Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > Contraindications
Contraindications
A contraindication (pronounced as contra-indication) is a condition or factor that speaks against a certain measure. It is mostly used in medicine, with regard to factors that increase the risks involved in using a particular drug, carrying out a medical procedure, or engaging in a particular activity.
Some contraindications are absolute, meaning that there are no reasonable circumstances for undertaking a course of action. For example, a baby with a fever should never be given aspirin because of the risk of Reye's syndrome, and a person with an anaphylactic food allergy should never eat the food to which they are allergic. Similarly, a person with hemochromatosis should not be administered iron preparations.
Other contraindications are relative, meaning that the patient is at higher risk of complications, but that these risks may be outweighed by other considerations or mitigated by other measures. For example, a pregnant woman should normally avoid getting X-rays, but the risk may be far less than the risk of not diagnosing or being able to treat a serious condition such as tuberculosis or a broken bone. Relative contraindications may also be referred to as cautions, such as in the British National Formulary.
- Part of Speech: noun
- Synonym(s):
- Blossary:
- Industry/Domain: Biotechnology; Health care; Life Sciences; Medical
- Category: Diseases; Hospitals; Diseases; Herbal medicine
- Company:
- Product:
- Acronym-Abbreviation:
Other Languages:
Member comments
Terms in the News
Featured Terms
Dead Alien in Siberia
The UFO crash video showing a dead extraterritorial alien that went viral on the internet. Titled "Dead Alien Found in UFO Hotspot in ...
Contributor
Featured blossaries
HOSEOKNAM
0
Terms
42
Blossaries
11
Followers
Sino-US Strategy and Economic Development
Browers Terms By Category
- General Finance(7677)
- Funds(1299)
- Commodity exchange(874)
- Private equity(515)
- Accountancy(421)
- Real estate investment(192)
Financial services(11765) Terms
- Mapping science(4042)
- Soil science(1654)
- Physical oceanography(1561)
- Geology(1407)
- Seismology(488)
- Remote sensing(446)
Earth science(10026) Terms
- Fuel cell(402)
- Capacitors(290)
- Motors(278)
- Generators(192)
- Circuit breakers(147)
- Power supplies(77)
Electrical equipment(1403) Terms
- Cultural anthropology(1621)
- Physical anthropology(599)
- Mythology(231)
- Applied anthropology(11)
- Archaeology(6)
- Ethnology(2)
Anthropology(2472) Terms
- Advertising(244)
- Event(2)