Medical Terminology Chapter 12 Presentation

1. Presentation:
Chapter 12
Phil Traini

2. Medical terminology
• Medical terminology is a language of its own. This
language helps professionals accurately describe
the human body along with any conditions
associated with it in a scientific manner.
• There are 3 parts when considering the systematic
approach of creating a word: prefixes, word roots,
and suffixes.
• So these parts of words help

3. Suffix Defined
• What is a suffix?
• A suffix is placed at the end of the root word in order to
add meaning in terms of condition, disease, and/or
procedure.
• Examples:
• One suffix example is -plegia. -Plegia means paralysis
and can help identify the condition and individual is
suffering from after properly identifying the root word.
• A second example is -phasia. -Phasia means speech.
•

4. Suffix -Plegia relating to
nervous system
• In the nervous system chapter of our textbook
there are two disorders referring to -plegia:
quadriplegia and paraplegia. Both of these
disorders relate to paralysis within the human
body.

5. Quadriplegia
• Quadriplegia occurs when paralysis takes place in all
four limbs.
• This can be caused by spinal trauma affecting the
cervical part of the spine C1-C7 and also inflammation or
tumor growth in this location.
• Diseases that can cause quadriplegia such as multiple
sclerosis, transverse myelitis, and polio.
• Disorders such as muscular dystrophy and spastic
cerebral palsy can also cause quadriplegia.

6. Paraplegia
• Paraplegia is defined as paralysis
of the legs and lower body,
typically caused by spinal injury or
disease.
• It usually occurs form trauma,
inflammation(through infection or
trauma), or tumor growth on the
lumbar region of the spine L1-L5.
• Autoimmune disorders, hereditary
spastic paraplegia, syrinx, multiple
sclerosis, spina bifida, and other
disorders.

7. Suffix -phasia relating to
nervous system
• In the nervous system chapter of our textbook two
disorders a mentions that have the suffix -phasia. They
are aphasia and dysphasia. Both of these disorders
affect speech.
• Both of these disorders are related to issue with the
Broca and Wernicke areas of the brain.

8. Aphasia
• This disorder refers to the complete inability to communicate verbally or
in writing.
• A breakdown of this work (a- without, phasia-speech)
• Causes of this disorder can result from traumatic damage to the Broca's
and Wernicke's regions of the brain or the neural pathways between
them.
• Brain tumors and disorders such a Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease
can also cause aphasia.
• Herpesviral encephalitis can cause aphasia.
• Epilepsy and severe migraines can sometimes cause episodic aphasia.

9. Dysphasia
• When broken down (dys- means abnormal, difficult -phasia
speech).
• Dysphasia is difficulty verbally communicating and also
writing.
• Although it is different than aphasia sometimes the two are
used interchangeably.
• The most common cause of dysphasia is a stroke.
• It can also be caused by trauma, infection, and tumor
growth in the Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas of the brain.

10. References
• Fremgen, Bonnie F., and Suzanne S. Frucht. Medical
Terminology: A Living Language. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.
• MayoClinic- Spinal cord injury-Diseases and conditions
(http://www.mayoclinic.org/)
• NYU Langone Medical Center- Pediatrics department-
paraplegia (http://pediatrics.med.nyu.edu/)
• thefreedictionary.com-Medical Dictionary- Dysphasia
• WebMd- Paraplegia, Quadriplegia, Aphasia, and Dysphasia
(www.webmd.com)