Note:
“A” to “Z” Therapeutic Properties & Flower Remedies
Generated on 9/18/2008
Updated on 2/18/2009
Updated on 2/22/23
As all of you know I am done working on my Master Herbalist degree and moving on to my Doctor of Naturopath (ND). As I'm working along it seem to me that I was always looking up words to understand this foreign language, lol, so I decide to bring this to you, now all of us can understand together.
Click on the hyper-link below to find what you are looking for (to move around this growing document or just scroll).
If you find a word that is not in this document please email the word to me at melody@melodyanns.com I will be happy to add it.
S
– Saccharide – A sugar molecule.
– Saliva – Watery, slightly acidic secretion of salivary glands that moistens food and initiates its breakdown.
– Salt – The chemical combination of an acid and a base yielding a salt plus water.
– Salve – A medicinal ointment used to soothe or heal skin irritations, burns, or wounds; ointment; unguent.
– Saponin – A glycoside that forms a soap like lather when shaken in water. There are two broad groups: the steroidal saponins, which seem to mimic the precursors of female sex hormones, and the tri-terpenoid saponins, which mimic the adrenal hormone ACTH.
– Saprophyte – A free-living organism that lives on dead or putrefying tissue.
– Sarcolemma – The cell membrane of a muscle cell. Like the cell membrane of nerves, the sarcolemma is able to conduct action potentials.
– Sarcoma – A tumor of connective tissue.
– Saturated fat – A fat that is solid at room temperature. Most saturated fats are of animal origin, although a few, such as coconut oil and palm oil, come from plants.
– Saturation – With regard to fats, the term “saturation” refers to the chemical structure of the fatty acid molecules, specifically the number of hydrogen atoms present. Fat molecules that cannot incorporate any additional hydrogen atoms are said to be saturated; those that could incorporate one additional Hydrogen atom are referred to as monounsaturated; and those that could incorporate two or more additional hydrogen atoms are referred to as polyunsaturated.
– Scab – Mark left on skin by a healing wound where connective tissues replace damaged tissues; cicatrix.
– Scabies – A skin infection from an infestation of mites that causes severe itching, especially around the groin and nipples and between fingers.
– Scalds> – A burn or other injury caused by hot liquid or steam.
– Scar – (Return to Cicatrix). Are areas of fibrous tissue that replace normal skin (or other tissue) after injury. A scar results from the biologic process of wound repair in the skin and other tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natural part of the healing process. With the exception of very minor lesions, every wound results in some degree of scarring. Mark left on skin by a healing wound where connective tissues replace damaged tissues.
– Schistosomiasis – An intestinal disease in the tropics, due to infestation of blood flukes, that causes anemia, diarrhea, dysentery, and cirrhosis; snail fever.
– Sciatica – Condition marked by pain down the back of the thigh, due to disintegration of an intervertebral disk, accompanied by numbness and a stiff back.
– Scleranthus (Flower Remedies) – For feelings of uncertainty and indecision. For those who are one way one minute, and another the next.
– Scleroderma – (Return to Collagen disease). Is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by a hardening or sclerosis in the skin or other organs. The localized typed of the disease, known as “morphea”, while disabling, tends not to be fatal. The systemic type or systemic sclerosis, the generalized type of the disease, can be fatal, as a result of heart, kidney, lung or intestinal damage. It is currently not fully understood what exactly causes this disease, although there are various theories.
– Sclerosis – Hardening of tissue due to inflammation.
– Scopolamine – A belladonna derivative.
– Scorbutic – Concerning of affected with scurvy.
– Scrapes – Rub or cause to rub by accident against a rough or hard surface, causing damage or injury.
– Scratch test – A procedure in which a small amount of a suspected allergen is applied to a lightly scratched area of skin to test for an allergic reaction.
– Scrofula – Tuberculosis affecting the lymph nodes in the neck area.
– Scurvy – A nutritional disease due to a deficiency due to a deficiency of vitamin C characterized by weakness, capillary fragility, and spongy gums.
– Seborrhea – Excessive secretion by sebaceous glands in the face, especially at puberty: see also seborrheic dermatitis.
– Seborrheic dermatitis – Skin eruption due to an excess secretion of sebum, common on the face at puberty. (Return to Seborrhea)
– Sebum – The oily secretion produced by glands in the skin.
– Secondary infection – An infection that develops after and is made possible by the presence or effect of a previous infection, inflammation, or other condition, but that is not necessarily directly caused by it.
– Secretion – Synthesis and release of a substance by a cell or an organ.
– Secretions – The process of secreting a substance, especially one that is not a waste, from the blood or cells: secretion of hormones; secretion of milk by the mammary glands. A substance, such as saliva, mucus, tears, bile, or a hormone, that is secreted.
– Sedative – Remedies which lower functional activity. A substance that quiets the nervous system. Calms or tranquilizes by lowering functional activity of organ or body part. An agent that reduces functional activity; calming.
– Seed – Fertilized plant ovule containing the embryo, capable of germinating to produce a new plant.
– Seizure – A sudden, brief episode characterized by changes in consciousness, perception, muscular motion, and/or behavior. A convulsion is a type of seizure. Sudden attack of disease or condition.
– Senescence – Bodily degeneration after maturity.
– Sepal – Leaflike, usually green, outer circle of the calyx.
– Sepsis – Same as septicemia.
– Septic – Affected with putrefactive destruction by disease-carrying bacteria or their toxins.
– Septicemia – An infection characterized by the presence of microorganisms and their toxins in the bloodstream. Presence of pathogenic bacteria in the blood; blood poisoning. Tissue destruction by disease-causing bacteria or toxins absorbed from the bloodstream; blood poisoning. (Return to Sepsis)
– Serotonin – A neurotransmitter found principally in the brain that is considered essential for relaxation, sleep, and concentration.
– Serum – The fluid portion of the blood. Liquid portion of the blood.
– Sessile – Lacking a stalk.
– Sexual transmitted – (Return to Chlamydia).
– Shingles – Herpes zoster (q.v.). Is a viral infection of the nerve roots. It causes pain and often causes a rash on one side of the body, the left or right. The rash appears in a band, a strip, or a small area. A Shingles is most common in older adults and people who have weak immune systems because of stress, injury, certain medicines, or other reasons. Most people who get shingles will get better and will not get it again.
– Sialagogue – A substance that stimulates the flow of saliva to aid digestion.
– Sialagogues – Herbs which excite the salivary glands to secretion. Herb that increases the flow of saliva.
– Side effect – A secondary and usually adverse effect, as from a drug or other treatment.
– Silique – A term applied to the peculiar seedpod structure of plants in the Mustard family.
– Simple carbohydrate – A type of carbohydrate that, owing to its chemical structure, is rapidly digested and absorbed into the bloodstream. Glucose, lactose, and fructose are examples of simple carbohydrates.
– Skin – the thin layer of tissue forming the natural outer covering of the body of a person or animal.
– Somnifacient – See Soporifics. Tending to produce sleep.
– Soporifics – Herbs which cause sleep. (Return to Somnifacient)
– Sorbefacients – Herbs which cause absorption.
– Sorbic acid – An organic acid used as a food preservative.
– Spadix – A thick, fleshy flower spike usually enveloped by a spathe.
– Spasm – Sustained involuntary muscular contraction.
– Spasmolytic – Tending or having the power to relieve spasms or convulsions. (See Antispasmodics)
– Spastic colon – Irritable bowel syndrome.
– Spasticity – Resistance to passive movement of a limb; lack of motor coordination.
– Spathe – A modified, Leaflike structure surrounding a spadix.
– Species – Basic unit of biological classification ranking below genus, including similar organisms capable of interbreeding.
– Specific – A remedy having a curative effect on a particular disease or symptom.
– Specifics – Herbs which have a direct curative influence upon certain individual diseases.
– Spermatorrhea – Abnormally frequent involuntary loss of semen without orgasm.
– Sphincter – A muscle that opens and closes an orifice.
– Spikes – An inflorescence in which flowers bloom along the entire length of a single stalk.
– Splanchnic – Pertaining to the internal organs.
– Splenic – Relating to the spleen, the largest endocrine gland.
– Spondylosis – Abnormal immobility and fixation of vertebral joints. Degeneration of intervertebral disks in the back-bone, causing pain and restricting movement.
– Sputum – Mucus coughed up from the respiratory tract; phlegm. (Return to Phlegm)
– Staging – Method used to establish the extent of a patient's disease.
– Stamen – The pollen-bearing anther with attached filaments.
– Standard treatment – A treatment or other intervention currently being used and considered to be of proven effectiveness on the basis of past studies.
– Star of Bethlehem (Flower Remedies) – This remedy is good for all kinds of chock and the after effects of trauma.
– Stenosis – Abnormal narrowing of a blood vessel or heart valve.
– Steroid – One of a group of fat—soluble organic compounds with a characteristic chemical composition. A number of different hormones, drugs, and other substances—including cholesterol—are classified as steroids. Any of the large family of chemical compounds including hormones produced by the adrenal glands, ovaries, and testes; medication used for immunosuppression and hormone replacement.
– STD – A sexually transmitted disease; see also Venereal disease (VD).
– Stimulant – A substance that increases body energy, especially by increasing blood circulation. Increases internal heat, dispels internal chill and strengthens metabolism and circulation. An agent that quickens the physiological functions of the body.
– Stimulants – Remedies which increase functional activity.
– Stipule – An appendage resembling a small leaf at the base of leaves of certain plants.
– Stitch – Sudden, sharp pain, usually in muscle between ribs.
– Stolon – A stem that takes root at intervals along the ground, forming new plants.
– Stomach Ache – pain in or in the region of the stomach.
– Stomachic – A gastric stimulant (See Carminatives). Strengthens stomach function. Digestive aid and tonic; improving the appetite.
– Stomachics – Stimulants to the stomach.
– Stridor – Loud, harsh breathing noise due to partial obstruction of the trachea or larynx.
– Stroke – An attack in which the brain is suddenly deprived of oxygen as a result of interrupted blood flow. It is continues for more than a few minutes, brain damage and even death may result. Sudden weakness or paralysis, often on one side of the body, due to interruption of blood flow to the brain caused by thrombosis, embolus, or hemorrhage; apoplexy; cerebrovascular accident.
– Sty – Acute bacterial infection of a gland at the base of an eyelash.
– Styptic – Externally applied will arrest local bleeding by contracting blood vessels.
– Styptics – Hemostatics.
– Subclinical – Designating suspected disease or injury that is not developed enough to produce definite signs and symptoms.
– Subcostal – Beneath the ribs.
– Subcutaneous – Giving a drug by injecting it under the skin.
– Sublingual – Literally, “under the tongue.” Sublingual medications and supplements often look like tablets or liquids meant for swallowing, but they are designed to be held in the mouth while the active ingredient is absorbed into the bloodstream through the mucous membranes.
– Submucosa – The tissue just below the mucous membrane.
– Succulent – Plant with thick, fleshy tissues that stores starch.
– Sucralose – An artificial sweetener, six hundred times sweeter than sugar, used in diet foods. Sucralose is derived from sugar through a patented, multistep process that selectively substitutes three chlorine atoms for three hydrogen-oxygen groups on the sugar molecule. The tightly bound chlorine atoms create a molecular structure that is exceptionally stable.
– Sudorific – Stimulates production and secretion of perspiration.
– Sudorifics – Herbs which produce sweating.
– Sulph—Ozone – A defunct proprietary medicine.
– Sunburn – Reddening, inflammation, and, in severe cases, blistering and peeling of the skin caused by overexposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun.
– Suppressor T cell – A lymphocyte controlled by the thymus gland, which suppresses the immune response.
– Suppuration – Formation and discharge of pus.
– Surfactant – A compound that reduces the surface tension in water, between water and another liquid, or between a liquid and a solid.
– Sympatholytic – A drug that affects the sympathetic nervous system.
– Symptom – An alteration in normal feeling or functioning experienced as a result of a bodily disorder. Characteristic indication of disease or disorder.
– Synapse – Junction between two excitable cells.
– Syncope – Temporary loss of consciousness; fainting.
– Syndrome – A group of signs and symptoms that together are known or presumed to characterize a disorder.
– Synergistic – The simultaneous action of two or more substances whose combined effect is greater than the sum of each working alone.
– Synergy – An interaction between two or more substances in which their action is greater when they are together than the sum of their individual actions would be.
– Synthesize – To create a complex substance by combining simpler elements or compounds.
– Systemic – Pertaining to the entire body. Affecting the entire body, not just one part.
– Systole – (Return to Asystole). Is the contraction of heart chambers, driving blood out of the chambers. The chamber most often discussed is the left ventricle. However, all four chambers of the heart undergo systole and diastole in a timed fashion so that blood is propelled forward through the cardiovascular system.
– Systolic – The first number in a blood pressure reading; the pressure in the arteries during the contraction phase of the heartbeat.
—References— “Advanced Treatise in Herbology” by – Edward E. Shook, N.D., D.C. Copyright by Wendell W. Whitman 302 E. Winona Avenue, Warsaw, IN 46580.
—References— Business Dictionary.com http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/anaerobic.html
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—References— Medicine Net.com http://www.medterms.com
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—References— “Nutritional Herbology” by – Mark Pedersen, Copyright 2008, ISBN – 10: 1-885653-07-7; ISBN – 13: 978-1-885653-07-9
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—References— “Prescription for Nutrition Healing” by – Phyllis A. Balch, CNC, Copyright 2006, ISBN: 1-58333-236-7.
—References— “The Ultimate Healing System – The Illustrated Guide to Muscle Testing & Nutrition” by – Donald Lepore, N.D.
Copyright 1985, ISBN: 0-94717-11560-7.
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