Introductory med Terms

Origins of Medical Words THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND ROMANS WERE THE FIRST TO NAME THE PARTS OF THE BODY. THE ROMANS SPOKE LATIN. AFTER THE FALL OF ROME, LATIN CONTINUED TO BE THE LANGUAGE OF THE EDUCATED. MUCH OF OUR MEDICAL TERMS ORIGINATE FROM LATIN. GENERAL RULE MOST DISEASES COME FROM THE GREEK LANGUAGE: “PNEUMONIA,” “ENCEPHALITIS,” “HEPATITIS,” MOST ANATOMY COMES FROM THE LATIN LANGUAGE “VERTEBRAE,” “ABDOMEN,” “TRAPEZIUS”

Basics MOST MEDICAL WORDS ARE COMPRISED OF 3 SECTIONS ROOT PREFIX SUFFIX TO DEFINE A MEDICAL WORD YOU MUST: DIVIDE THE WORD INTO THESE 3 SECTIONS AND DEFINE EACH ONE. NOCTURIA- “NOCT” “UR” “IA” ALL MED WORDS MUST HAVE A ROOT & A SUFFIX

1. Prefix A PREFIX IS PLACED AT BEGINNING OF A WORD NORMALLY DEALS WITH SIZE, NUMBER, COLOR, OR DIRECTION 1) “POLY” “POLYURIA” “POLYORCHIDISM” 2) “HYPER” “HYPERTHYROIDISM” 3) “SUB” “SUBLINGUAL GLAND”

2. Word Root THE WORD ROOT IS THE HEART OR MEANING OF A WORD “GASTRO”=STOMACH (GASTRITIS, GASTROMA, GASTRIC) “OSTEO”=BONE (“OSTEOMA” “OSTEOMEGALY”)

3. Suffix THE SUFFIX IS AT END OF THE WORD. IT CHANGES THE MEANING OF THE WORD USUALLY DESCRIBES A PATHOLOGY (I.E. DISEASE) “ITIS” INFLAMMATION “ECTOMY” REMOVAL “OMA” TUMOR/CANCER “IA” “OSIS” CONDITION

Connecting vowels STANDARD RULES IF THE SUFFIX BEGINS WITH A CONSONANT, THE “O” OF THE WORD ROOT REMAINS “CRANIO” “TOMY”= CRANIOTOMY IF THE SUFFIX BEGINS WITH A VOWEL, THE “O” IS REMOVED “HEPAT(O)” “ITIS”= HEPATITIS

Suffixes “oma”- cancerous tumor hepatoma “itis”-inflammation “pathy”- disease encephalopathy “ “plegia” – paralysis Quadriplegia “rrhea” – discharge/flow diarrhea “algia” and “dynia”- pain fibromyalgia “dipisia”- thirst polydipsia “lysis”- destruction hemolytic “graphy”- process of recording angiography “genic” –forming or creating “tomy”- surgical incision Craniotomy “stomy” permanent surgical opening Colostomy “itis”-inflammation tonsillitis “ectomy”-removal tonsillectomy “plasty”-surgical repair rhinoplasty “logy”- study of dermatology “scopy”- study involving camera bronchoscopy “emia” – blood condition Leukemia, uremia “ia” “osis”- medical condition Polymastia, necrosis “megaly” – enlargening cardiomegaly

But Wait…there’s More “-malacia”-softening Osteomalacia “-plasia”-Formation/Growth hyperplasia “-rrhagia/”-rrhexis- rupture Hemorrhagia “-sclerosis” Hardening Arteriosclerosis “-ptosis” dropping/prolapse ptosis “-edema” swelling Lymphedema “-trophic” nourishing/feeding Atrophy

Quizzito 1. -RRHEA A. BLOOD CONDITION 2. -OMA B. DISCHARGE/FLOW 3. -MEGALY C. SWELLING 4. -ECTOMY D. MEDICAL CONDITION 5. –IA E. SURGICAL CUT 6. -EMIA F. INFLAMMATION/INFECTION 7. - TOMY G. TUMOR/CANCER 8. – EDEMA H. ENLARGMENT 9. – ITIS I. REMOVAL 10. – LOGY J. STUDY OF

Common Prefixes “HEMI”-HALF “MACRO”- LARGE “MICRO” – SMALL “HYPO”-BELOW, DEFICIENT “HYPER”- TOO MUCH, EXCESSIVE “PRE”- BEFORE “POST”- AFTER SUPRA- ABOVE “INFRA” –UNDER, BELOW “SUB” –UNDER BELOW “INTER”- BETWEEN “INTRA”- WITHIN “CONTRA”- AGAINST “A”- NO, LACK OF “AUTO”- SELF “OLIGO” - LITTLE “HEMI”-HALF “MACRO”- LARGE “MICRO” – SMALL “POLY”- MANY “ENDO”- INSIDE “PERI” –OUTSIDE, AROUND “CIRCUM”- AROUND “DYS”- ABNORMAL/DISEASED “BRADY”- TOO SLOW “TACHY” -TOO FAST

But wait..there’s more! prefixes ANTI= AGAINST NEO=NEW PALEO-=OLD PSEUDO=FALSE ANTE=FRONT AB= AWAY FROM AD=TOWARD RETRO=BEHIND UNI=ONE NOCT=NIGHT ERYTHRO RED XANTHO/JAUNDO YELLOW CYANO BLUE CHLORO GREEN LEUKO- WHITE MELANO BLACK

Quizzito 1. HEPATO A. TESTICLE 2. RHINO B. EAR 3. GASTRO C. SKIN 4. OTO D. LIVER 5. DERMO E. STOMACH 6. ORCHID F. NOSE 7. PSYCHO G. MIND

Roots (Most roots have an “o” to connect it to suffix, but not always EAR “OTO” KIDNEY “NEPHRO” “RENO” BLOOD “HEMO” SKULL “CRANIO” UTERUS/WOMB “HYSTO” OVARIES “OOPHORO” BLADDER “CYSTO” GALL BLADDER “CHOLECYSTO” FALLOPIAN TUBES “SALPINGO” CHEST “THORACO” ARM “BRACHIO” ARMPIT “AXILLO” EYE “OPHTHALMO” NERVES “NEURO” SKIN “DERMO” BREAST “MAST” TESTICLES “ORCHIDO” PENIS “PHALLO” MIND “PSYCHO” URINE “URO”

But wait…there’s more! “ANDRO”=MAN “GYNO”= WOMAN “MENO”= MENSTRUATION “PHAGO”- EATING “PHASO” SPEAKING

Prepare to define MYOCARDITIS ORCHIDECTOMY SALPINGIOMA CHOLECYSTECTOMY CYSTITIS PARAPLEGIA AXILLORRHEA BRACHIOGRAPHY HEMOLYSIS APHASIA DYSURIA

Medical Abbreviations USED TO MAKE PATIENT CHARTING EASIER AND SHORTER ORIGINATE FROM LATIN

Common Abbreviations (all lower case) Q.D – EVERY DAY Q.H.- EVERY HOUR B.I.D.- 2X/DAY T.I.D.- 3X/DAY Q.I.D- 4X/DAY N.P.O.-NOTHING BY MOUTH S (LINE OVER IT)- WITHOUT C- (LINE OVER IT)- WITH FX –FRACTURE SX- SURGERY HX- HISTORY DX- DIAGNOSIS

Roots (Most roots have an “o” to connect it to suffix, but not always LIVER “HEPATO” HEART “CARDIO” BRAIN “ENCEPHALO” BONE “OSTEO” MOUTH “ORO” EAR “OTO” THROAT “PHARYNGO” VEIN “PHLEBO” KIDNEY “NEPHRO” “RENO” BLOOD “HEMO” SKULL “CRANIO” UTERUS/WOMB “HYSTO” OVARIES “OOPHORO” BLADDER “CYSTO” GALL BLADDER “CHOLECYSTO” FALLOPIAN TUBES “SALPINGO” RIB “COSTO” FINGERS/TOES “DACTYLO” STOMACH “GASTRO” CHEST “THORACO” LUNG “PULMANO” “PNEUMO” INTESTINES “ENTERO” ARM “BRACHIO” ARMPIT “AXILLO” EYE “OPHTHALMO” MUSCLE “MYO” NERVES “NEURO” SKIN “DERMO” NOSE “RHINO” BREAST “MAST” TESTICLES “ORCHIDO” JOINT “ARTHRO” PENIS “PHALLO” SPINAL CORD “MYELO” MIND “PSYCHO” URINE “URO”

Vocabulary for Test SYCOPHANT (N) – BROWN-NOSER, KISS-ASS AMBIVALENT (ADJ) {(AMBIVALENCE (N)} –TO HAVE SIMULTANEOUSLY CONFLICTING FEELINGS ABOUT SOMETHING TOUCHE- A WORD STATED AS A RESPONSE TO WHEN SOMEONE MAKES A GOOD POINT. PRECOCIOUS (ADJ)- {PRECOCITY (N)}TO BE MATURE BEYOND YOUR YEARS COQUETTE (N)- A FLIRT EUPHEMISM-(N)- A POLITICALLY-CORRECT TERM FOR AN OLD TERM CONSIDERED OFFENSIVE (E.G. “AFRICAN-AMERICAN” “SANITATION ENGINEER” “LITTLE PERSON”

Note grade I WILL GRADE YOUR NOTES AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS PRIOR TO TEST. PLEASE HAVE THEM OUT.