Medical Terminology Made Easy: Understanding Roots

Introduction

• The video aims to simplify medical terminology by focusing on medical word roots.
• Recap of previous videos covering prefixes and abbreviations.
• Medical terms often have a prefix, root, and suffix.

Structure of Medical Terms

Prefix

• Descriptive part at the beginning of a word.
• Describes location, direction, number, amount, size, or color.

Root

• Forms the middle of a word.
• Pertains to body part or system.
• May be the beginning if no prefix is present.

Suffix

• Forms the end of the word.
• Indicates disease, condition, process, specialty, etc.

Common Medical Roots

• Roots often end in "O" for pronunciation ease.

Examples of Roots

• Abdominal: Refers to the abdomen (e.g., abdominal muscles).
• Arterio: Refers to artery (e.g., arteriosclerosis).
• Brachio: Means arm (e.g., brachial pulse).
• Bronch: Refers to bronchi (e.g., bronchitis).
• Carcino: Means cancer (e.g., carcinogen).
• Cardio: Means heart (e.g., cardiomyopathy).
• Colo: Refers to colon (e.g., colonoscopy).
• Cito: Means cell (e.g., cytotoxic).
• Derm/Dermato: Refers to skin (e.g., dermatologist).
• Encephalo: Refers to brain (e.g., encephalitis).

More Common Roots

• Gastro: Refers to stomach (e.g., gastritis).
• Intestino: Refers to intestines (e.g., intestinal obstruction).
• Myo: Means muscle (e.g., myocardium).
• Neuro: Refers to nerves (e.g., neuron).
• Oculo/Ophthalmo: Pertains to eye (e.g., ophthalmologist).
• Oto: Means ear (e.g., otoscope).
• Palmo: Refers to lungs (e.g., pulmonologist).
• Thoraco: Means chest (e.g., thoracotomy).
• Thyro: Pertains to thyroid gland (e.g., thyrotoxicosis).
• Viscera: Refers to internal organs (e.g., visceroceptors).

Additional Common Roots

• Histo/Histio: Means tissue (e.g., histology).
• Hepato: Refers to liver (e.g., hepatomegaly).
• Nephro: Means kidney (e.g., nephrolithiasis).
• Onco: Pertains to tumor (e.g., oncogene).
• Osteo: Means bones (e.g., osteophyte).
• Cranial: Refers to skull (e.g., craniotomy).
• Adipo: Refers to fat (e.g., adipose tissue).
• Adreno: Refers to adrenal glands (e.g., adrenocortical).
• Arthro/Articulo: Means joint (e.g., arthroscopy).
• Cephalo: Refers to head (e.g., cephalocaudal).

Final Set of Common Roots

• Pneumo: Refers to lungs (e.g., pneumonia).
• Cerebellum: Refers to cerebellum (e.g., cerebellopontine).
• Cerebro: Refers to cerebrum (e.g., cerebrovascular accident).
• Sisto: Refers to urinary bladder (e.g., cystoscopy).
• Duodenal: Pertains to duodenum (e.g., duodenography).
• Glossy: Refers to tongue (e.g., macroglossia).
• Laryngo: Refers to larynx (e.g., laryngospasm).
• Lympho: Means limp (e.g., lymphadenopathy).
• Musculo: Means muscle (e.g., musculoskeletal).
• Naso: Means nose (e.g., nasopharynx).

Conclusion

• Video aims to enhance comprehension of medical roots.
• Encourage interaction through likes, comments, and subscriptions.
• Notes and tables are available on the linked website.