Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Marco, I am a classmate and friend of Lex and ardent word lover (though admittedly not as much as Lex is). I run my own blog called The MedSchool Project but unlike Mere Words, my blog looks at the science and art of Medicine. I primarily want to become a doctor and I am applying for Medicine at university. Despite the differences between Lex and me, our common interest - words - is something that features a lot in my chosen career. Being a doctor involves words.
Why are words so important?
Medical terminology is so frequently seen in medical dramas. Doctors on TV may say something like, "Mrs. Terry had a syncopal episode following tachycardia, so I sent her off for a Holter monitor," which really means, "Mrs. Terry fainted after having an unusually rapid pulse so we're monitoring her heart rhythms for 24 hours." You may have heard a doctor talking about an EEG, CT, PET and MRI, among many other abbreviated names for scans. Medical terminology is important in Medicine for three obvious reasons:- One word can express many. Consider "appendicectomy" versus "a surgical procedure to remove an appendix," or "tonsillitis" versus "inflammation of the tonsils."
- Information can be relayed from person to person with great accuracy. Consider "a Salter-Harris II fracture of the right digital radius with moderate lateral displacement and 28 degrees of upward angulation," versus "a badly broken wrist."
- To accommodate for new technologies. Consider "laparascopic surgery," versus "surgery through a small hole in the body with a fibre-optic instrument."
Etymology - The Root of All Evil Words
Etymology is the study of the origin of words. I personally find it interesting, others may think it's boring. Others may say "It's all Greek to me!" and although it is probably more correct to be saying "It's all Latin to me!" it is true that most medical terms come Latin and Ancient Greek. Take the word opthalmologist (an eye doctor) - this comes from Ancient Greek ophthalmos, meaning "eye." And what about your quadriceps muscle in your thigh, which comes from Latin quattuor and caput, meaning "four-headed." (Note: your quadriceps aren't literally four-headed, but its name stems from the fact that it has four sections!)
To help you learn medical jargon, it is good to learn etymology because the root of the word, or the main part of the word, usually talks about what you are dealing with, usually a body part. The root is usually the Greek or Latin part of the word.
Common roots that refer to a body part include blephar (eyelid), cephal (head), cervic (cervix), cardio (heart), derma (skin), gingiv (gums), gnath (jaws), labi (lips), lapar (abdomen), mammo (breast), mast (breast), occipit (back of the head), etc. Hence blepharitis is inflammation of the eyelid, hydrocephaly is the accumulation of water in the head, cervical cancer is cancer of the cervix, a cardiologist is a heart specialist and a dermatologist is a skin specialist.
The root is normally flanked by two bits - the prefix which occurs at the beginning of the word and tells you about the condition of the main topic (the root) and the suffix which generally indicates what is being done to the main topic.
Common Prefixes
- A- or An- Lack of
- Anti- Against
- Bi- Two/Twice
- Con- or Co- Together with
- Hemi- or Semi- Half of
- Hyper- Excess
- Hypo- Deficient
- Macro- Large
- Micro- Small
- Post- After
- Pre- Before
- Trans- Through or across
- Tri- Three
So an anaemia is the lack of red blood cells in the bood. An antacid medicine works against stomach acid. A bicuspid valve has two cusps. Constipation occurs as faecal matter is compacted together. A hemiplegic is a patient with paralysis on one half or one side of the body. Hypertrophy is an enlargement of an organ due to an excess of cells. Hypoglycaemia is the deficiency of glucose in the blood. And so on!
Common Suffixes
Suffixes usually tell you whether we're talking about a procedure, a condition or a disease. You can use the same root word and by changing the the suffix (or the prefix), the word's meaning changes completely!
For example urology is the study of the urinary tract. Now, whereas a urogram is an X-ray of the urinary tract and a urologist is a doctor of the urinary tract, a urinalysis is the chemical analysis of urine and urethritis is inflammation of the urethra.
- -ate, -ise To subject something to
- -ist A person
- -genic Cause
- -gram A record
- -graph An instrument to record
- -ism A condition
- -itis Inflammation of
- -ologist A specialist in
- -ology The study of
- -phobia Fear of
- -scope An instrument to examine
So to cauterise a blood vessel is to subject it to heat/electricity/chemicals to stop it from bleeding. A pharmacist is a person who prepares and dispenses drugs. An allergenic substance causes allergies. A cardiogram is a record of heart muscle activity made by a cardiograph when checking the heart of someone with carditis, inflammation of the heart.
Logophilia, the love of words
There are so many more roots, prefixes and suffixes that I haven't mentioned but I hope that has given you an introduction to medical jargon and has shown you a way to approach deciphering the meaning of medical words!
Here's a quick test to see how well you've assimilated all that information. Try to work out the meaning of the five words or phrases below. Click "read more" to get to the answers!
What is the meaning of the following?
Answers:
- An X-ray record of a breast (usually to check for tumours)
- A valve with three cusps or segments
- A bone at the back and the base of the skull
- Inflammation of the gums
- Having an unusually large head
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