Human health and medicine

White coat ceremony

The white coat ceremony is a rite of passage cloaking entering medical, nursing, and other health students, first held in 1989 at the University of Chicago.

White coat hypertension: elevated clinic blood pressure with normal ambulatory or home readings in untreated people, termed by Pickering in 1988; affects about one third of such patients and often progresses to sustained hypertension.

White fibrous papulosis of the neck

White fibrous papulosis of the neck (WFPN), a rare benign fibroelastolytic skin condition first described by Shimizu in 1985, produces 2-3 mm white asymptomatic papules on the neck of women over 60, mimicking pseudoxanthoma elasticum.

White House Coronavirus Task Force

White House Coronavirus Task Force: US federal COVID-19 response body announced January 29, 2020, first led by HHS Secretary Alex Azar, then Vice President Pence; held daily briefings, sent weekly state reports, replaced by Biden's COVID-19 Response Team.

White light endoscopy

White light endoscopy (WLE) is the standard endoscopic imaging technique that illuminates internal body surfaces with broadband visible white light, recording true-to-life color images of the mucosa.

White piedra

White piedra is an asymptomatic superficial fungal infection of hair shafts caused by Trichosporon species, mainly T. inkin, forming soft white nodules; treated by shaving plus 2% ketoconazole shampoo, distinguished from black piedra caused by Piedraia hortae.

White platelet syndrome

White platelet syndrome (WPS) is a rare inherited platelet disorder causing low platelet counts, large platelets, reduced reactivity, and prolonged bleeding, first described in a Minnesota family in 2004.

White pulp

White pulp, also called the Malpighian body of the spleen, is the lymphoid tissue surrounding the central arteries where adaptive immune responses to blood-borne antigens are initiated.

Oct 20, 2026

White sponge nevus

White sponge nevus (Cannon's disease, hereditary mucosal leukokeratosis) is a rare autosomal dominant KRT4/KRT13 disorder causing benign white, spongy oral mucosal patches, usually appearing in childhood, affecting under 1 in 200,000 people.

White-light cystoscopy

White-light cystoscopy is the routine endoscopic examination of the bladder lining using visible white light to detect and monitor bladder tumors; it can miss flat lesions like carcinoma in situ.

White-Sutton syndrome

White-Sutton syndrome (WHSUS, OMIM 616364), also called POGZ-related intellectual disability syndrome, is a rare autosomal dominant neurodevelopmental disorder caused by heterozygous POGZ variants, usually de novo, causing intellectual disability, speech delay, hypotonia, autism features, and obesity.

Whitehall Study

Whitehall Study: series of British civil servant cohort studies (Whitehall I from 1967, Whitehall II from 1985, 10,308 participants) showing a steep employment-grade gradient in mortality, coronary heart disease, and cognitive ageing; ongoing at UCL.

Whittington Hospital

The Whittington Hospital, Archway, London N19 5NF: NHS acute hospital run by Whittington Health NHS Trust, CQC-rated Good, maternity requires improvement; site dates to 1473; £60m maternity and £80m power redevelopment underway.

WHO analgesic ladder

The WHO analgesic ladder is a 1986 World Health Organization guideline for cancer pain that escalates from non-opioids to weak opioids to strong opioids as pain worsens.

WHO CNS5 classification

The WHO CNS5 classification is the World Health Organization's 2021 standard for classifying brain and spinal cord tumors, combining histological and molecular features into an integrated diagnosis with a CNS WHO grade.

WHO Model List of Essential Medicines

WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (EML), first published 1977 and updated every two years; current 24th edition (2025) lists 523 medicines plus a 374-item children's list (EMLc), guiding national lists in over 150 countries.

Whole Blood Coagulation Time

Whole blood coagulation time, also called whole blood clotting time, is the time blood takes to clot after leaving the body, classically measured by the Lee-White method.

Whole blood transfusion

Whole blood transfusion is the infusion of unseparated blood containing red cells, plasma, and platelets in one unit, used mainly to resuscitate patients with trauma and massive hemorrhage.

Whole Body Imaging

Whole body imaging: acquiring diagnostic information from the entire body in one examination, via CT, MRI, PET, PET-CT, and whole-body MRI; milestones 1895-2010, with contested use for screening asymptomatic adults.

Whole body vibration

Whole body vibration (WBV) is a physical therapy in which a person stands or exercises on an oscillating platform, typically 12.6 to 45 Hz, to train muscle, bone, and balance.

Whole brain radiotherapy

Whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) is a radiation therapy technique that delivers ionizing radiation to the entire brain, used mainly to treat brain metastases, typically 30 Gy in 10 fractions.

Whole breast irradiation

Whole breast irradiation (WBI) is adjuvant external beam radiotherapy treating the entire breast after breast-conserving surgery, typically 45–50 Gy over five weeks, with hypofractionated five-fraction schedules now standard.

Oct 20, 2026

Whole cow milk in infant formula

Whole cow milk in infant formula: dry or liquid whole bovine milk used as a GRAS ingredient (GRNs 980, 1041, 1172, 1179) in term infant formula, unlike unmodified whole milk, which is unsuitable as a sole infant food.

Whole grain

Whole grain: grain retaining bran, germ, and endosperm in intact-kernel proportions (FDA definition). Covers kernel anatomy, milling losses, processing effects, health evidence, and inconsistent labeling standards.

Whole-body computed tomography

Whole-body computed tomography, also called the pan-scan, is a diagnostic imaging method that scans the entire body in one CT session, most often for severely injured trauma patients.

Whole-body cryotherapy

Whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) exposes the minimally dressed body to dry air below −100 °C for two to four minutes, used for athletic recovery and painful inflammatory conditions.

Whole-body scintigraphy

Whole-body scintigraphy is a nuclear medicine imaging method in which a gamma camera maps radiotracer uptake across the whole body, surveying for tumor, infection, or bone disease.

Whole30

Whole30 is a 30-day elimination and reintroduction diet program founded in 2009 by Melissa Urban and Dallas Hartwig, cutting sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, and dairy, with a vegan Plant-Based variant since 2022.

Whooping cough

Whooping cough (pertussis), caused by Bordetella pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial respiratory infection with paroxysmal cough and whoop, most dangerous to infants; vaccine history from 1914 whole-cell to DTaP/Tdap, with waning immunity and a 2024 global resurgence.