1. Medical Terminology
Health professionals speak a foreign language—medical terminology
By the end of this course you will understand anatomy, physiology, disease, and be fluent in the language—YAY!!! 1

2. THE WHY
Human anatomy and physiology (A & P) form the foundation for all medical practice
You have to know the body and how it works to be able to fix it!!!
Medical treatment attempts to bring the body’s structure and function back to homeostasis
This is why we go to the doctor!!! 2

3. Terms Related to Disease
Etiology: cause of the disease
Epidemiology: study of the transmission, frequency of occurrence, distribution, and control of a disease
What causes the common cold? How is it spread from person to person? What can we do to stop it from spreading? 3

4. Types of Diseases
Idiopathic diseases: those for which the cause cannot be determined
Infectious diseases: caused by infection from a pathogen (bacteria, virus, fungi, etc.)
Contagious diseases: readily transmitted from contact with one person to another
Tracked by Center for Disease Control (CDC) 4

5. Distribution of Communicable Diseases
Endemic: diseases that occur in specific populations or regions
Epidemic: when diseases occur in large numbers over a specific region
Pandemic: when diseases spread country to country or worldwide 5

6. Building Blocks of Medical Terms
Word roots: basic parts (foundation) of medical terms
Prefixes: word parts that come before the root
Suffixes: word parts that come after the root 6

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11. Disease Concepts
Symptoms: subjective indicators of illness that are perceived only by the patient
Examples: pain, dizziness, itchiness
Syndrome: a specific grouping of signs and symptoms related to a specific disease
Example: Down Syndrome’s signs and symptoms include sloping forehead, low set ears, short broad hands, mild-to-moderate mental retardation, and often, cardiac disease 11

12. Disease Concepts (cont’d)
Diagnosis: identification of disease determined by studying patient’s signs, symptoms, history, and results of diagnostic tests
Can change and is not permanent!
Prognosis: prediction about outcome of a disease 12

13. Disease Concepts (cont’d)
Acute conditions: rapid onset of signs and symptoms.
Ex: Myocardial Infarction
Chronic conditions: gradual onset of symptoms over a long period of time
Ex: Diabetes 13

14. Disease Concepts (cont’d)
Remission: period of time when signs and symptoms of chronic disease disappear
Relapse: recurrence of a disease
Exacerbation: “flare-up” of signs and symptoms
Terminal disease: one with a prognosis of death 14

15. Routes of Disease Transmission
Vectors: when disease/pathogen is spread by insect, or other non-human animal
Biological vector: infected insect spreads infection to person (example: malaria)
Mechanical vector: organism present on surface of insect is spread to person (example: a fly that lands on cow feces, and then on a person’s food) 15

16. Routes of Disease Transmission (cont’d)
Contact transmission
Direct contact: person becomes sick due to direct contact with a contagious body fluid
Indirect contact: person becomes sick due to contact with a contaminated object (example: catching the flu by picking up germs from a doorknob)
Airborne spread: when pathogen spread through the air 16

17. Body’s Defense System
Inflammatory response – occurs whenever body tissues are injured
Possible triggers: physical injury, intense heat, chemical irritation, reaction to invading germs
Signs and symptoms: redness, increased temperature at affected site, swelling (edema), pain
Has protective function: Isolates injured area, increases blood flow, especially white blood cells 17

18. Preventing the Spread of Infectious Diseases
Universal Precautions: set of standard actions/procedures designed to prevent transmission of disease between patient and health care provider
Based on assumption that every person could have some kind of communicable disease
Includes use of gloves, gowns, goggles, masks, and other protective equipment in appropriate situations 18