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Medical and Healthy Living Glossary - W

This page of our online glossary of medical and healthy living is for medical and healthy living terms beginning with the letter 'W'.

• Water Balance - The state in which the water being lost by the body, for example in urine or by sweating, is balanced by the water absorbed from food and drink.
• Weal - A small area of skin which swells due to a sharp blow or an insect bite.
• Wechsler Scales - A set of standardised scales for measuring a persons IQ. There are three separate versions to suit different age groups.
• West Nile Fever - A viral infection which is carried by mosquitoes. West Nile fever causes fever, pains, enlarged lymph nodes and sometimes inflammation of the brain.
• White Blood Cells (Leucocytes) - A variety of colourless blood cells which contain a nucleus but have no haemoglobin, such as neutrophils and lymphocytes, that protect the body from invading organisms.
• White Matter - Nerve tissue in the central nervous system which contains more myelin than grey matter.