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Medical Terminology

The word-formation processes of English include affixation, compounding, conversion, blending,backformation, clipping, acronym, coinage, etc. Affixation is the most commonly used word-formation process in English medical terminology.

Affixation (also called derivation) refers to the formation of words by means of affixes (prefix and suffix). It includes prefixation and suffixation. Prefixation is a morphological process whereby a prefix is attached to the front of a stem. Usually, prefixation tends to be semantically oriented, that is, the process does not generally change the word class of the stem, but only modifies its meaning.

There are prefixes such as negative prefixes (e.g. a-, in-, non-), reversative prefixes (e.g. de-, un-,dis-), pejorative prefixes (e.g. mal-, mis-), “degree or size” prefixes (e.g. hyper-, hypo-, sub-, extra-),“orientation and attitude” prefixes (e.g. contra-, anti-, pro), locative prefixes (e.g. inter-, intra-, trans-),“time and order” prefixes (e.g. post-, re-, pre), number prefixes (e.g. bi-, uni-, tri-), miscellaneous prefixes (e.g. ultra-). However, there are an increasing number of class-changing prefixes in present-day English such as asleep, encourage, which only make up an insignificant number in the contemporary vocabulary.

Suffixation is a morphological process where a suffix is attached to the end of a stem. Suffixes tend to change the grammatical function of stems, in other words, to change the word class, which can be classified into the followings: nominal suffixes (e.g. -ment, -tion, -ism), verbal suffixes (e.g. -ate, -fy,-en, -ize), adjectival suffixes (e.g. -ful, -ish, -al, -ous) and adverbial suffixes (e.g. -ly, -ward, -wise).In English medical terminology, there is still another group of suffixes which can change the meaning of the word. For example, “-itis” is a most commonly-used suffix meaning inflammation and “-oma”means tumor or morbid growth. If we add “-itis” or “-oma” to the word root hepat(o)- (the liver), we can get the word hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) and hepatoma (carcinoma of the liver).

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Vocabulary Study

Task 1
Directions: Underline the suffixes in the following terms and explain these suffixes .

(1) adenosine __________

(2) urinary __________

(3) metabolism __________

(4) organism __________

(5) epithelial __________

(6) organelle __________

(7) dorsal __________

(8) adrenaline __________

(9) intracranial __________

(10) gastroscope __________

(11) transaminase __________

(12) pharmacist __________

(13) obstetrician __________

(14) cardiovascular __________

(15) sternum __________

(16) homeostasis __________

(17) thoracic __________

(18) angioplasty __________

(19) mediastinum __________

(20) circulation __________

Task 2

Directions: Explain the meanings of the following terms related to the nerve and underline the strong part of each word where there are two or more syllables. Pay attention to the suffixes .

(1) neuron __________

(2) neural __________

(3) neurology __________

(4) neurologist __________

(5) neuritis __________

(6) neuralgia __________

(7) neuroma __________

(8) neuroid __________

(9) neurogenic __________

(10) neurogenesis __________

(11) neurotoxin __________

(12) neurotubule __________

(13) neurosis __________

(14) neuropathy __________

(15) neurocyte __________

(16) neurolysis __________

(17) neurectomy __________

(18) neurotomy __________

(19) neurotic __________

(20) neuraminidase __________

Case Study 1-1

Emergency Care

During a triathlon, paramedics responded to a scene with multiple patients involved in a serious bicycle accident. B.R., a 20-YO woman, lost control of her bike while descending a hill at approximately 40 mph. As she fell, two other cyclists collided with her, sending all three crashing to the ground.

At the scene, B.R. reported pain in her head, back, chest, and leg. She also had numbness and tingling in her legs and feet. Other injuries included a cut on her face and on her right arm and an obvious deformity to both her shoulder and knee. She had slight difficulty breathing.

The paramedic did a rapid cephalocaudal assessment and immobilized B.R.’s neck in a cervical collar. She was secured on a backboard and given oxygen. After her bleeding was controlled and her injured extremities were immobilized, she was transported to the nearest emergency department.

During transport, the paramedic in charge radioed ahead to provide a prehospital report to the charge nurse. His report included the following information: occipital and frontal head pain;laceration to right temple, superior, and anterior to right ear; lumbar pain; bilateral thoracic pain on inspiration at midclavicular line on the right and midaxillary line on the left; dull aching pain of the posterior proximal right thigh; bilateral paresthesia (numbness and tingling) of distal lower legs circumferentially; varus (knock-knee) adduction deformity of left knee; and posterior displacement deformity of left shoulder.

At the hospital, the emergency department physician ordered radiographs for B.R. Before the procedure, the radiology technologist positioned a lead gonadal shield centered on the midsagittal line above B.R.’s symphysis pubis to protect her ovaries from unnecessary irradiation by the primary beam. The technologist knew that gonadal shielding is important for female patients undergoing imaging of the lumbar spine, sacroiliac joints, acetabula, pelvis, and kidneys. Shields should not be used for any examination in which an acute abdominal condition is suspected.

Task 3

Directions: Find ten words in the case study with prefixes, underline the prefixes and write down the meaning of the prefixes .

Task 4

Directions: Find words in the case study with suffixes that mean “pertaining to”, and write down both the suffix and the word that contains it .

Case Study 1-2

R.S.’s Self-Diagnosis
Chief Complaint:

R.S. is a second-year medical student. Recently, he finds that he is always tired and unable to focus in class. He decides to self-diagnose and begins with a review of systems (ROS). He notes that he is not having any cardiovascular, lymphatic, or respiratory system symptoms, such as tissue swelling,coughing, or shortness of breath. He also has not noticed any changes in urinary system functions. He realizes that he has gained some weight recently and has also been a little constipated but has no other problems with his digestive system. He rules out anything concerning his musculoskeletal system because he has no muscle cramps, joint pain, or weakness. He thinks his skin is drier than usual. He worries that this is an integumentary system sign of hypothyroidism and becomes concerned about his endocrine system function. Unable to perform any imaging studies or lab tests on his own, he makes an appointment to see a campus health services physician.

Examination:

R.S. tells the doctor he feels he has a metabolic disorder. He thinks he might have an adenoma,a glandular tumor that is disrupting homeostasis, his normal metabolic state. The doctor takes a complete history and orders various blood tests to assist with the diagnosis. He completes a physical examination that reveals no abnormalities.

Clinical Course:

The blood glucose levels, complete blood count (CBC), and thyroid function tests are all normal.Nothing in the tests indicates anything physically wrong with the patient. There is no indication that any further cytologic or histologic tests are necessary. The doctor tells R.S. that he is sleep deprived from all his studying and that his weight gain can be explained by his poor food choices in the university cafeteria. In addition, the doctor advises R.S. to schedule some exercise into his daily routine. Lastly, he reminds R.S. that although he is studying to be a doctor, self-diagnosis at this point in his career could be inaccurate and could cause undue anxiety.

Task 5

Directions: Select the best answer to the question based on the information provided in Case 1-2 .

(1) On review of systems, R.S. rules out problems with all the following systems EXCEPT .

A. the musculoskeletal system B. the lymphatic system

C. the digestive system D. the endocrine system

(2) The symptom “shortness of breath” usually indicates a problem with .

A. the integumentary system or the digestive system

B. the cardiovascular system or the respiratory system

C. the skeletal system or the muscular system

D. the urinary system or the reproductive system

(3) The opposite of “hypothyroidism” is .

A. parathyroid B. hypertension C. hyperthyroidism D. hypothermia

(4) The word “adenoma” has a suffix meaning .

A. tumor B. inflammation C. gland D. disease

(5) The campus health services physician orders various_____to assist with the diagnosis.

A. cytologic tests B. histologic tests C. blood tests D. radioisotope studies

(6) R.S. has the following symptoms EXCEPT .

A. fatigue B. dry skin C. weight loss D. impaired concentration

Medical Term Extension

Positional and Directional Terms

In describing the location or direction of a given point in the body, it is always assumed that the subject is in the anatomic position, that is,upright, with face front, arms at the sides with palms forward and feet parallel, as shown in Figure 1-5.

Figure 1-5 Directional terms

Planes of the Body

A plane is an imaginary flat surface. Organs appear in different relationships to one another according to the plane of the body in which they are viewed.

(to be continued)

Figure 1-6 Planes of the body

Task 6

Directions: Label the picture below .

Task 7

Directions: Select from the following medical terms to complete the sentences below .

distal  frontal(coronal)  inferior(caudal)  lateral

proximal  superior (cephalic)  transverse (axial)  midsagittal

(1) The kidney lies________to the spinal cord. (Hint: to the side of)

(2) The_____end of the thigh bone (femur) joins with the kneecap (patella).

(3) The_______plane divides the body into an anterior and a posterior portion.

(4) The diaphragm lies________to the organs in the thoracic cavity.

(5) The________plane divides the body into right and left halves.

(6) The________end of the upper arm bone (humerus) is at the shoulder.

(7) The________plane divides the body into upper and lower portions.

(8) The pharynx is located_____________to the esophagus. jC7SacIvqRH67bpVbbYi0JmrcZs+bBJxev5LSXmBvxWwap2MEinHELHVAncf7MRY

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