Medical Terminology Basics

Overview

This lecture continues the basics of medical terminology, focusing on prefixes and suffixes related to medical conditions and procedures, with practice in breaking down complex terms.

Medical Condition Prefixes & Suffixes

• dys- means abnormal or problematic (e.g., dyspnea: abnormal breathing).
• mal- means bad (e.g., maladaptive: bad adaptation).
• -itis means inflammation (e.g., colitis: colon inflammation).
• -plasia refers to growth or formation.
• -plasma means a growth or formation.
• -oma means tumor, often cancer-related (e.g., sarcoma).
• -trophy/-trophia means growth in size (not number).
• -pathy refers to disease (e.g., neuropathy: nerve disease).
• -osis means a condition, often abnormal (e.g., neurosis).
• -ia indicates an abnormal condition (e.g., anemia).
• -ism means state or condition (e.g., hypothyroidism).
• -ic/-al/-eal means pertaining to a subject or process (e.g., cephalic: relating to the head).

Additional Condition and Process Terms

• meta- is a prefix meaning change or transformation (e.g., metaplasia).
• -stasis/-static means maintenance of normal conditions (e.g., homeostasis).
• dynamic means changing or ongoing change (e.g., hemodynamic).
• -lytic/-lysis means destruction (e.g., hemolysis: destruction of red blood cells).
• -megaly means enlarged (e.g., splenomegaly: enlarged spleen).
• -penia means decreased or lower than normal (e.g., cytopenia: low number of cells).
• -emia means blood condition (e.g., anemia).

Medical Procedure Suffixes & Prefixes

• -ectomy means excision or removal (e.g., appendectomy).
• -otomy means incision or cutting into (e.g., tracheotomy).
• -ostomy means making an opening (e.g., colostomy).
• -scopy means viewing (e.g., microscopy).
• -graphy/-gram means recording or process of recording (e.g., mammogram).
• -plasty means surgical repair (e.g., angioplasty).
• -therapy means treatment (e.g., chemotherapy).
• chemo- refers to chemical (e.g., chemotherapy).
• echo-/sono- refers to sound (e.g., echocardiogram).
• electro- pertains to electrical charge (e.g., electrocardiogram).

Practice & Example Terms

• Hypertrophy: hyper (above normal) + trophy (growth in size, not number of cells).
• Normotension: normal pressure, often referring to blood pressure.
• Hyperplasia: hyper (above normal) + plasia (growth in number of cells).
• Pancytopenia: pan (all) + cyto (cell) + penia (decreased); low levels of all blood cell types.
• Splenomegaly: spleno (spleen) + megaly (enlarged); enlarged spleen.

Key Terms & Definitions

• -itis — inflammation of an organ or tissue.
• -oma — tumor or mass, often cancerous.
• -trophy — growth in size (not number).
• -plasia — formation or development, usually referring to cell number.
• -penia — deficiency or decrease below normal.
• -scopy — process of viewing or examining.
• -ectomy — surgical removal of a body part.
• -ostomy — creation of an opening.
• -plasty — surgical repair.
• chemo- — chemical.
• echo-/sono- — sound.
• electro- — relating to electricity.

Action Items / Next Steps

• Practice breaking down complex medical terms using the prefixes and suffixes learned.
• Complete assigned practice problems using concepts from both lesson one and lesson two.