Medical Terminology
Which medical terminology element is the foundation or basice meaning of a medical word?
What is the root.
When breaking down a medical term, which word part should you usually identify first when determining the definition?
What is the suffix
A patient tells you, "I've had nausea for two days." Is nausea a sign or symptom?
Symptom
Which body plane divides the body into anterior and posterior portions?
Answer: Frontal plane.
Which type of blood cell is primarily involved in fighting infection?
Answer: Leukocytes (white blood cells).
What word part is found at the end of a medical term and often tells you a condition, procedure, or disease?
What is a suffix?
True or false: When a suffix begins with a vowel, you generally keep the combining vowel.
False. The combining vowel is generally dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel.
A healthcare provider observes a patient's red rash during an examination. Is the rash a sign or symptom?
Sign
Name the four abdominal quadrants.
Answer: RUQ, LUQ, RLQ, LLQ.
What substance triggers an immune response and causes the body to recognize something as foreign?
Answer: Antigen.
What word part (if present) is found at the beginning of a medical term and can modify its meaning?
What is the prefix
Analyze arthr/o/scopy. What is the root AND what does it mean?
arthr — joint.
A patient reports experiencing chest pain. Is this a sign or symptom?
Symptom.
A structure is located closer to the head than another structure. Which directional term describes it?
Answer: Superior.
What proteins are produced by the immune system in response to antigens?
Answer: Antibodies.
What is the purpose of a combining vowel?
It links a root to a root OR a root to a suffix to aid in pronounciation.
How many word elements are in hypo/glyc/emia AND identify what the elements are (prefix, root, suffix)
3 - prefix, root, suffix.
What is the difference between a sign and a symptom? (You must use subjective and objective in your response)
A sign is objective and can be observed/measured by someone else; a symptom is subjective and experienced/reported by the patient.
Which abdominal quadrant contains the stomach and spleen?
Answer: Left upper quadrant (LUQ).
Complete the relationship:
Antigen → ________ → immune response
Antibody production.
You see the term gastr/o/enter/o/logy. How many med term elements are present? (assume combining forms count as one)
What are 3 elements.
Decode this term using your word-analysis rules:
gastr/itis
Inflammation of the stomach.
A condition which is lifelong or constantly recurring and is typically treated with medication.
A chronic condition
The left kidney, pancreas, stomach, spleen, and part of the liver are located primarily in which abdominal quadrant?
LUQ — left upper quadrant.
A foreign substance enters the body and is recognized by the immune system. What happens next: do the antibodies create the antigen, or does the antigen stimulate the production of antibodies?
The antigen stimulates the immune response, which leads to the production/release of antibodies.