Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

tachy-
Prefix meaning swift or rapid, as in tachy-
cardia (rapid heart rate). From the Greek word
tachys, meaning “swift.”
tachycardia
A rapid heart rate, usually defined as
greater than 100 beats per minute.
tachypnea
Abnormally fast breathing.
tactile
Having to do with touch. For example, tac-
tile signs of disease are signs that are perceptible by
touch, such as roughness of the skin.
taenia 1
In medicine, a genus of large tape-
worms, some of which are parasitic in humans.
2
In anatomy, a band or a structural line; specifically,
several bands and lines of nervous matter in the
brain. Also spelled tenia.
Taenia saginata
See 
beef tapeworm.
Taenia solium
A tapeworm that can parasitize
people and can be contracted from undercooked or
infested pork. Also known as the armed tapeworm,
the pork tapeworm, and the measly tapeworm.
tag, ear
See 
ear tag.
tag, preauricular
See 
ear tag.
tag, skin
See 
skin tag.
tail 1
A slender appendage, such as the tail of the
pancreas.
2
The appendage that protrudes from
the backside of an animal. A person can appear to
have a tail due to the presence of extra segments of
the coccyx.
taint
To poison, infect, or spoil.
Takayasu disease
A chronic inflammatory dis-
ease of the aorta and its branch arteries. The cause
is unknown. The disease is most common in young
women of Asian descent and usually begins between
Tt
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10 and 30 years of age. Symptoms include painful,
cool, or blanched extremities, dizziness, headaches,
chest and abdominal pain, and low-grade fever. The
blood pressure is often high. The sedimentation rate
(sed rate) may be elevated, reflecting inflammation.
The diagnosis is confirmed by an angiogram of the
arteries (arteriogram) showing abnormally nar-
rowed and constricted arteries. The disease is
treated with corticosteroids and immunosuppres-
sive drugs when needed. Also known as Takayasu
arteritis; Martorell syndrome; pulseless disease; and
aortic arch syndrome.