Human health and medicine

Basic metabolic panel

Basic metabolic panel (BMP), also called chem 7 or chemistry panel: an eight-part blood test measuring glucose, calcium, sodium, potassium, chloride, CO2, BUN, and creatinine to assess kidney function, electrolytes, and metabolism.

Basic reproduction number

Basic reproduction number (R0, R-naught): epidemiologic metric for expected secondary infections per case in a fully susceptible, intervention-free population; threshold R0 > 1 sustains outbreaks; distinct from time-varying effective Rt.

Basic Research in Cardiology

Basic Research in Cardiology is a bimonthly peer-reviewed journal of experimental cardiology, published by Springer and the official journal of the German Cardiac Society since 1973.

Basidiobolomycosis

Basidiobolomycosis is a chronic subcutaneous and occasionally gastrointestinal fungal infection caused by Basidiobolus ranarum, affecting mainly immunocompetent children in tropical regions, diagnosed by histopathology and culture, treated with azoles, potassium iodide, and surgery.

Basilar artery

Basilar artery: unpaired brain artery formed by union of the vertebral arteries at the pontomedullary junction, ascending on the pons and ending as the posterior cerebral arteries; supplies brainstem, cerebellum, and occipital lobes.

Basilar membrane

Basilar membrane: elastic membrane dividing the cochlea's scala media and scala tympani, carrying the tonotopic traveling wave discovered by von Békésy (Nobel 1961), later shown to be nonlinear and amplified by outer hair cells.

Basilar skull fracture

Fracture of base of skull (basilar skull fracture), ICD-11 NA02.1: temporal-bone skull base fracture from blunt trauma; hemotympanum, Battle sign, raccoon eyes, CSF leak; diagnosed by CT, mostly managed conservatively.

Basilic vein

Basilic vein (vena basilica): large superficial vein of the arm, arising from the ulnar dorsal venous network, joining the brachial veins to form the axillary vein; preferred site for PICC and midline catheters and used for hemodialysis fistulas.

Basiliximab

Basiliximab (Simulect, CHI-621) is a chimeric IgG1 anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody approved in 1998 for prophylaxis of acute rejection in de novo allogeneic kidney transplantation, given as 20 mg on days 0 and 4.

Basivertebral nerve ablation

Basivertebral nerve ablation (BVNA) is a minimally invasive procedure that uses radiofrequency energy to destroy the basivertebral nerve inside vertebrae, treating chronic vertebrogenic low back pain.

Basket cell

Basket cell: GABAergic inhibitory interneuron forming basket-like axon terminals around pyramidal cell somata and proximal dendrites; two classes, fast-spiking parvalbumin and regular-spiking CCK basket cells, controlling principal cell output and oscillations.

Basket trial

A basket trial is a clinical trial design that enrolls patients with different cancer types sharing one molecular alteration, such as a gene mutation, and treats them all with one targeted therapy.

Basophil activation test

The basophil activation test is a flow cytometry blood test that diagnoses IgE-mediated allergy by measuring CD63 and CD203c activation on basophils exposed to a suspected allergen.

Bat as food

Bat as food: eating bats as bushmeat, affecting at least 167 species (Pteropus, Eidolon helvum, Tadarida) across Africa, Asia, and Oceania, with conservation and zoonotic concerns including Nipah and Ebola risks.

BAT5906 (anti-VEGF antibody)

BAT5906 (维拉西塔单抗注射液) is Bio-Thera Solutions' full-length humanized IgG1κ anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody for ophthalmic use. Its Phase 3 nAMD trial beat ranibizumab on CRT and BCVA endpoints; NMPA accepted its nAMD marketing application in December 2025.

Bates method

Bates method: alternative vision-improvement system by ophthalmologist William H. Bates (Perfect Sight Without Glasses, 1920), using palming, sunning, swinging, and central fixation; rejected by ophthalmology, trials show no refractive improvement, and sungazing risks solar retinopathy.

Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index

The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) is a six-item patient questionnaire measuring disease activity in axial spondyloarthritis, scored 0 to 10, developed in Bath, England.

Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index

The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) is a ten-question, patient-completed questionnaire measuring functional ability in ankylosing spondylitis, scored 0 to 10 with higher scores meaning more severe limitation.

Bathing

Bathing, the washing of the body with water and cleansers, spans Roman thermae, Middle Eastern hammams, and modern home bathrooms; shaped by germ theory, plumbing, skin-barrier effects, and monitored recreational bathing water quality.

Bathing suit ichthyosis

Bathing suit ichthyosis (BSI, Badeanzug-Ichthyose), a rare temperature-sensitive variant of autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis caused by TGM1 mutations, with dark platelike scales limited to the trunk, neck, and scalp.

Bathroom Equipment

Bathroom Equipment is a MeSH category (D000072296, introduced 2017) of receptacles for collecting human excrement: bedpans, commodes, toilets, and urinals used when patients cannot reach a bathroom.

Oct 20, 2026

Baths

Baths: immersion or washing of the body or its parts in water or another medium for cleansing or medical treatment, from Roman thermae to balneotherapy, spa therapy, bed bathing, and modern evidence reviews.

Batoclimab

Batoclimab (HBM9161, IMVT-1401) is a fully human IgG1 anti-FcRn monoclonal antibody developed by HanAll Biopharma for IgG-mediated autoimmunity; it was discontinued in 2026 after failed phase 3 thyroid eye disease trials.

Batten disease

Batten disease, also called Spielmeyer-Vogt disease or Batten-Mayou syndrome, is the common name for the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses, inherited lysosomal storage disorders causing childhood vision loss, seizures, and early death.

Battle Creek Sanitarium

Battle Creek Sanitarium, founded 1866 as the Western Health Reform Institute in Battle Creek, Michigan, was John Harvey Kellogg's world-famous Adventist health resort; birthplace of corn flakes, later the Percy Jones Hospital and Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center.

Battlefield acupuncture

Battlefield acupuncture is an auricular acupuncture protocol using up to five short gold needles per ear for rapid pain relief, developed for US military medicine.

Bausch & Lomb

Bausch & Lomb (Bausch + Lomb), founded 1853 in Rochester, New York by John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb, is an eye health company making contact lenses, lens care, ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, and surgical devices; it introduced the first US mass-produced soft contact lens (SofLens, 1971) and IPO'd as BLCO in 2022.

Bausch Health

Bausch Health Companies Inc., formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals, is a Laval, Quebec-based specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company with ~1,000 products in five segments, flagship drug Xifaxan, ~88% ownership of Bausch + Lomb, and 2025 revenue of $10,266 million.

Bavituximab

Bavituximab (Tarvacin, PGN401) is a chimeric IgG1 monoclonal antibody targeting phosphatidylserine via beta-2-glycoprotein I; its phase III SUNRISE lung cancer trial failed futility, and rights passed to Feng Biosciences.