Human health and medicine

Drug-induced thrombocytopenic purpura

Drug-induced thrombocytopenic purpura (DITP, DIT) is acute severe immune platelet destruction caused by drug-dependent antibodies, typically 5-10 days after a new drug or hours after re-exposure, with nadir under 20 x 10^9/L; treated by stopping the drug.

Drug-induced urticaria

Drug-induced urticaria: hives or angioedema caused by medications, most often NSAIDs, via IgE-mediated or COX-1 pseudoallergic mechanisms; diagnosed by history and drug provocation testing, managed by avoidance, antihistamines, or alternatives.

Drug-induced vasculitis

Drug-induced vasculitis (DIV), also called medicament-induced vasculitis, is secondary blood vessel inflammation caused by drugs such as hydralazine, propylthiouracil, minocycline, and levamisole-adulterated cocaine; about 3% of vasculitides, usually small-vessel and skin-limited, treated by drug withdrawal.

Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945

Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945: India's core subordinate legislation under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, governing licensing, import, manufacture, sale, labelling and Schedules (H, H1, X, M, Y) for drugs and cosmetics.

Drusen

Drusen are yellow-white extracellular deposits of the aging retina, the hallmark of age-related macular degeneration; hard, soft, and reticular pseudodrusen (subretinal drusenoid deposits) differ in location, size, and progression risk.

Dry beriberi

Dry beriberi (乾性脚気, ICD-11 5B5A.00) is the neurologic form of thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency, causing symmetric stocking-glove polyneuropathy with burning feet, unlike wet beriberi's heart failure; treated with thiamine.

Dry eye syndrome

Dry eye syndrome (keratoconjunctivitis sicca, dry eye disease): multifactorial loss of tear film homeostasis causing burning, blurry vision, and surface damage; affects about 8% of US adults, treated with artificial tears, anti-inflammatory drops, and devices.

Dry needling

Dry needling, also called intramuscular stimulation, is a technique in which thin, solid needles are inserted into myofascial trigger points without injecting any drug, used to treat neuromusculoskeletal pain.

Dry Powder Inhalers

Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) are propellant-free, breath-actuated inhaler devices delivering powdered asthma and COPD drugs to the lungs; lineage runs from the 1948 Aerohalor and 1967 Spinhaler to over 20 marketed devices with pMDI-equivalent efficacy.

Oct 22, 2026

Dry-crosslinking tough tissue adhesives

Dry-crosslinking tough tissue adhesives bond to wet tissue by absorbing interfacial water and then forming physical and covalent crosslinks, introduced as MIT's 2019 dry double-sided tape.

DS009

DS009, also known as SLTE-1009, is a monoclonal antibody targeting PACAP for migraine prevention, discovered by Dartsbio Pharmaceuticals in Zhongshan, China, and licensed to Slate Medicines in February 2026.

DSM-5

DSM-5, the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2013), defines US mental disorder criteria; current version DSM-5-TR (2022) adds prolonged grief disorder and uses ICD-10-CM codes.

DTP Vaccine

DTP vaccine, also DTwP or DTaP, is a combination vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, given as a WHO-recommended three-dose infant series starting at 6 weeks, with pentavalent DTP-Hib-HepB the most used form worldwide.

Dual antiplatelet therapy

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) combines aspirin with an oral P2Y12 inhibitor, such as clopidogrel or ticagrelor, to prevent stent thrombosis and heart attack after coronary intervention.

Dual biologic therapy

Dual biologic therapy, also called dual targeted therapy (DTT), combines two biologics blocking distinct immune pathways, used mainly for inflammatory bowel disease that has not responded to monotherapy.

Dual consciousness

Dual consciousness: the hypothesis that one person can contain two conscious subjects, tested mainly in split-brain (callosotomy) patients, where evidence remains divided between two-agents and single-agent split-perception models.

Dual Energy Scanned Projection Radiography

Dual Energy Scanned Projection Radiography (MeSH D015900), also called dual-energy subtraction radiography (DESR/DES), is a projection X-ray method that digitizes and subtracts high- and low-energy images to yield bone-selective and soft-tissue-selective radiographs, mainly for chest imaging.

Dual-energy computed tomography

Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) acquires CT data at two X-ray energy spectra to characterize tissue composition, yielding iodine maps, virtual non-contrast images, and virtual monoenergetic images.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA, DEXA) is the standard imaging method for measuring bone mineral density using two X-ray energy peaks, diagnosing osteoporosis with a T-score of -2.5 or less, and monitoring treatment.

Dual-probe in situ hybridization

Dual-probe in situ hybridization is a molecular pathology assay that counts HER2 gene and chromosome 17 signals in the same tumor cell nuclei to detect HER2 amplification in breast cancer.

Dual-source computed tomography

Dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) is a CT technique using two X-ray tubes and detectors mounted 90° apart on one gantry, giving fast cardiac imaging and dual-energy material analysis.

Duane retraction syndrome

Duane retraction syndrome (Stilling-Turk-Duane syndrome) is a congenital, nonprogressive strabismus disorder with limited abduction or adduction, globe retraction, and fissure narrowing on adduction, caused by abducens nerve agenesis with aberrant oculomotor innervation of the lateral rectus.

Dubin-Johnson syndrome

Dubin-Johnson syndrome (DJS, hyperbilirubinemia type 2, Dubin-Sprinz disease) is a benign autosomal recessive liver disorder from ABCC2/MRP2 mutations at 10q24, causing chronic conjugated hyperbilirubinemia, urinary coproporphyrin I over 80%, and a black pigmented liver.

Dubowitz syndrome

Dubowitz syndrome, a rare genetic disorder first described by Victor Dubowitz in 1965, features microcephaly, short stature, eczema, intellectual disability, and distinctive facies; no single gene explains it, and genomic studies find many alternative diagnoses.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), also called pseudohypertrophic muscular dystrophy, is an X-linked inherited disease causing rapidly progressive muscle weakness in about 1 in 3,500 boys, caused by DMD gene mutations that eliminate functional dystrophin; walking is typically lost by age 12.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy care considerations

Duchenne muscular dystrophy care considerations are consensus standards, updated in 2018 with CDC support, defining comprehensive multidisciplinary DMD care, assessment schedules, anesthesia rules, and emergency management.

Duck virus hepatitis

Duck virus hepatitis (DVH), also called duck viral hepatitis, is an acute, highly fatal viral disease of ducklings under 6 weeks, caused by duck hepatitis A virus genotypes and duck astroviruses, with hemorrhagic liver lesions and up to 95% mortality.