Flashcards i medicinsk terminologi

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1. 1. brady- and tachy- (bradycardia, tachypnea): what do these prefixes mean?

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   brady- means slow and tachy- means fast, both from Greek. Bradycardia is a heart rate under 60 beats per minute; tachypnea is fast breathing. They are opposites, so learning them as a pair costs less than learning them apart.

2. 2. hyper- and hypo- (hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia): what is the difference?

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   hyper- means above or excessive, hypo- means below or deficient. Hyperglycemia is high blood sugar and hypoglycemia is low blood sugar. Hypo- also means under in the physical sense: a hypodermic needle goes under the skin.

3. 3. dys- (dyspnea): what does this prefix mean?

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   dys- means bad, difficult or painful. Dyspnea is difficult or labored breathing. Watch the pair dysphagia and dysphasia: phag/o is swallowing, so dysphagia is trouble swallowing, while phas/o is speech, so dysphasia is trouble speaking.

4. 4. poly- (polyuria): what does this prefix mean?

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   poly- means many or much. Polyuria is passing large amounts of urine. With polydipsia, excessive thirst, and polyphagia, excessive hunger, it makes up the classic three signs of untreated diabetes.

5. 5. peri- and endo- (pericardium, endocardium): what do these prefixes mean?

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   peri- means around and endo- means within. The pericardium is the sac around the heart; the endocardium is the membrane lining the inside of its chambers. The same pair separates pericarditis from endocarditis.

6. 6. cardi/o and my/o (myocardium): which body parts?

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   cardi/o is heart and my/o is muscle, so the myocardium is the heart muscle itself. The same roots build electrocardiogram, a record of the heart's electrical activity, and cardiomyopathy, disease of the heart muscle.

7. 7. derm/o and dermat/o (dermatitis): which body part?

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   Both mean skin, from Greek derma. Dermatitis is inflamed skin and a dermatologist treats the skin. Most body parts get one root; skin is one of the few with two forms, so expect to meet both.

8. 8. gastr/o (gastritis): which body part?

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   gastr/o means stomach, from Greek gaster. Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining and a gastroenterologist treats the stomach and intestines. Note the spelling: the combining vowel drops before -itis, giving gastritis rather than gastroitis.

9. 9. nephr/o and hepat/o (nephritis, hepatitis): which organs?

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   nephr/o is kidney and hepat/o is liver, both from Greek. Nephritis is an inflamed kidney and a nephrectomy removes one; hepatitis is an inflamed liver. Kidney also has a Latin root, ren/o, which is why renal failure and nephritis describe the same organ.

10. 10. oste/o (osteoporosis): which body part?

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    oste/o means bone, from Greek osteon. Osteoporosis is porous, thinned bone and osteoarthritis is joint disease from worn cartilage. Osteomyelitis adds myel/o, marrow, so it is inflammation of bone and marrow, usually from infection.

11. 11. neur/o (neuropathy): which body part?

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    neur/o means nerve, from Greek neuron. Neuropathy is nerve disease, often felt as numbness or burning in the feet, and neuralgia is nerve pain. Same root, different suffix, different meaning.

12. 12. pulmon/o (pulmonary edema): which body part?

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    pulmon/o means lung, from Latin pulmo. Pulmonary edema is fluid in the lungs and cardiopulmonary means heart and lungs together. Greek supplies a second lung root, pneum/o, as in pneumonia.

13. 13. hemat/o and hem/o (hematoma): what do they refer to?

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    Both mean blood, from Greek haima. A hematoma is a pocket of blood collected outside a vessel, hematuria is blood in the urine, and hematology is the study of blood. The same root also ends words as -emia.

14. 14. -itis (appendicitis): what does this suffix mean?

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    -itis means inflammation. Appendicitis is an inflamed appendix and tonsillitis is inflamed tonsils. Inflammation is not the same thing as infection: arthritis and dermatitis often have no organism behind them.

15. 15. -ectomy, -otomy and -ostomy (appendectomy, tracheotomy, colostomy): how do they differ?

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    -ectomy is removal, -otomy is cutting into, and -ostomy is creating a lasting opening. An appendectomy takes the appendix out, a tracheotomy is an incision into the windpipe, and a colostomy brings the colon to an opening in the abdominal wall. One letter separates cutting in from leaving an opening, so read those endings slowly.

16. 16. -emia (anemia): what does this suffix mean?

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    -emia means a blood condition, from the same Greek root as hemat/o. Anemia is too few red blood cells or too little hemoglobin, hyperkalemia is high potassium in the blood, and hypoglycemia is low blood sugar. The prefix tells you the direction.

17. 17. -pathy and -algia (cardiomyopathy, myalgia): what do these suffixes mean?

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    -pathy means disease and -algia means pain. Cardiomyopathy is disease of the heart muscle; myalgia is muscle pain. Swap the suffix on one root and you move from a diagnosis to a symptom: neuropathy is nerve disease, neuralgia is nerve pain.

18. 18. -megaly (hepatomegaly): what does this suffix mean?

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    -megaly means enlargement, from Greek megas, large. Hepatomegaly is an enlarged liver, cardiomegaly an enlarged heart, splenomegaly an enlarged spleen. It reports size found on an exam or a scan, never the cause.

19. 19. -scopy and -plasty (colonoscopy, angioplasty): what do these suffixes mean?

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    -scopy is looking inside with an instrument and -plasty is surgical repair or reshaping. A colonoscopy views the colon; angioplasty widens a narrowed vessel. Keep -scope and -scopy apart: the scope is the instrument, the scopy is the procedure done with it.

20. 20. Hypertrophy versus hyperplasia: what is the difference?

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    Hypertrophy is growth in the size of existing cells; hyperplasia is growth in their number. Left ventricular hypertrophy is a thicker heart wall built from bigger muscle cells, while benign prostatic hyperplasia is a bigger prostate built from more cells. Both enlarge the organ, so the ending is what you read, not the prefix.

Derfor slår orddele det at lære hele fagudtryk udenad

En medicinsk ordliste kan løbe op i tusindvis af fagudtryk. Næsten hvert eneste af dem er bygget af et lille sæt dele: en forstavelse forrest, en rod i midten, en endelse til sidst. Lær nogle få dusin dele, og du kan læse udtryk, ingen har lært dig.

Afkod bagfra og frem. Læs endelsen først, så forstavelsen, så roden. Pericarditis: -itis er betændelse, peri- er omkring, cardi er hjerte, så det er betændelse i hinden omkring hjertet. Polyneuropathy: -pathy er sygdom, poly- er mange, neur er nerve, så det er sygdom, der rammer mange nerver. Electrocardiogram: -gram er en optegnelse, electr/o er elektricitet, cardi/o er hjerte, så det er en optegnelse af hjertets elektriske aktivitet. Ingen af dem skulle læres udenad som hele ord.

Én staveregel forklarer det meste af det, der ser uregelmæssigt ud. Rødder har som regel en bindevokal, skrevet cardi/o eller gastr/o. O'et bliver stående, når den næste del begynder med en konsonant, som i gastroscopy, og falder væk, når endelsen begynder med en vokal, og derfor hedder ordet gastritis og ikke gastroitis.

Sådan bruger du sættet

Kør gennem alle 20 kort én gang uden at stoppe, bare for at se hvilke dele du allerede har styr på. Sig betydningen højt, før du vender kortet. Det er at genkalde den højt, der bygger hukommelsen, ikke at læse bagsiden igennem ti gange.

Anden gang igennem skal du bygge dit eget fagudtryk med hver del. Tag en rod fra ét kort og sæt en endelse fra et andet på: gastr/o plus -ectomy giver gastrectomy, fjernelse af mavesækken, og hepat/o plus -megaly giver hepatomegaly, en forstørret lever. Det er sværere at producere ordet end at genkende det, og netop derfor sætter det sig.

Vær ekstra opmærksom på de par, der kun adskiller sig med et bogstav eller to, som -otomy og -ostomy, eller hypertrophy og hyperplasia. Eksamener går bevidst efter dem. Rammer du et af de kort forkert, så skriv begge udtryk ved siden af hinanden med deres betydninger, før du går videre.

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