Medical Terminology

Understanding Medical Terminology

• Medical terminology can be complex, but it can be approached by breaking it down into smaller, manageable pieces.

• In science and medicine, many terms come from Greek and Latin roots.

• It is recommended to keep a list or get a dictionary of Greek and Latin roots to aid in understanding medical terminology.

• Breaking down words into their component parts helps in understanding their meaning and structure.

"The key, of course, is to take big complicated problems and to break them down into small more manageable pieces. This is true for language as well as the rest of life."

Components of Medical Terms

• Most medical terms have three parts: a prefix, a root, and a suffix.

• The prefix and/or suffixes modify the main root of the word.

• Understanding the meaning of the prefix, root, and suffix helps in deciphering medical terms.

"First thing to understand is that you got to break words down into their component parts. And most medical and science terms will have a beginning which we call a prefix. A middle which is the root of the word. And then an ending which is the suffix. And so usually the prefix and/or the suffixes is a modifier of the main root of the word."

Breaking Down Long Terms

• Medical terms are often long and may seem daunting, but they are usually descriptive and meaningful.

• Breaking down long terms into their component parts makes them more manageable.

"You will probably notice, if you haven't already, that medical terms are really long and it's very daunting for a lot of people. But the truth is, most of them are very descriptive and they mean something. So, if you can break them down, it's not going to be too bad."

Common Prefixes and Roots in Medical Terminology

• Several common prefixes and roots are frequently encountered in medical terminology.

• Some examples are "osteo" for bone-related terms, "myo" or "sarco" for muscle-related terms, "neuro" for nerve-related terms, and "derm" for skin-related terms.

• Other examples include "angio" for blood vessel-related terms, "neph" for kidney-related terms, and "gastro" for stomach-related terms.

"What I want to do in this video is give you some of the most common of the puzzle pieces that you will encounter in medical terminology."

"For example, when you see myo or sarco, that refers to muscle. All different types of cell structures within muscle you're going to see with myo or sarco. Neuro refers to nerves. Derm refers to the skin. Angio refers to blood vessels. Neph relates to the kidney."

Understanding Rates and Sizes

• Prefixes in medical terminology can also indicate rates and sizes.

• "Hyper" means overactive or excessive, while "hypo" means underactive or insufficient.

• "Tachy" refers to a fast rate, while "brady" refers to a slow rate.

• Common size-related prefixes include "macro" for large, "micro" for small, and "megalo" for enlarged.

"Prefixes, especially, relate to size. Size matters, of course. Macro which means large. Micro which means small. Megalo or megaly means large or enlarged."

"So, for example, if your patient is hyperthyroidic [phonetic], it means that their thyroid is overactive. If they are hypothyroidic [phonetic], it means the thyroid is not as active as it should be. So, the -- the main part of the word looks the same but if you change that prefix it means a completely different thing. Tachy and brady referring to rates as well often in reference to the heart."

Colors

• There are prefixes relating to color.

We have a lot of prefixes relating to color.

Examples of Colors

• Chlorophyll in plants is green.

• Leuk is white, as seen in leukocytes.

• Erythro means red, as in erythrocytes (red blood cells).

• Cyan is the color blue, seen in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).

"Chlorophyll, for example, like in plants is green." "Leuk is white. You see that in leukocytes." "Red, erythro. Erythrocytes, red blood cells." "And cyan which is the color blue like erythrocyanan [phonetic]. Cyanobacteria you may seen in general biology. Those are the blue green algae."

Directional Prefixes

• Endo and intra mean within.

• Intra refers to within a single cell, while inter refers to between cells.

• Extra means outside.

• Peri means around.

• Trans means across.

"So, endo or intra both mean within. But look at this difference. Intra versus inter which means between... Extra refers to outside. Peri means around. And then trans. That means across."

Common Medical Terms and Procedures

• Echo refers to echocardiogram, which uses ultrasonic waves.

• Electro is a common prefix.

• Ectomy means removal.

• Gram is used to describe a picture or graph.

• The suffix "gram" is used to describe the process of making an image.

"Echo as in echocardiogram, using ultrasonic waves. Electro, I'm sure you know. Ectomy is the removal. A gram is a picture. The process of making an image."

Medical Problems and Conditions

• Dys means not working properly.

• Mal is a prefix meaning bad.

• Emia refers to a blood condition.

• Itis indicates inflammation.

• Osis is a broad term for a condition or disease.

• Pathy refers to a disease of the particular body part.

"Dys meaning not working properly. Mal as a prefix meaning bad. Emia is referring to some sort of blood condition. And itis. Anything with itis is an inflammation. And osis. That's just a very, very broadly used term for a condition or disease as is the suffix pathy."

Breaking Down Medical Terms

• Understanding the meaning of prefixes, roots, and suffixes can help break down complex words.

• Example: Hypercholesterolemia, broken down into hyper (elevated), cholesterol, and emia (condition in the blood).

• Example: Dermatitis, which refers to inflammation of the skin, broken down into derm (skin) and itis (inflammation).

• Example: Colostomy, referring to an opening in the colon.

"When you break it down, you can see that hyper which means elevated. This refers to, of course, cholesterol. And emia this is referring to a condition in the blood... Derm referring to the skin. And that itis is the inflammation... A colostomy referring to the colon."

Tips for Learning Medical Terminology

• Get over the initial panic of long and foreign words.

• Keep reading and exposing yourself to medical terms.

"I think that you'll find that if you just kind of get over the initial panic of, wow, these words are long and foreign you just got to keep going. Keep -- keep reading. Keep exposing yourself to them. And trust me. It gets easier."

"As always, I want to thank you for visiting the penguin prof channel."