Biology Chapter 5 - Cardiovascular System

Cardiovascular System Overview

• The cardiovascular system comprises the heart and blood vessels, facilitating blood distribution throughout the body.
• Its primary functions include delivering essential substances to cells and removing waste products.

Key Components of the Cardiovascular System

• Organs involved are blood vessels (arteries, veins, capillaries) and the heart itself.

Terminology Related to Blood Vessels

• angi/o: Refers to vessels; commonly used in medical terms related to blood vessels.
• aort/o: Pertains specifically to the aorta, the main artery of the body.
• arteri/o: Indicates arteries, blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart.
• phleb/o: Refers to veins, which carry blood toward the heart.
• vascul/o: Denotes blood vessels in general; a crucial part of the cardiovascular system.

Terms for Specific Conditions

• ather/o: Represents fatty substances, often associated with diseases like atherosclerosis.
• thromb/o: Indicates clots, which can obstruct blood flow in vessels.
• sthenosis: Refers to narrowing, vital in understanding conditions impacting blood flow.

Heart Anatomy and Related Terms

• cardi/o and coron/o: Both refer to the heart and are used in various cardiac-related medical terminology.
• myocardi/o: Specifically refers to heart muscle, essential for understanding heart function.

Diagnostic and Surgical Terms

• -ectomy: Indicates surgical removal, significant in various cardiac procedures.
• -gram: Refers to a record, commonly used in diagnostic imaging.
• -plasty: Indicates a surgical procedure, often involving repair or reconstruction.
• -itis: Signifies inflammation, relevant in diagnosing conditions like myocarditis.

Cardiovascular Procedures and Professionals

• A cardiovascular technician performs diagnostic and therapeutic procedures including ECGs and stress tests.
• Cardiology is the specialized branch of medicine focused on the cardiovascular system, with practitioners known as cardiologists.

Common Conditions of the Cardiovascular System

• angiitis: Refers to inflammation of blood vessels; understanding this term is crucial for identifying vascular diseases.
• angiospasm: Involuntary contractions of vessel walls, leading to narrowing of blood vessels.

Additional Key Vocabulary

• ventricul/o: Pertains to ventricles, the heart's lower chambers that pump blood.
• valv/o and valvul/o: Both refer to valves, essential for maintaining unidirectional blood flow.
• sept/o: Indicates a wall, often the cardiac septum separating chambers of the heart.

Important Prefixes and Suffixes

• brady-: Means slow, often used in context of heart rate.
• tachy-: Means fast, applicable to heart conditions with accelerated rates.
• hyper-: Indicates excessive; used in hypertensive conditions.
• hypo-: Signifies insufficient; relevant in conditions like hypotension.
• poly-: Refers to many; useful in classifying various conditions and anomalies.

Additional Notes

• The presence of terms like -megaly (enlarged) and -oma (growth) aids in understanding potential abnormalities within the cardiovascular system.
• Understanding these terms is essential for comprehensively grasping the various functions and conditions related to the cardiovascular system.