Medical Terminology Lecture Notes PDF

# The Objectives of this Lecture - Distinguish the four elements of medical terms: roots, suffixes, prefixes, and combining forms. - Define some medical terms. - Demonstrate some pronunciation hints. - Distinguish singular and plural words. # What is the meaning of medical terminology? - Medical t...

# The Objectives of this Lecture - Distinguish the four elements of medical terms: roots, suffixes, prefixes, and combining forms. - Define some medical terms. - Demonstrate some pronunciation hints. - Distinguish singular and plural words. # What is the meaning of medical terminology? - Medical terminology is the language used to describe components and processes of the human body, medical procedures, diseases, disorders, and pharmacology. - It is used for the communication between health care professionals. - Medical terms have been taken from many languages, however, the majority are from Greek and Latin. # Basic Elements of a Medical Word - Word root - Combining form - Suffixes - Prefixes # Word Root - Represents the main part of the word - All words have at least one word root - Example: Nephrology, Cardiology # Examples of Word Roots | Word Root | Meaning | | ----------- | ----------- | | Leuk | White | | Hepat | Liver | | Cardi | Heart | | Neph | Kidney | | Gastr | Stomach | | Dermat | Skin | | Pancreat | Pancreas | # Combining forms - The combining form is the combination of a word root and a vowel. - The combining vowel is usually an “o”, nonetheless, others may be used. # Examples of combining forms | Combining form | Meaning | | ----------- | ----------- | | Nephr/o | Kidney | | Cardi/o | Heart | | Hepat/o | Liver | | Gastr/o | Stomach | | Neur/o | Nerve | | Arthr/o | Joint | | Oste/o | Bone # Suffixes - The suffix is the few letters that are added to the end of a word root or a combining form. - It may indicate surgical or diagnostic procedure, disorder, disease, etc. - Examples: Arthr/o-centesis (Arthrocentesis): puncture of a joint. - Examples: Throac/o-tomy (Thoracotomy): incision of the chest. # Suffixes of some disorders | Suffix | Meaning | | ----------- | ----------- | | -ema | swelling | | -trophy | nourishment | | -ia | condition of | | -iasis | abnormal condition of | | -megaly | enlargement | | -oma | tumor (mass which could be malignant) | | -osis | abnormal condition | | -ptysis | spitting up | | -staxis | dripping blood | # Suffixes of surgical procedures - -centesis - surgical puncture - -desis - surgical binding - -ectomy - excision, removal, cut out - -pexy - surgical fixation - -plasty - surgical repair, correction - -rrhaphy - suture - -sect - to cut - -stomy - forming a new opening - -tome - instrument for cutting - -tomy - incision into, cut into - -tripsy - to crush, break down # Suffixes for diagnostic procedures - -gram - written record, recording - -graph - instrument for recording - -graphy - process of recording - -manometer - instrument for measuring pressure - -manometry - process of measuring pressure - -meter - instrument for measuring - -metery - process of measuring - -opsy - visual examination - -scope - instrument for examining - -scopy - process of examining, examination # Basic Rules - **Basic rule one:** The word root is used before a suffix that begins with a vowel. - Example: Scler/ + osis = sclerosis. - **Basic rule two:** A combining vowel is used to link a word root to a suffix that begins with a consonant, and to link a word root to another word root to form a compound word. - Examples: colon/o + scope = colonoscope, osteo/o/ chondr/ itis = osteochondritis # Prefixes - A syllable or syllables, located before a word or word root. - It can alter the meaning or create a new word. - It may indicate number, disorder, etc. - Examples: hyper-therm-ia (means excessive heat condition), hypo-insulin-emia (means low insulin in the blood) # Prefixes of disorders | Prefix | Meaning | | ----------- | ----------- | | a, an | without | | dys | difficult or painful | | hyper | above | | hypo | below | | tachy | fast | | brady | slow | | poly | many | | oligo | few | # Prefixes of numbers | Prefix | Meaning | | ----------- | ----------- | | Mono- | One | | Bi- | Two | | Tri- | Three | | Quad- | Four | | Uni- | One | | Multi- | Many | | Nulli- | None | | Hemi- | Half | | Semi- | Partial, Half | # How to define medical words? - First, define the suffix. - Second, define the prefix. - Third, define the word root. - Example: Tachycardia - Tachy: fast - card: heart - ia: condition of # Prefixes - Use the hyphen (-), after the prefix, and before the suffix. - Examples: intra-muscul-ar - intra: in - muscul: muscle - ar: relating to # Definitions of some medical terms - **Aetiology:** the cause of the diseases. - **Signs:** clinical evidence of cause of the diseases or the disorders - **Symptoms:** indicators of the disease that the patient is experiencing - **Disease:** set of signs and symptoms that disrupts normal function of a body system or organ - **Diagnosis:** identifying the disease from its signs and symptoms - **Prognosis:** forecast of the outcome / recovery from the disease - **Morbidity:** presence of illness or disease - **Mortality:** death - **Acute:** beginning abruptly and usually intense - **Chronic:** persisting for a long time or constantly recurring - **Terminal:** will cause death # Pronunciation | Consonant | Examples| | ----------- | ----------- | | c (before a, o, u) = k | cavity, colon, cure | | c (before e, i) = s | cephalic, cirrhosis | | ch = k | cholesterol| | g (before a, o, u) = g| gallstone, gonad | | g (before e, i) = j | generic, giant | | ph = f | phase, pharynx | | pn = n | pneumonia| | ps = s| psychiatry, psychology | | pt = t | ptosis| | rh,rrh = r | rhythm, haemorrhoid | # Distinguishing singular and plural | Singular | Example | Plural | Example | | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | | -a | Vertebra, bursa | -ae | Vertebrae, bursae | | -ax | thorax | -aces | thoraces | | -is | Diagnosis, metastasis | -es | Diagnoses, metastases | | -ix, -ex | Appendix, index | -ices | Appendices, indices| | -um | diverticulum | -a | diverticula | | -us | bronchus | -i | bronchi | | -y | ovary | -ies | ovaries | # Thank You