Transcript File

Introduction: The Basics
Overview
• Medical terminology is a specialized language used by health care
practitioners. And, just like a foreign language, it has its own
vocabulary and ways of stringing together words in a way that is
understandable to everyone. But, unlike a foreign language, you
come across medical terminology every day in magazines and
newspapers with articles about new drugs, diets, new medical
treatments and on television medical dramas.
Introduction
• Many medical terms have interesting, even weird meanings
or stories behind their evolution as words. I will bet you
already know some medical terms! Have you heard of an
esophagus, the tube that connects your throat with your
stomach? Esophagus comes from Greek words meaning
“that which swallows what we eat.” How about Fallopian
tubes? They are named after a 16th century Italian
anatomist, Gabriello Fallopio. Okay, surely you have heard of
a placenta! Placenta means a “flat cake” in Greek, simply
describing its shape.
Word Parts
• Medical terms have 3 parts:
• The root word (usually in the middle)
• The prefix (at the beginning of the word)
• The suffix (at the end of the word)
• Lets look at myocarditis: Seems like a big confusing word
right?
• Myo = muscle
• Cardi = heart
• itis = inflammation
• Myocarditis = muscle layer of the heart is inflammed
Prefix Change
•Myocarditis = muscle layer of the heart is
inflamed
• Pericarditis = outer layer of the heart is inflamed
• Endocarditis = inner layer of the heart is inflamed
Suffix Change
• Cardiologist = physician who specializes in the heart
• Cardiomegaly = enlargement of the heart
• Cardiomyopathy = disease of the heart muscle layer
Word Parts
• Root Word: the main part or foundation of the word
• The root may indicate a body part or body system or
colors.
• Examples:
• -cardia = heart
• -pancrea = pancreas
• -cyan = blue
• -nephr = kidney
Common Root Words
• Aden = gland
• Arthr = joint
• Bi = life
• Bil = bile
• carcin = cancerous, cancer
• Cardi = heart
• Cephal = head
• Crin = to secrete
• Cyst = bladder or sac
• Cyt = cell
• Cyan = blue
• Derm = skin
• Electr = electricity
• Encephal = brain
• Enter = intestines
• Erythr = red
• Gastr = stomach
• Glyc = sugar
• Gynec = woman, female
• Hemat = blood
• Hepat = liver
Common Root Words
• Leuk = white
• Log = study of
• Nephr = kidney
• Neur = nerve
• Onc = tumor
• Ophthalm = eye
• Oste = bone
• Ot = ear
• Path = disease
• Ped = child
• Psych = mind
• Radi = x-rays
• Ren = kidney
• Rhin = nose
• Sarc = flesh
• Sect = to cut
• Thromb = clot, clotting
• Ur = urinary tract, urine
Prefixes
Prefixes: the beginning of a word
• Prefixes usually, but not always, indicate:
• Location
• Time
• Negation
• Number
• Status
• Examples:
• Epigastric
• polyneuritis
• Intercostal
Prefixes: negation
• Negation
• a-, an- = no, not, without
• im-, in- = not
• Examples:
• Anaerobic: without oxygen
• Afebrile: without fever
• Alopecia: absence of hair
• Indigestion: not digesting properly
Prefixes: Time
• Time
• pre- = before
• post- = after
• Examples: Postoperative, Prenatal, premenstrual,
postmortem, premature
Prefixes: Position
• ante-, pre-, pro- = before
• Epi- = above
• Hyper- = excessive, above, more than normal
• hypo-, intra-, sub- = under, below
• inter- = between
• medi- = middle
• post- = after, behind
• retro- = behind, backward
• Mal- = bad
• Examples: Epicardium, hyperextension, sublingual
Prefixes: Measurement and numbers
• micro- = small
• macro- = large
• hyper- = excessive
• multi-, poly- = many
• primi- = first
• mon-, uni- = 1
• bi-, di- = 2
• tri- = 3
• quadri- = 4
• Examples: hypertension, bilateral, quadrant, quadriplegia
Suffixes
Suffixes: word ending
• Suffixes usually, but not always, indicate the
procedure, condition, disorder, or disease.
• Examples:
• gastralgia
• neuritis
• Changing the suffix, changes the meaning of the
word.
• - dent/al – “al” means pertaining to
• - dent/ist – “ist” means specialist
Common Suffixes
• Meaning “pertaining to”:
• -ac
• -al
• -ary
• -ar
• -ial
• -ic
• -ous
• -genic
• Meaning “abnormal
condition”:
• -ago
• -ia
• -osis
• -ism
Common suffixes:
• -algia = pain
• -cyte = cell
• -ectomy = excision, removal
• -emia = blood condition
• - globin = protein
• -gram = record
• -ion = process
• -ist = specialist
• -itis = inflammation
• -logy =process of study
• -oma = tumor, mass
• -opsy = process of viewing
• -osis = abnormal state of
• -ostomy = creating an opening
• -otomy = incision into
• -pathy = disease
• -plasty = surgical repair, molding
• -phobia = irrational fear
• -paresis = weakness
• -plegia = paralysis
Other common suffixes:
• -rrhea = discharge, flow
• -scope = view, examine
• -sclerosis = stiffening of
tissue
• -scopy = visually examining
• -sis = state or condition
• -tomy = to cut
• -y = process, condition
Combining Forms
Combining form: a combination of the root word
and a combining vowel
Examples:
• Cardi(o) = heart
• Pancre(a) = pancreas
• Cyan(o) = blue
• Nephr(o) = kidney
• Therm(o) = heat
Word Parts
• Combining vowel: usually an o but can be an i or an a
• Links the root word to the suffix or to another root
word
• The combining vowel is used:
• Before suffixes that begin with a consonant
• Before another root word.
• Prefixes are not included in this rule.
Rules for Combining Forms
1. Used when the suffix begins with a consonant
• Cardi + gram = cardiogram
2. NOT used when the suffix begins with a vowel
• Gastr + itis = Gastritis not “gastroitis”
3. Not used with a prefix
• Hyperventilation, not hyperoventilation
4. Used when combining 2 or more root words
• Gastroenterology not “gastrenterology”
Writing Medical Terms
Increased sugar in the blood
Hyper-
Glyc(o)
-emia
Hyper- + glyc(o) + -emia =
Hyperglycemia
Writing Medical Terms
• Pertaining to above the heart
• Red blood cell
• Weakening of the bones
• Inflammation of the brain
• Tumor of the liver
Taking Terms Apart
• To determine a word’s meaning by looking at the component pieces,
you must first separate it into word parts.
• Always start at the end of the word, with the suffix, and work
backwards
• As you separate the word parts, identify the meaning of each.
Identifying the meaning of each part should give you a definition of
the term.
• Because some word parts have more than one meaning, it also is
necessary to determine the context in which the term is being used.
Interpreting Difficult Terms
Gastroenteritis
Stomach
Intestines
Inflammation
Gastroenteritis is inflammation of the stomach and all
or part of the intestines
Greek vs. Latin Roots
• Greek: used for diseases, conditions, diagnosis and treatments
• Latin: used for body parts, anatomical terms
SINGULAR VS. PLURAL
• Singular Suffixes
• -on
• Examples: Spermatozoon,
ganglion
• -ma
• Examples: Carcinoma,
lipoma
• -sis
• Examples: Crisis, prognosis
• -nx
• Examples: Larynx, pharynx
• Plural Suffixes
• -a
• Examples: Spermatozoa,
ganglia
• -mata
• Examples: Carcinomata,
lipomata
• -ses
• Examples: Crises,
prognoses
• -ges
• Examples: Larynges,
pharynges
Latin SINGULAR VS. PLURAL
• Singular Suffixes
• -a
• Examples: Vertebra,
conjunctiva
• -us
• Examples: Bacillus,
bronchus
• -um
• Examples: Bacterium,
ilium
• -is
• Examples: Testis
• Plural Suffixes
• -ae
• Examples: Vertebrae,
conjunctivae
• -i
• Examples: Bacilli, bronchi
• -a
• Examples: Bacteria, ilia
• -es
• Examples: Testes
Learning Check
• How do you Combine the root (nephr) , meaning “kidney,”
with the suffix (-itis), meaning “inflammation,” to form a word
meaning “inflammation of the kidney.”?
• How do you combine the root (rhin), meaning “nose” with the
suffix (-plasty) meaning “surgical repair or molding”, to form a
word meaning surgery of the nose?
Group Activity
•In groups of two, come up with at least
10 examples of words using combining
words and the different suffixes
•Write down the word and its meaning
on a piece of paper
•Put all group members names on the
paper