The Language of Medicine Flashcards

Medical Roots and Prefixes

"Adeno" refers to a gland, often used in terms like adenoma (tumor of a gland).
"Arthro" relates to joints, seen in conditions such as arthritis (inflammation of a joint).
"Bio" signifies life, foundational in terms like biology (study of life).
"Carcino" describes cancer, evident in terms like carcinogenic (pertaining to producing cancer).
"Cardio" pertains to the heart, used in cardiology (study of the heart) and cardiac (related to heart).
"Cephalo" indicates the head, as in cephalic (pertaining to the head).

Key Medical Terminology

"Cysto" pertains to the urinary bladder or fluid-filled sacs, relevant in words like cystitis (inflammation of the bladder).
"Cyto" stands for cell, important in cytology (study of cells) and conditions like cytopathy (disease condition of cells).
"Dermato/dermo" refers to skin, crucial in dermatology (study of the skin) and dermatitis (inflammation of the skin).
"Electro" is associated with electricity, seen in electrocardiogram (record of the heart's electrical activity) and electroencephalogram (record of brain's electrical activity).
"Gastro" pertains to the stomach, used in terms related to gastric disorders.

Suffixes and Their Significance

Suffixes like "-itis" indicate inflammation (e.g., arthritis), while "-oma" denotes tumors or swelling (e.g., carcinoma).
The suffix "-pathy" refers to disease conditions, providing context in medical diagnosis.
The suffixes "-scopy" and "-scope" relate to visual examination processes (e.g., cytoscopy - visual examination of urinary bladder).
The suffix "-logy" denotes the study of a subject, like in microbiology (study of microscopic organisms).

Prefixes Clarifying Conditions

"A-" or "an-" conveys the absence or lack of something (e.g., anemia - reduction in blood cells).
"Hyper-" signifies excessive or more than normal, while "hypo-" denotes below normal levels (important in diagnosing metabolic conditions).
"Endo-" means within and "exo-" means outside, relevant in anatomical context.
"Sub-" indicates below or under, often used in terms describing location or conditions.

Clinical Conditions

Adenitis refers to inflammation of a gland, highlighting its clinical importance in diagnosing glandular issues.
Anemia denotes a decrease in red blood cells or hemoglobin in blood, a common condition seen in various health scenarios.
Autopsy entails examining a body post-mortem to establish cause of death, crucial in forensic pathology.
Biopsy involves removing living tissue, a key procedure for diagnosing diseases like cancer.

By familiarizing with this foundational language of medicine, understanding patient conditions, diagnosing diseases, and discussing treatment options becomes significantly easier.