Can you come to terms with the language of medicine?

The technical language of medicine that we routinely use in describing various aspects of a diagnosis, prognosis and treatment often baffles clients who are unfamiliar with medical terminology. However, many medical terms that we commonly use in the English language are derived from words that were commonly spoken in Greek or Latin languages. Test your knowledge about the origin of the following medical terms.

1. Patient designates a person receiving care or treatment froma doctor, is derived from the Latin term "pati" meaning to suffer.

2. Placebo, a Latin term, is translated into English as, "Ishall be pleasing." A placebo has been defined as a medical preparationhaving no pharmacologic activity against the patient's illness or complaint,and given with the primary intent of pleasing rather than benefiting thepatient.

3. Stethoscope is derived from the Greek term "stetho"meaning chest or breast. Since anatomic locations other than the chest maybe examined with this instrument, the Dutch prefer the term phonendoscope("phonein" is a Greek word meaning sounding).

4. Diabetes, a word derived from Greek "dia" meaning"through" and "bainen" meaning "to go," literallymeans "to pass through." Diabetes was used to refer to conditionsassociated with formation of large volumes of urine. The Greek words "mellitus"(meaning honey and implying a sweet taste) and "insipidus" ("in"is a prefix meaning without, and "sapid" means taste) were thenused to describe different types of diabetes. Diabetes mellitus meant thatabnormal quantities of sugar were passing through the urinary tract, whilediabetes insipidus meant abnormal quantities of tasteless (non-glucosuric)urine were being formed.

5. Duodenum is derived from the Latin term "duodeni"meaning 12. The first portion of the small intestine extending from thepylorus to the jejunum was so named because in humans it is about 12 fingerbreadthsin length.

6. Jejunum is derived from the Latin term "jejunus"meaning "fasting" or "empty". Galen named the secondpart of the small intestine "nestis" (fasting) because he believedit was always found empty after death.

7. Ilium is the Latin word for flank and is used to designatethe iliac bone in the pelvis. The third segment of the small intestine wascalled the ileum because in man the small intestines are largely supportedby the iliac bone.

8. Rectum: This word is derived from the Latin word "rectus"meaning straight. Galen used this name for the terminal potion of the largeintestine because he found it to be straight in many animals.

9. Artery is derived from the Greek terms "aer" whichmeans "air", and "teren" which means "to keep."This derivation is related to the ancient belief that arteries were windpipes.

10. Nausea is defined as a feeling of sickness with an impulseto vomit. It is derived from the Greek word "nausia" meaning seasickness.The same Greek word is contained in the English words nautical and navigation.

11. Atlas was the Greek mythological titan who supported the worldon his shoulders. In the 16th century, Vesalius gave this name to the firstcervical vertebrae, which in man supports the head.

12. Patella: The word patella (designating the knee cap) is derivedfrom the Latin term "patina", which is a small shallow pan orlittle plate. The patella of many animals resembles a small plate.

13. Scapula is derived from a Latin word meaning shovel. The useof this term to describe the shoulder blade is likely related to the commonuse of this bone as a spade.

14. Testis: The Latin word "testis" means witness. Theword testicle is derived from the same Latin root term contained in theword testify. The use of this term to refer to the male genital organs ofprocreation is probably derived from the ancient custom of taking an oathwith the hand on the testicles.

15. Uvula: The word uvula designating the caudal portion of thepalate (roof of the mouth) is a Latin term meaning "little grape".At one time the palate was incorrectly thought to be the organ of taste,leading to the term palatable referring to tasty food.

16. Vagus: The term vagus, referring to the tenth cranial nervewith widespread distribution to the head, neck, thorax and abdomen, is aLatin word meaning "wandering". The English words vague and vagrantare derived from the same source.

17. Vitreous is derived from the Latin term "vitreus"meaning "glassy". It is applied to the vitreous humor of the eye.From the Latin term "vitrium" meaning "glass" comesthe phrase "in-vitro" meaning in a glass receptacle. In vitrois in contrast with "in vivo" meaning in the living body.

18. Humor: The word humor is derived from the Latin term "umor"meaning moisture or fluid. It is used in anatomical nomenclature to designatecertain fluid materials the body (i.e. aqueous and vitreous humor). It isalso used in reference to the ancient humoral theory of disease. Empedocles,a student of Pythagorus in the 6th century B.C., proposed a humoral systemof medicine that prevailed into the 19th century in human and veterinarymedicine. The four humors were: phlegm (nasopharyngeal secretions) whichis cold and moist; blood, which is hot and moist; black bile (from the kidneysand spleen), which is cold and dry, and; 4) yellow bile (secreted from theliver), which is hot and dry. When these four humors were in proper balance,individuals were considered to be in "good humor", a phrase whichis still in use today. Blood, the hot humor, was considered to be in excessin patients with some disease, especially those associated with fever. Adeficit of body heat prompted an initial diagnosis of what is still describedas a "cold".

Likewise, the term melancholic (a Greek term meaning black bile) wasused to describe a depressed patient's temperament. It was believed thatgood humor, or humoral balance, could be restored to ailing patients byremoval of excessive quantities of bad humors. Thus the imedus for therapeuticblood-letting (known medically as venesection or phlebotomy).

19. Pituitary is derived from the Latin term "pituita"meaning mucous secretion. In the time of Galen, the mucus from the noseand mouth was thought to come from this structure. It has been suggestedthat the word "spit" comes from the same origin.

20. Iatrogenic: The Greek word "iatros" means physician,and is derived from the term "iasthai", which means to heal orcure. The term iatrogenic contains the root word "iatros", andthe root word "gennan" which means "to create or produce".Dorland's Medical Dictionary defines iatrogenic as any adverse conditionor complication in a patient occurring as a result of treatment by a physician.Because there is no comparable English word for adverse events in patientsresulting from treatment by veterinarians, the word iatrogenic has beenadopted by our profession. The fact that iatrogenic is often consideredas a pathophysiologic mechanism of disease emphasizes that there are somepatients we cannot help, but there are none we cannot harm.

21. Rx: This symbol means "recipe" and is commonly usedto designate a medical prescription.