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MEDYMOLOGY
ARBOR VITAE FOR HEALTH SCIENCES
Brushite
Etymology:
Brush [after American mineralogist George Jarvis Brush (1831-1912)] + German -it (suffix forming nouns denoting minerals or rocks; cognate with English -ite)
Definition:
A mineral formed by the interaction of guano with calcite and clay at a low pH, believed to be a precursor of apatite (as in calcium hydroxyapatite, the primary inorganic material in human bones). Brushite is the original precipitating material in calcium phosphate kidney stones. It is also one of the minerals present in dental calculi.
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