Overview
This lecture covers a series of practice problems that reinforce basic medical terminology by breaking down common medical terms into their component parts and explaining their meanings.
Breaking Down Medical Terms
- Neurology: "Neuro" means nerve; "logy" means study of; together—study of the nervous system.
- Leukocyte: "Leuko" means white; "cyte" means cell; together—white blood cell.
- Hemophilia: "Hemo" means blood; "philia" means love of; literally "love of blood," but refers to a genetic bleeding disorder.
- Hypoxia: "Hypo" means low; "xia" relates to oxygen; together—low oxygen levels, usually in tissues.
- Hypercapnia: "Hyper" means high; "capnia" means carbon dioxide; together—high carbon dioxide levels in the blood.
- Hepatomegaly: "Hepato" means liver; "megaly" means enlarged; together—enlarged liver.
- Tachypnea: "Tachy" means fast; "pnea" means breathing; together—rapid or fast breathing.
- Atrophy: "A-" means lacking; "trophy" means growth; together—wasting or decrease in cell size, often muscle.
- Bradycardia: "Brady" means slow; "cardia" means heart; together—slow heart rate.
- Gastroenterology: "Gastro" means stomach; "entero" means intestine; "logy" means study of; together—study of the gastrointestinal system.
- Erythrocyte: "Erythro" means red; "cyte" means cell; together—red blood cell.
- Colitis: "Col" means colon; "itis" means inflammation; together—inflammation of the colon.
- Hypertension: "Hyper" means high; "tension" means pressure; together—high blood pressure.
- Chromophobia: "Chromo" means color; "phobia" means fear; together—fear of colors.
- Macrocephaly: "Macro" means large; "cephaly" means head; together—large head.
- Transdermal: "Trans" means across; "dermal" means skin; together—across the skin.
- Extrathoracic: "Extra" means outside; "thoracic" means chest; together—outside the chest.
- Intra-abdominal: "Intra" means within; "abdominal" means abdomen; together—within the abdomen.
- Adrenal: "Ad-" means toward/above; "renal" means kidney; together—toward or above the kidney.
- Parathyroid: "Para" means nearby; "thyroid" means thyroid; together—near the thyroid gland.
- Perinephric: "Peri" means around; "nephric" means kidney; together—around the kidney.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Neuro — nerves or nervous system
- Leuko — white
- Cyte — cell
- Hemo — blood
- Phil/philia — love of
- Hypo — low/below normal
- Hyper — high/above normal
- Capnia — carbon dioxide
- Hepato — liver
- Megaly — enlarged
- Tachy — fast
- Pnea — breathing
- A- — lacking/absent
- Trophy — growth
- Brady — slow
- Cardia/cardio — heart
- Gastro — stomach
- Entero — intestine
- Itis — inflammation
- Tension — pressure
- Chromo — color
- Phobia — fear
- Macro — large
- Cephaly — head
- Trans — across
- Dermal — skin
- Extra — outside
- Thoracic — chest
- Intra — within
- Abdominal — abdomen
- Ad- — toward/above
- Renal — kidney
- Para — nearby
- Thyroid — thyroid
- Peri — around
- Nephric — kidney
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review lesson 1 video for foundational concepts.
- Practice breaking down unfamiliar medical terms using prefixes, roots, and suffixes.