Basic Medical Terminology - H Trivia Quiz

Answer: below, under

Hypo- is a prefix that means below, under, deficient or low and is derived from the Greek "hypo" having the same meaning. Hypo- has an "opposite" prefix, hyper-, which means over, above, or high. These two prefixes cause a lot of problems for medical audiotypists (transcriptionists) because most doctors aren't careful with their diction and pronounce them both as "hypa". So, for example, if a doctor says the patient has "hypatension", the typist may not know whether to type hypertension (high blood pressure) or hypotension (low blood pressure). You can see the potential for medical mismanagement.

Answer: above, beyond

Hyper- means over, above, excessive or high from the Greek "hyper" having the same meaning. In medical terminology, most hyper- words will have a corresponding hypo- word which means the opposite. For example, hyperthyroidism (over-active thyroid) and hypothyroidism (under-active thyroid), hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar) and hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar).

Answer: blood

These word parts are derived from the Greek words "haima" and "haimatos" meaning blood. In American spelling, the silent "a" is deleted and the word parts are spelled hem-, hem/o, hemat- and hemat/o. The suffix -aemia (American: -emia) meaning blood condition is also derived from the same source.

Some examples of usage include haematology (the study of blood and blood disorders), haemophobia (fear of blood), and haemoglobin (blood protein).

Answer: half

The prefix hemi- is derived from the Greek "hemisus" meaning half. It is generally used when referring to the left or right half of the body or body part. For example, the brain is divided into the left and right hemispheres (half a sphere). If a patient suffers a stroke and is paralysed down one side of the body, they have hemiplegia (half paralysed).

The word migraine evolved from the Greek "hemikrania", via French, literally meaning half of the skull because migraine typically affects one side of the head.

Answer: water

Hydr- and hydr/o are word parts derived from the Greek "hydor" meaning water. The disease rabies was originally called hydrophobia (fear of water) because one of the symptoms in humans was inability to swallow and this behaviour was interpreted as fear of water.

Some other examples of usage include dehydration (lack of water), hydrotherapy (treatment with water) and hydrogen ("water-producing"). Hydrogen was so-called because it was noted that hydrogen gas will generate water when burned in the presence of oxygen.

Answer: liver

Hepat- and hepat/o are word parts derived from the Greek "hepar" meaning liver. One of the most well-known examples is hepatitis (infection or inflammation of the liver). There are many different types of hepatitis with a variety of causes such as viruses, auto-immune diseases and toxic substances (such as drugs and alcohol).

Heparin is an anticoagulant substance produced primarily in the liver cells. Hepatomegaly means enlargement of the liver.

Answer: same, man

Homo- is a prefix derived from the Greek "homos" meaning "one and the same" and the Latin "homo" meaning man. The species name for human beings is Homo sapiens which means "wise man" in Latin. The term homosexual was coined in 1886 by a German psychiatrist, Richard von Krafft-Ebing, who used the terms homosexual and heterosexual in his book "Psychopathia Sexualis".

The popularity of his book led to the terms heterosexual and homosexual becoming common terminology for sexual orientation in both psychiatry and in common usage.

Answer: different, other

Homo- and hetero- (like hyper- and hypo-) are a pair of prefixes which have opposite meanings. As noted in Q7, homo- means same and hetero- means different or other. Hetero- is derived from the Greek "heteros" meaning different, the other (of two), or another.

In genetics, we use the terms heterozygous and homozygous when speaking of pairs of genes. For example, if a person carries the genes for both blue eyes and brown eyes, the genes are different and the person is said to be heterozygous for that trait. If, however, the person carries genes for blue eyes only, they are homozygous because the genes are the same. An interesting medical term is heterochromia which literally means "different colours" and refers to people who have differently coloured irises in the eye.

Some famous people who had or have heterochromia include Alexander the Great, Dan Ackroyd, Gracie Allen, and Jane Seymour (the actress). (David Bowie appeared to have heterochromia but in fact he had a different eye condition caused by trauma to the eye).

Answer: uterus, womb

Hyster- and hyster/o mean uterus or womb, and are derived from the Greek "hystera" meaning the same. A common medical procedure is hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus). Hysteria is a word with an interesting history. In modern usage, it refers to a neurotic condition characterised by extreme emotional instability and uncontrollable behaviour. Literally, it means "condition of the womb" as Ancient Greek and Roman physicians noted that women tended to be more emotional than men, so they attributed this to the presence of the womb (which women had and men did not).

Therefore, hysteria was perceived as a dysfunction of the uterus. Some of the writings of the Ancient physicians in relation to this topic are quite hilarious from a modern perspective; for example, Aretaeus of Cappodocia (1st century CE) wrote "In women, in the hollow of the body below the rib-cage, lies the womb.

It is very much like an independent animal within the body for it moves around of its own accord and is quite erratic. Furthermore, it likes fragrant smells and moves toward them, but it dislikes foul odours and moves away from them...Disorders caused by the uterus are remedied by foul smells and also by pleasant fragrances applied to the vagina".

Answer: sleep

Hypnos was the Greek God of sleep. His name gives us the word parts hypn- and hypn/o and words such as hypnosis (a sleep-like state), a term that was coined in 1820 by Étienne Félix d'Henin de Cuvillers (1755-1841), a French practitioner of "mesmerism", which in turn was an early form of hypnosis made popular by Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), a German doctor.

In modern usage, hypnotics are drugs used to treat insomnia.