Life and health

Executive functions

Executive functions: top-down cognitive processes (inhibition, working memory updating, set shifting) controlling goal-directed behavior, prefrontal-network based, impaired in ADHD and dementia, assessed by tests, rating scales, and VR.

Exenatide

Exenatide (Byetta, Bydureon) is a 39-amino-acid GLP-1 receptor agonist derived from exendin-4, first FDA-approved April 2005 for type 2 diabetes; renally eliminated, twice-daily or weekly formulations, now discontinued with no US generic.

Exenteration (surgery)

Exenteration is an ultraradical surgical procedure removing the organs of a body cavity en bloc, most often the pelvic organs, to treat advanced or recurrent cancer.

Exercise

Exercise: planned physical activity for fitness and health. Aerobic and resistance types; WHO advises 150-300 min moderate aerobic plus 2 days muscle-strengthening weekly; 31% of adults fall short.

Exercise echocardiography

Exercise echocardiography is a cardiac ultrasound test imaging the heart during or after exercise to detect ischemia, used to diagnose and risk-stratify coronary artery disease.

Exercise intolerance

Exercise intolerance is a reduced ability to perform physical activity, limited by dyspnea, fatigue, or leg discomfort. Causes include heart failure (about 50% of the 6 million U.S. patients), COPD, anemia, and Long COVID; CPET is the gold-standard assessment.

Exercise Movement Techniques

Exercise Movement Techniques: MeSH heading (D026241, introduced 2002) for structured physical activity methods promoting well-being, covering breathing exercises, Qigong, Dance Therapy, Tai Ji, Yoga, and Pilates-based exercises.

Exercise physiology

Exercise physiology: study of acute bodily responses and chronic adaptations to exercise, from Lavoisier's calorimetry and Hill's VO2max to modern FITT prescription, cardiac rehabilitation, wearables, and molecular transducers research.

Exercise stress testing

Exercise stress testing is a diagnostic procedure that monitors the ECG, blood pressure, and symptoms during treadmill exercise to detect myocardial ischemia and assess prognosis.

Exercise Therapy

Exercise therapy: prescribed physical activity regimens (exercise prescription, remedial exercise) to restore musculoskeletal function or reduce pain. Moderate-certainty evidence supports it for chronic low back pain, knee osteoarthritis, depression, and stroke rehabilitation.

Exercise Tolerance

Exercise tolerance: an individual's exercise capacity measured as maximal exercise duration or work load during an exercise test; assessed by CPET (gold standard), graded stress tests, or six-minute walk, and a strong prognostic marker.

Exercise tolerance test

The exercise tolerance test, also called the exercise stress test or exercise ECG, is a cardiology procedure that detects exercise-induced ischemia while the patient walks on a treadmill or cycles.

Oct 20, 2026

Exercise-induced anaphylaxis

Exercise-induced anaphylaxis (EIA) is a rare, potentially fatal hypersensitivity syndrome in which anaphylaxis occurs with exercise; in its food-dependent form, symptoms arise only when exercise follows eating a trigger food, most often wheat.

Oct 20, 2026

Exercise-induced bronchospasm

Exercise-induced bronchospasm, now called exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), formerly exercise-induced asthma, is acute airway narrowing triggered by exercise, affecting up to 90% of asthma patients and 30–70% of elite athletes, diagnosed by a ≥10% FEV1 fall and treated with pre-exercise SABA.

Exercise-induced hyperinsulinism

Exercise-induced hyperinsulinism (EIHI, MCT1-HI, HHF7) is a rare autosomal dominant congenital hyperinsulinism caused by SLC16A1 promoter mutations, causing hypoglycemia 30–45 minutes after anaerobic exercise.

Exercise-induced malignant hyperthermia

Exercise-induced malignant hyperthermia, also called awake MH or exertional heat stroke, is a rare RYR1-related disorder in which exercise and heat trigger hyperthermia above 40°C, encephalopathy, and rhabdomyolysis, treated with dantrolene rather than cooling alone.

Exertional dizziness

Exertional dizziness (ICD-11 MB48.2), dizziness triggered by physical exertion; also called exertional vertigo. Causes include autonomic dysregulation, cardiac disease during exercise, and benign post-exercise postural hypotension.

Exertional rhabdomyolysis

Exertional rhabdomyolysis: exercise-induced skeletal muscle breakdown causing severe pain, swelling, dark urine and CK over 10,000 IU/L; main complication acute kidney injury, usually under 10% of cases.

Exfoliation (cosmetology)

Exfoliation (cosmetology), also called chemexfoliation when chemical, removes dead skin cells via mechanical scrubs, microdermabrasion, or hydroxy acid peels; distinguished from medical desquamation by its cosmetic purpose and FDA-supervised professional peels.

Exfoliative cytology

Exfoliative cytology is the microscopic examination of cells shed or scraped from body surfaces to detect infections, hormonal changes, and precancerous or cancerous lesions, best known through the Pap test.

Exfoliative ichthyosis

Exfoliative ichthyosis (ichthyosis exfoliativa, ORPHA:289586) is a rare autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis with infancy-onset palmoplantar peeling worsened by water and occlusion, caused by loss-of-function CSTA or SERPINB8 mutations.

Exhalation

Exhalation (respiratory expiration): the act of breathing out. Passive at rest via lung elastic recoil; active via internal intercostals and abdominals during exercise; expiratory flow limitation causes dynamic hyperinflation in COPD.

Exhausted T cell

Exhausted T cell, or T cell exhaustion: a dysfunctional T cell state from chronic antigen stimulation in chronic infection and cancer, marked by hierarchical effector function loss, high PD-1, TIM-3, and LAG-3 expression, epigenetic stabilization, and partial reversal by checkpoint blockade.

Exhaustion due to exposure

Exhaustion due to exposure (ICD-11 NF07.2; ICD-10 T73.2) is a classification category for severe weakness and low resilience from extreme or prolonged environmental exposure, listed as an ill-defined condition not usable as underlying cause of death.

Exhibitionism

Exhibitionism: a paraphilia of sexual excitement from genital exposure to unsuspecting strangers; exhibitionistic disorder (DSM-5-TR, ICD-11 6D30) requires nonconsenting acts or distress for 6+ months; prevalence up to 8% in men; treated with SSRIs, antiandrogens.