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Apothecaries' system. German postage stamp from 1991, commemorating 750 years of the apothecary profession. The apothecaries' system, or apothecaries' weights and measures, is a historical system of mass and volume units that were used by physicians and apothecaries for medical prescriptions and also sometimes by scientists. [ 1][ 2][ 3] The ...
Dram (unit) The dram (alternative British spelling drachm; apothecary symbol ʒ or ℨ; [ a] abbreviated dr) [ 4][ 5]: C-6–C-7 [ 6] is a unit of mass in the avoirdupois system, and both a unit of mass and a unit of volume in the apothecaries' system. [ 5] It was originally both a coin and a weight in ancient Greece. [ 7]
Even if the medical practice takes height and weight data in terms of SI units, it is almost always discussed with the patient in terms of customary units. Exercise is commonly discussed with patients in terms of miles walked. Intake of sugar, sodium, and other nutrients is usually discussed in terms of grams and milligrams.
The units of cubic length (the cubic inch, cubic foot, cubic mile, etc.) are the same in the imperial and US customary systems, but they differ in their specific units of volume (the bushel, gallon, fluid ounce, etc.). The US customary system has one set of units for fluids and another set for dry goods. The imperial system has only one set ...
A grain is a unit of measurement of mass, and in the troy weight, avoirdupois, and apothecaries' systems, equal to exactly 64.798 91 milligrams. It is nominally based upon the mass of a single ideal seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance, the average masses of wheat and barley grains were part of the legal definitions of ...
v. t. e. Body mass index ( BMI) is a value derived from the mass ( weight) and height of a person. The BMI is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height, and is expressed in units of kg/m 2, resulting from mass in kilograms (kg) and height in metres (m). The BMI may be determined first by measuring its components by means ...
Fathom - the distance between the fingertips of a human's outstretched arms. Finger. Fistmele - the measure of a clenched hand with the thumb extended. Gradus - Ancient Roman step. Hand - breadth of a human hand. Klafter - German measure of outstretched hands. League - the distance a person can walk in an hour (by one definition)
International unit. In pharmacology, the international unit ( IU) is a unit of measurement for the effect or biological activity of a substance, for the purpose of easier comparison across similar forms of substances. International units are used to quantify vitamins and biologics ( hormones, some medications, vaccines, blood products and ...