Special Sub-Topic: What Does All of this 'Medical Terminology' Mean? Click Here To Play: What Does All of this 'Medical Terminology' Mean?

If someone has gastritis, what organ is affected?

the stomach. Gastritis means inflammation of the stomach. Gastr- is the root word for stomach, and the suffix -itis means inflammation.

If someone has an electroencephalogram (or EEG), what part of the body is being recorded?

the brain. The combining form cephal/o does mean head, but encephal/o means brain. This is a record of the electricity in the brain.

If someone had a breast adenocarcinoma, what kind of doctor would they see for treatment?

oncologist. A breast adenocarcinoma is a cancerous tumor of a gland in the breast. An oncologist is a specialist in the study of tumors (of cancer). A nephrologist is a kidney specialist, and a gynecologist is, literally, a specialist in the study of women (and their 'women' parts!).

The suffix -coccus is plural for -cocci.

f. It's the other way around. The suffix -coccus is the singular form, and -cocci is the plural form. It means berry-shaped bacterium or bacteria (plural). Examples of this are staphylococcus (berry-shaped bacterium in clusters) and streptococci (berry-shaped bacteria in twisted chains).

The suffix meaning "surgical puncture to remove fluid" is...

-centesis. An -ectomy is an excicion, removal, or resection; -ostomy is an opening to form a mouth (or stoma); and -otomy means incision, to cut into.

Where would you feel pain if you had myalgia?

a muscle. Nerve pain is neuralgia, joint pain is arthralgia, and fiber pain is fibralgia.

What is happening to your bones if you have osteomalacia?

they are softening. The suffix -malacia means a condition of softening, and the combining form for bone is oste/o. Make sure you get enough calcium to help prevent osteomalacia!

Which one of the following means "the study of the eye"?

ophthalmology. The combining form for the word "eye" is most likely the most misspelled medical word. The correct combining form spelling is ophthalm/o, as I found out when I took a medical terminology class. An eye specialist is an ophthalmologist.

What part of the body would you have a hemiglossectomy on?

the tongue. To break it all down, the prefix hemi- means half, the combining form gloss/o means tongue, and an -ectomy is an excision, removal, or resection. A hemiglossectomy is a surgery to remove half of the tongue.

If you have sialadenitis, what part of your body is inflammed?

the salivary glands. The combining form sialaden/o means salivary glands. Gloss/o means tongue, and gingiv/o means gums.