Guess What I'm Studying Today?

Medical Assistant Front Office Class Homework... MEDICAL PREFIXES...

I'm bored but need to study so I'm getting creative and making you suffer along with me.

(Actually, I like this part. I'd much rather do flash cards for hours on end instead of reading 30 pages about Medical Billing or Insurance. That's what I've been doing the last month, and I CAN'T DO IT. It makes no sense when I read it, and it's frustrating. This here is non-frustrating homework, so I'm taking my time doing it, because it makes me feel good about myself when I understand it! Muhahahha....)

Plus, I find it all fascinating... because once you get all this stuff and put it together, you can totally understand what your reading about, or what a doctor is saying to you! LIKE... take something simple like APNEA---

A means without, and PNEA means breathing. So APNEA means without breath.

Ever heard of sleep apnea? It's where your breathing lapses while you sleep. SEE? Sleep apnea = "without-breathing"

MAKES SENSE! Love it :)

MEDICAL PREFIXES--- you'll be surpised how many you know, or can figure out.
a- (as in APNEA): without
ab- (as in ABNORMAL): away from
ad- (as in ADDICTION): toward
an- (as in ANEMIA): no, not without
auto- (as in AUTOIMMUNE): self
bi- (BILATERAL): two
brady- (BRADYPNEA): slow
contra- (CONTRAINDICATION): against
dia- (DIARRHEA): through, between, apart, complete
dys- (DYSPNEA): difficult, painful, bad
end-, endo- (ENDOSCOPE): within, in, inside
epi- (EPIDERMIS): upon, above, on, upper
hemi- (HEMIPLEGIA): half
hyper- (HYPERTENSION): over, above, increased, excessive
hypo- (HYPOTENSION): under, below, decreased
infra- (INFRAORBITAL): beneath, below, inferior to
inter- (INTERSTITIAL): within
intra- (INTRAMUSCULAR): between
neo- (NEOPLASM): new
per- (PERCUTANEOUS): through
peri- (PERIMENOPAUSE): surrounding
poly- (POLYNEURITIS): many
post- (POSTNATAL): after
pre- (PRENATAL): before, in front of
retro- (RETROPERITONEAL): behind
sub- (SUBCUTANEOUS): below
super-, supra- (SUPRACOSTAL): above, excessive, beyond
tachy- (TACHYPNEA): fast, rapid
trans- (TRANSDERMAL): across, through
ultra- (ULTRASOUND): beyond, excess

(suffixes and root words to come... when I'm studying for those tests :D)