Understanding Medical Abbreviations & Terminology: A Guide for Patients

Medical professionals use many abbreviations, often stemming from Latin, when ordering tests, explaining treatments or describing an ailment which have become universally accepted. Most medical terminology has its basis in root words; developing a better understanding of some of the root words can give you a better understanding of your health condition.

Medical Word Roots

• In its most basic context, medical terminology addresses the four parts that make up the human body: bones, muscles, nerves and skin. Specialists generally concentrate on one of the four areas, but may subspecialize within those areas. In medical terms, anything having to do with bone falls under the abbreviation "oste." Muscles are referred to as "myo," nerves are under "neur" and skin is referred to as "derm." Knowing these roots can help you understand which part of the body is being treated.

Sub-Root Abbreviations

• One subspecialty in medicine is cardiology. "Cardio" is a universal abbreviation for the heart muscle, so any term that includes the word cardio refers to something that has to do with the muscle itself. Within cardiology, other universal terms describe different functions surrounding cardiology, such as "angi" for blood vessels, "phleb" for veins, "hemo" for blood and "arteri" for arteries.

Other Parts of the Body

• Medical abbreviations abound for other organs in the body. "Gastro" refers to the stomach and gastrointestinal system, "colo" refers to the large intestine or colon, "rhino" is the nose, "oculo" has to do with eyes and sight, and "hepat" is liver-related.

Medical Tests

• You can understand more about the type of medical test being performed by the word's ending. When you have some kind of "ectomy," you are having something removed. A "gram" or "graphy" refers to having pictures taken of an organ. An "otomy" is a cut, "scopy" uses an instrument to view the inside of the body and "stomy" creates an opening in the body.