types of tissues.

vegetation: Leafy, green plants. The term refers to the collective community of plants in some area. Typically these do not include tall trees, but instead plants that are shrub height or shorter.

veterinarian: A doctor who studies or treats animals (not humans).

X-ray: A type of radiation analogous to gamma rays, but having somewhat lower energy.

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