Tackling The Veterinary Terminology: Prefixes (hypo-)

Remember the Spelling Bee? Big words are easier to tackle when you understand how they're put together. Veterinary terms are composed in the same way. Just like with other words, the main parts of a veterinary term are a prefix, a root, and a suffix. The difference is that they typically come more directly from Greek or Latin.

A prefix is placed at the beginning of a word to modify its meaning by providing additional information. It usually indicates number, location, time, or status.

hypo- [hī'pō] from Greek - under, below, deficient

This suffix can indicate either something physically under/below, descriptive of a location, or under/below as insufficient or below normal.

For example, hypodermic, means beneath the skin. Hypodermic needle, then, is a hollow needle used to inject solutions under, or immediately beneath, the skin.

Note the word hypoallergenic means decreased/lower than normal tendency to cause an allergic reaction. It doesn't really mean non-allergenic, only less likely to cause a reaction.

Most commonly, you might encounter this prefix denoting deficient levels of substances in the body that are normally strictly regulated; as an opposite to hyper-.

Simply put, hyper- means above optimal/normal, while hypo- means below optimal/normal.

You will find that most of the examples have potentially either below or above normal states.

Hyporthermia, abnormally low body temperature. Hypoglycemia, blood sugar levels below normal, often linked to diabetes and an overdose of insulin. Hypoadrenocorticism, also knows as Addison's disease, underproduction of adrenal hormones, particularly cortisol. Hypothyroidism, a quite common disease in dogs, underrproduction of thyroid hormone.

Just like their excess counterparts, severe deficiencies are also dangerous and can be fatal.

Just like with their excess counterparts, these words really only describe state of matters and can have various causes.

For example, hypothyroidism can be either primary or secondary. Primary causes are either destruction of the thyroid gland (auto-immune condition), or idiopathic atrophy of the gland. Most common secondary hypothyroidism is due to a pituitary gland tumor (pituitary gland controls thyroid function). There are even other, though rare, causes.

Hypoglycemia can be caused by the body's inability to store and/or mobilize sufficient amount of glucose, such as in toy breeds or puppies,  insulin overdose, insulinomas (insulin producing tumor), Addison's disease, or xylitol poisoning.

Imagine going to your wallet and finding no money. Is that because you didn't put any in there, is it because you spent it all, or is it because somebody robbed you?

***

Related articles:
Veterinary Suffixes (-itis)
Veterinary Suffixes (-oma) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-pathy)  
Veterinary Suffixes (-osis) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-iasis) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-tomy) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-ectomy)  
Veterinary Suffixes (-scopy) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-emia)
Veterinary Suffixes (-penia)
Veterinary Suffixes (-rrhea) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-cyte) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-blast) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-opsy)
Veterinary Suffixes (-ac/-al)

Veterinary Prefixes (hyper-)

Tackling The Veterinary Terminology: Prefixes (hyper-)

Remember the Spelling Bee? Big words are easier to tackle when you understand how they're put together. Veterinary terms are composed in the same way. Just like with other words, the main parts of a veterinary term are a prefix, a root, and a suffix. The difference is that they typically come more directly from Greek or Latin.

A prefix is placed at the beginning of a word to modify its meaning by providing additional information. It usually indicates number, location, time, or status.

hyper- [hī′pər] from Greek - elevated, excessive

There probably isn't anybody who isn't familiar with the word hyperactive. It can be your kids, or your dogs, virtually climbing the walls. All go, no stop activity level.

In life, everything is about a degree. You know, too much of a good thing ... This suffix indicates that things are way past being a good thing.

Hyperthermia, excessive heat, body temperature greatly above normal. (also heat stroke). Hyperglycemia, blood sugar levels above normal, a hallmark symptom of diabetes. Hyperadrenocorticism, also knows as Cushing's disease, overproduction of adrenal hormones, particularly cortisol. Hyperthyroidism, overproduction of thyroid hormone.

The list of examples is actually quite long. Everything in the body is strictly regulated. If for whatever reason this regulation fails, it can result in a state of excess.

None of these conditions are to be taken lightly.

The body works hard on regulating these things for a reason. When it gets out of hand, it is always damaging, and it can be deadly, if balance is not restored.

Excessive states are not self-induced, they don't just happen.

They are result of failed regulation. Sometimes a healthy regulatory processes simply cannot keep up with the conditions, such as with hyperthermia. Sometimes the regulation itself fails, such as with diabetes. They all need to be appropriately addressed.

***

Related articles:
Veterinary Suffixes (-itis)
Veterinary Suffixes (-oma) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-pathy)  
Veterinary Suffixes (-osis) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-iasis) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-tomy) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-ectomy)  
Veterinary Suffixes (-scopy) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-emia)
Veterinary Suffixes (-penia)
Veterinary Suffixes (-rrhea) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-cyte) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-blast) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-opsy)
Veterinary Suffixes (-ac/-al)

Tackling The Veterinary Terminology: Suffixes (-ac/al)

Remember the Spelling Bee? Big words are easier to tackle when you understand how they're put together. Veterinary terms are composed in the same way. Just like with other words, the main parts of a veterinary term are a prefix, a root, and a suffix. The difference is that they typically come more directly from Greek or Latin.

The suffix is the bit that will tell you about what procedure, condition, disease or disorder you're dealing with.

-ac [ək]/-al [əl] from Greek - relating to, affected by

These two suffixes generally turn nouns into associated adjectives, indicating that the issue relates to whatever the root word is. Pretty simple stuff.

Cardiac, pertaining to the heart. Neural, relating to a nerve or the nervous system. Hormonal, having to do with hormones. Pleural, pertaining to membrane lining the chest cavity and lung surface. Spinal, having to do with the spine. Anal, relating to anus.

Examples, cardiac arrest, (also known as cardiopulmonary arrest or circulatory arrest) occurs when normal blood circulation ceases due to the heart's inability to contract. Pleural effusion, abnormal accumulation of fluid in the chest cavity. Cerebrospinal fluid tap, a collection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for diagnostic purposes. Anal glands, well, many of you know about those.

Piece of cake, as long as you understand the root words.

***

Related articles:
Veterinary Suffixes (-itis)
Veterinary Suffixes (-oma) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-pathy)  
Veterinary Suffixes (-osis) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-iasis) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-tomy) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-ectomy)  
Veterinary Suffixes (-scopy) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-emia)
Veterinary Suffixes (-penia)
Veterinary Suffixes (-rrhea) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-cyte) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-blast) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-opsy)

Tackling The Veterinary Terminology: Suffixes (-opsy)

Remember the Spelling Bee? Big words are easier to tackle when you understand how they're put together. Veterinary terms are composed in the same way. Just like with other words, the main parts of a veterinary term are a prefix, a root, and a suffix. The difference is that they typically come more directly from Greek or Latin.

The suffix is the bit that will tell you about what procedure, condition, disease or disorder you're dealing with.

-opsy [əp-sē] from Greek - medical inspection, examination

Frankly, it's just as easy to remember the words where this suffix is used, because in veterinary medicine, there are only two.

While the meaning of the suffix is quite innocent, the words it helps form are no candidates for popularity contest.

Biopsy is the removal of a small, often microscopic, piece of tissue for examination. 

The reasons aren't always as scary as suspected cancer, but biopsy is typically done when your dog has a serious problem and examining the affected tissue is the only way to get a conclusive answer.

Biopsy punch. Image dvm360

Any tissue might need to be examined, from suspicious lumps, bumps and lesions, to skin, liver or intestinal tissue. Jasmine had biopsy of her liver, and biopsy is also the only conclusive way of diagnosing inflammatory bowel disease.

Laparoscopic biopsy. Image UF Small Animal Hospital

The good news is, that not every biopsy is looking for cancer. And, sometimes, cancer might be suspected, and the biopsy results come back with one of the most wonderful words in the medical language—BENIGN.

The procedure is somewhat invasive. But only a tiny bit of the tissue is typically needed, and advanced technology, such as endoscopy, can be used. And it will tell you conclusively, what is going on with the tissue.

Necropsy, the veterinary equivalent of autopsy, is the examination of the inside of a dead body, used to determine the cause of death.

While it's clearly too late to fix anything, sometimes might make sense to perform necropsy and find out what exactly happened.

***

Related articles:
Veterinary Suffixes (-itis)
Veterinary Suffixes (-oma) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-pathy)  
Veterinary Suffixes (-osis) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-iasis) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-tomy) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-ectomy)  
Veterinary Suffixes (-scopy) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-emia)
Veterinary Suffixes (-penia)
Veterinary Suffixes (-rrhea) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-cyte) 
Veterinary Suffixes (-blast)

Medical Terms That Sound Like A Diagnosis But Really Are Not: One-thing-or-anotheritis

There is quite a long list of conditions that fit in this category; from arthritis to vulvovaginitis—yeah, I did have to look that one up—they cover most of the alphabet.

What are they?

The suffix -itis stands for inflammation. The word before the suffix indicates the involved organ.

Arthritis is inflammation of one or more joints, dermatitis inflammation of the skin, gastroenteritis inflammation of the stomach and intestines, and so on.

These all sound very authoritative, but if  you look them up and find out what the medical words stand for, they become less threatening and more understandable.

The important question is, are these good enough diagnoses to go on?

And the answer? It depends.

To better understand this, let's take a look at what inflammation is.

Inflammation is immune system's response to harmful stimuli, such as trauma, pathogens or irritants.

It is body's self-defense mechanism to protect itself and initiate the healing process. In fact, without inflammation, wounds and infections would never heal!

Ok, wait a minute—if inflammation is such a good thing, how does it become a medical issue then?

The most obvious reason is – it hurts! (or itches in case of dermatitis for example).

More importantly, though, often the immune system needs some help to get the job done. If you get a splinter, you can leave it up to the immune system to force it out—which eventually might work—or you can help it along by taking the splinter out.

And there also lies the answer to our earlier question.

The best way to deal with inflammation is by dealing with its underlying cause!

That is sometimes easier said than done though.

The potential causes can be many. Injuries, foreign bodies, invaders real (parasites, fungi, bacteria, viruses) or imaginary (allergies or autoimmune disease). Clearly, some of these are easier to deal with than others.

Injuries and foreign bodies are a pretty straightforward matter. Infections not so much; allergies and autoimmune diseases—those are a real nightmares.

Why would your dog's immune system need help with infections?

That is a good question. The world is full of bacteria and fungi and viruses … isn't that what the immune system is for?

True, but sometimes the defenses can be overwhelmed.  An infection isn't  really the presence of the bacteria, fungi or viruses … infection is when they make it through the fortifications and start taking over.

Inflammation is a battle in progress.

The inflammation is the problem that we see—that's what we want to treat. 

But what would be the result if we made that happen in this case? We'd be handing the enemy the key to the castle!

What we need to do, is to deal with the enemy.

To complicate matters further, each of these invaders requires different weapons.

"Never bring a knife to a gun fight!"

Antibiotics won't work against fungi or viruses, antifungal medications won't do anything for a bacterial infection ...

***

Le's say we identified an infection as a cause of the inflammation. We also identified the invaders and chased them out.

Are we done? What do you think?

It's your dog's health!
Jana

Related articles:
Medical Terms That Sound Like A Diagnosis But Really Are Not (Part I)