Medical glossary
227 words and abbreviations, explained without jargon. Every one of them also appears inside our articles — hover or tap the dotted underline and the definition comes to you, so you never have to leave what you were reading.
F
- Fasting blood sugarFBS, Fasting plasma glucose, FPGFasting blood sugar is the glucose level in blood after at least eight hours without food or sweetened drink. It is the simplest and cheapest test for diabetes, and one of the three that can diagnose it.
- Fight-or-flight responseFight or flight, Stress response, Fight, flight or freezeThe body's automatic alarm reaction to danger: adrenaline makes the heart race, breathing speed up and muscles tense, ready to fight or run. It can also fire when there is no real danger.
- Flashback