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vital signs

The baseline health measurements, which include temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate.

vitamin

Essential substances that cannot be produced by the body and so must be acquired from the diet.

vitiligo

A common disorder of skin pigmentation, in which patches of skin, usually on the face, hands, armpits and groin, lose their colour. It is thought to be an autoimmune disease.

vitreous haemorrhage

Bleeding into the transparent gel-like body that fills the rear area of the eye, between the lens and the retina.

VMA

vanillyl-mandelic acid, which is the excretory product of the catecholamines.

volvulus

A serious condition where there is twisting of a loop of the intestine, or, in rare cases,of the stomach

vomiting

Expusion of the contents of the stomach through the mouth.

von Willebrand's disease

A bleeding disorder caused by a defect of deficiency of a blood clotting protein.

VT

ventricular tachycardia

vulva

The external part of the female genitalia.

vulvitis

Inflammation of the vulva.

vulvovaginitis

Inflammation of the vagina and vulva.

vascularisation

The process of blood flowing through the area.