Breaking down complex healthcare terminology.

Some may regard the complex healthcare words that doctors commonly use as daunting. Therefore, these blogs will help you to understand the most widely used prefixes, suffixes, and root words that you may need to become familiar with as you navigate your healthcare journey.

Prefixes:

Prefix	Meaning
a- / an-	Without, absent
anti-	Against
auto-	Self
bi-	Two
brady-	Slow
cardio-	Heart
dys-	Difficult, painful, abnormal
endo-	Inside, within
epi-	Upon, above, outer
gastro-	Stomach
hema- / hemo-	Blood
hepato-	Liver
hyper-	Excessive, above normal
hypo-	Below normal, too little
inter-	Between
intra-	Within, inside
macro-	Large
micro-	Small
mono-	One, single
myo-	Muscle
neo-	New
nephro-	Kidney
neuro-	Nerve
onco-	Tumor, cancer
osteo-	Bone
peri-	Around, surrounding
poly-	Many, multiple
post-	After
pre-	Before
sub-	Under, below
tachy-	Fast
trans-	Across, through

Suffixes:

Suffix	Meaning
-algia	Pain
-cardia	Heart condition
-cyte	Cell
-ectomy	Surgical removal
-emia	Blood condition
-genesis	Origin, formation
-gram	A recorded image or result
-ia	Condition or state
-itis	Inflammation
-logy	The study of
-lysis	Breaking down
-megaly	Abnormal enlargement
-oma	Tumor or abnormal mass
-opia	Vision condition
-oscopy	Visual examination using a scope
-osis	Abnormal condition or process
-ostomy	A surgically created opening
-otomy	A surgical incision or cut
-pathy	Disease or disorder
-penia	Deficiency, too few
-plasty	Surgical repair or reshaping
-plegia	Paralysis
-pnea	Breathing
-rrhage / -rrhagia	Excessive flow or bleeding
-rrhea	Discharge or flow
-sclerosis	Hardening
-stasis	Stopping or controlling
-stenosis	Narrowing
-therapy	Treatment
-uria	Condition of the urine

It is nearly impossible to memorize every word entirely by its meaning. Healthcare professionals are all taught to break down the word into its parts. If you memorize these prefixes and suffixes, you will be well on your first step to becoming a healthcare professional.