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.