Medical Terminology Lecture 2

Medical Terminology

• Medical terminology is the language of healthcare professionals, used to describe the human body, diseases, and medical procedures.
• It is based on Greek and Latin roots, using prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms to create words.
• Medical terminology is an important tool that allows healthcare professionals to communicate with each other in a clear and concise way.

Importance of Medical Terminology

• Helps healthcare professionals to understand medical documentation and provide accurate information to patients.
• Enables precise communication among healthcare professionals, reducing errors and improving patient care.

Building Blocks of Medical Terminology

• Medical terms are built from three main components: prefixes, roots, and suffixes.
• Prefixes appear at the beginning of a word and generally change the meaning of the root word.
• Roots are the core meaning of a word, providing the foundation for the entire term.
• Suffixes are placed after a root to change its meaning or indicate a grammatical function.

Common Prefixes

• a-: without or not (e.g., asymptomatic)
• ab-: away from (e.g., abnormal)
• ad-: to or toward (e.g., adduction)
• ante-: before (e.g., antenatal)
• anti-: against (e.g., antihypertensive)
• mono-/uni-: one (e.g., carbon monoxide, unilateral)
• bi-/di-: two (e.g., bilaminar, dihydrogen phosphate)
• tri-: three (e.g., tricuspid valve)
• bio-: life (e.g., biology)
• contra-: against (e.g., contraception)
• de-: away from or down (e.g., dehydrate)
• dys-: difficult or abnormal (e.g., dyspnea)
• hyper-: over or above normal (e.g., hypertension, hyperventilation)
• hypo-: under or below normal (e.g., hypotension, hypoventilation)
• inter-: between (e.g., intercostal)
• intra-: within (e.g., intramuscular, intraabdominal)
• mal-: bad or abnormal (e.g., malfunction)
• multi-: many or more than average (e.g., multiparous, multivitamins)
• necr-/necro-: death (e.g., necrosis)
• neo-: new (e.g., neonate, neoplasia)
• oligo-: few or small amount (e.g., oliguria)
• poly-: many or more than average (e.g., polyuria)
• post-: after (e.g., postmortem, postoperative)
• pre-: before (e.g., prenatal, preoperative)
• sub-: under (e.g., subcutaneous, sublingual, subendocardial)
• supra-: above (e.g., supraclavicular)

Common Suffixes

• -ectomy: surgical removal (e.g., appendicectomy)
• -algia: pain (e.g., neuralgia)
• -emia: blood condition (e.g., anemia)
• -gram: record or tracing (e.g., electrocardiogram)
• -itis: inflammation (e.g., gastritis, cystitis)
• -logy: study of (e.g., biology)
• -ologist: specialist in (e.g., biologist, cardiologist, nephrologist)
• -otomy: surgical incision (e.g., gastrotomy, laparotomy)
• -pathy: disease (e.g., nephropathy, lymphadenopathy)
• -penia: deficiency (e.g., neutropenia, thrombocytopenia)
• -scopy: for examining (e.g., microscope, endoscope)
• -megaly: enlargement (e.g., cardiomegaly)
• -trophy: growth (e.g., hypertrophy, atrophy)
• -uria: related to urine (e.g., anuria)
• -oma: tumor (e.g., melanoma)
• -opsy: visual examination (e.g., biopsy)
• -ostomy: opening (e.g., colostomy)
• -pexy: surgical fixation (e.g., oophoropexy, orchiopexy)
• -plasty: surgical reconstruction (e.g., abdominoplasty)
• -pnea: breathing (e.g., tachypnea)

Roots

• abdomin-: abdomen (e.g., abdominal pain)
• dermat-: skin (e.g., dermatitis)
• gastr-: stomach (e.g., gastritis, gastrectomy)
• hem-: blood (e.g., hemorrhage)
• arteri-: arteries (e.g., arteriovenous fistula)
• veno-: veins (e.g., phlebitis)
• angio-: blood vessels (e.g., angiography)
• cardi-: heart (e.g., cardiomegaly)
• aort-: aorta (e.g., aortic valve)
• neur-: nerve (e.g., neuropathy, neurologist, neural network)
• ren-: kidney (e.g., renal artery)
• rhin(o)-: nose (e.g., rhinoplasty)
• hepat-: liver (e.g., hepatitis)
• osteo-: bone (e.g., osteotomy)
• ophthalm-: eye (e.g., ophthalmology)
• path-: disease (e.g., pathology)
• pneum(o)-: lung (e.g., pneumonia)
• psych-: mind (e.g., psychology)