Him 103 ch 1-4

Primary Medical Terms

Primary terms enable you to give priority to the most important words in your study of medical terminology.

Word Roots

The word parts that usually, but not always, indicate the part of the body involved.

Combining Form

A word root that has a vowel, usually the letter "o," put on the end before the addition of another word root or suffix.

Suffixes

The word part attached at the end of word that usually, but not always, indicates the procedure, condition, disorder, or disease.

Prefixes

The word part attached at the beginning of word that usually, but not always, indicates location, time, number, or status.

-algia

pain, suffering

-dynia

pain

-ectomy

surgical removal, cutting out

-gram

picture or record

hyper-

excessive, increased

hypo-

deficient, decreased

-itis

inflammation

-osis

abnormal condition, disease

-ostomy

the surgical creation of an artificial opening to the body surface

pre-

before, in front of

-plasty

surgical repair

-rrhage

bleeding, abnormal excessive fluid discharge

-rrhaphy

surgical suturing

-rrhea

flow, discharge

-sclerosis

abnormal hardening

abdominocentesis

surgical puncture of the abdomen cavity to remove fluid

acronym

a word formed from the initial letter of the major parts of a compound term

acute

a condition that has a rapid onset, a severe course, and a relatively short duration

angiography

process of producing an x-ray, or radiographic study, of the blood vessels after the injection of a contrast medium

appendectomy

surgical removal of the appendix

arteriosclerosis

abnormal hardening of the walls of an artery or arteries

arthralgia

pain in a joint or joints

colostomy

the surgical creation of an artificial excretory opening between the colon and the body surface

cyanosis

blue discoloration of the skin caused by lack of adequate oxygen in the blood

sign

objective evidence of disease , can be evaluated or measured by patient or others

symptom

subjective evidence of a disease, meaning it can only be evaluated or measured by patient

syndrome

a set of the signs and symptoms that occur together as part of a specific disease process

diagnosis

Identification of an injury or disease

differential diagnosis

also known as a rule out, is an attempt to determine which one of several diseases can be causing the signs and symptoms that are present

prognosis

a prediction of the probable course and outcome of a disease

chronic

Long-standing, constant. Opposite of acute. can be controlled, rarely cured.

remission

the temporary, partial, or complete disappearance of the symptoms of a disease without having achieved a cure

disease

a condition in which one or more body parts are not functioning normally.

latin origin

most word parts in med term are of

greek origin, or other lang.

other words that are not latin are of

puzzles , puzzle pieces

Medical words are like __, and their word parts are like _.

alone

word root cannot stand

the word to complete the term

a suffix must always be added at the end of

consonant

add vowel when suffix begins with

noun ending suffixes

change word root into a noun

noun ending, mean pertaining to, mean abnormal condition or disease, related to pathology, related to procedures, double R.

types of suffixes

suffixes that mean pertaining to

suffixes may change the meaning of word root into an adjective, to define or describe the word

pathology

study of all aspects of disease

eponym

a disease, structure, operation, or procedure named for the person who discovered or described it first

fever

sign ex.

pain

symptom ex

asthma

chronic example

cancer

remission ex

chronic fatigue syndrome

disease ex

alzheimers

eponym example

laser = light amplified by stimulated emission of radiation

acronym ex

arteri/o, arther/o, arthr/o

artery, plaque, joint

-ectomy, -ostomy, -otomy

Surgical removal; Surgical creation of an artificial opening to the body surface; cutting or surgical incision

Fissure. fistula

groove/crack-like sore of the skin, abnormal passage

ileum, ilium

last and longest portion of the small intestine, part of hip bone

infection, inflammation

invasion of body by a pathogenic organism, localized response to an injury or destruction of tissues

laceration, lesion

torn or jagged wound / accidental cut, pathologic change of tissue due to disease/injury

mucous, mucus

adjective/describes specialized membranes that line the body cavities, noun/fluid secreted by these mucous membranes

Myc/o, myel/o, and my/o

fungus, bone marrow OR spinal cord, muscle

-ologist, -ology

specialist, study of

palpation, palpitation

examination technique where examiner's hands are used to feel texture/size/etc. of certain body parts , pounding/racing of heart

pyel/o, py/o, pyr/o

Renal pelvis (part of kidney), pus, fever or fire

supination, suppuration

act of rotating the arm so that palm of hand is forward/upward, formation of pus

triage, trauma

medical screening of patients to determine their relative priority of need and proper place of treatment, wound/injury

viral, virile

pertaining to virus, having nature/properties/qualties of an adult male

most clinical agencies have policies on

accepted abbreviations

any question of what abbreviation to use

when in doubt, spell it out

anatomy

study of structures of the body

physiology

the study of functions of the structures of the body

anatomic position

describes the body standing in the standard position

anatomic position includes:

standing up straight so that the body is erect and facing forward, holding the arms at the sides with the hands turned so that the palms face toward the front

body planes

imaginary vertical and horizontal lines used to divide the body into sections for descriptive purposes

vertical planes

sagittal, midsagittal, and frontal

sagittal plane

a vertical plane that divides the body into right and left parts

midsagittal plane

divides the body into equal left and right halves

frontal

divides body into anterior (front) and posterior (back)

horizontal planes

transverse

transverse plane

divides the body into superior and inferior parts

body directions

based on body planes, relative location of sections of the body or of an organ

ventral

front/belly side

dorsal

back organ or body

anterior

situated in front

posterior

situated in back

cephalic

towards head/upper part of body

caudal

toward bottom/lower part of body

superior

uppermost/above/toward head

inferior

lowermost/below/toward the feet

proximal

situated nearest the midline or beginning of a body structure

distal

situated farthest from the midline or beginning of a body structure

medial

toward/nearer the midline

lateral

direction toward/nearer the side of body/ away from midline

major body cavities

thoracic, abdominal, pelvic

thoracic cavity

surrounds and protects hearts/lungs, separated from abdominal cavity by the diaphragm

abdominal cavity

contains major organs of digestion

pelvic cavity

formed by hip bones, contains organs of reproductive and excretory systems