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sedative — a drug that calms a person and allows her or him to sleep.

seizures — uncontrollable contractions of muscles that can result in sudden movement or loss of control, also known as convulsions.

self-esteem — How you feel about yourself – how you feel about who you are, the way you act, and how you look. When a person does not think too highly of themselves, she is said to have low self-esteem.

semen — the fluid (which contains sperm) a male releases from his penis when he becomes sexually aroused or has an orgasm.

sexual harassment — Sexual advances (like touching, grabbing) or sexual comments (that can be offensive and/or joking) that are not wanted or appropriate. This can happen in the workplace and a person can feel like they have no control over it. They may decide not to deal with it because they fear they will lose their job or not get a raise or promotion.

sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) — diseases that are spread by sexual activity.

sickle cell anemia — a blood disorder passed down from parents to children. It involves problems in the red blood cells. Normal red blood cells are round and smooth and move through blood vessels easily. Sickle cells are hard and have a curved edge. These cells cannot squeeze through small blood vessels. They block the organs from getting blood. Your body destroys sickle red cells quickly, but it can’t make new red blood cells fast enough-- a condition called anemia.

social worker — A licensed clinical social worker (L.C.S.W.) is trained in psychotherapy and helps people with many different mental health and daily living problems to improve overall functioning. Usually has a master's degree in social work (M.S.W.).

sodium — in reference to diet and food, the salt content of food is usually given in terms of "sodium." For instance, the label of a can of soup may list "Sodium 400 mg" per cup. Excess sodium from high sodium foods like french fries is excreted in the urine. Having too much or too little sodium in a person's body can cause the body's cells to not work properly.

speech therapy — therapy aimed to help a person with a speech or language disorder or problem to restore basic speech skills.

spermicides — chemical jellies, foams, creams, or suppositories, inserted into the vagina prior to intercourse that kill sperm.

stethoscope — instrument used by health care professionals to detect sounds produced in the body. Commonly used to listen to your heartbeat to detect any heart-related problems and to listen to your lungs for sounds that they could have fluid inside them.

stroke — sometimes called a "brain attack," is caused by a lack of blood flow to the brain, or bleeding in the brain. A person's speech, writing, balance, sensation, memory, thinking, attention, and learning are some of the areas that can be affected as a result of suffering a stroke.

sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) — the diagnosis given for the sudden death of an infant under one year of age that remains unexplained after a complete investigation. Because most cases of SIDS occur when a baby is sleeping in a crib, SIDS is also commonly known as crib death. Most SIDS deaths occur when a baby is between 1 and 4 months of age.

symptothermal method — a method of pregnancy planning or birth control that combines certain aspects of the calendar, the basal body temperature, and the cervical mucus methods. It takes into account all these factors as well as other symptoms a woman might have, such as slight cramping and breast tenderness.

synthetic — made in a lab and not from a natural source.

systemic lupus erythematosus — an autoimmune disease that can cause inflammation and damage to the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels, and brain.

Tay-Sachs disease — a fatal genetic disorder in which harmful quantities of a fatty substance called ganglioside GM2 build up in the nerve cells in the brain and damage the cells. In children, this begins in the fetus early in pregnancy. By the time a child with Tay-Sachs is three or four years old, the nervous system is so badly affected that death usually results by age five.