3.3 Prefixes for Diagnostic Procedures and Symptoms

As discussed previously, the term antepartum, meaning “before” (ante-) “birth” (-partum), is the period of time before a women delivers their baby. In some hospitals, there is an antepartum unit in which mothers stay if they are having complications with their pregnancy. The time after a women gives birth is called postpartum, meaning “after” (post-) “birth” (-partum). Once again, some hospitals will have a postpartum unit where patients will stay for as little as a day or much longer depending on how their birthing experience went.

Bradycardia, meaning “condition” (-ia) of a “slow” (brady-) “heart” (cardi/o), refers to a heart beating more slowly than normal (Mayo Clinic, 2022a). This can occur for several reasons, including damage to the heart tissue, medications, birth defect, and thyroid disorders. Fig. 3.17 is an image of a pulse oximeter, a device that measures heart rate and oxygen level.

Bradypnea meaning “breathing” (-pnea) “slowly” (brady-). This is a condition in which a person breathes at a slower than normal rate (Smith, 2020). Sleep apnea, which was discussed in a previous chapter, is a condition in which a person may stop breathing (apnea) in addition to breathing more slowly than normal (bradypnea) and therefore not get enough oxygen. Bradypnea can also occur with a drug overdose or in carbon monoxide poisoning.

The prefix dys-, which means “painful, difficult or abnormal,” is used in a number of medical terms, usually relating to a symptom that a patient might be experiencing. Table 3.14 below lists some of the more common terms that use this prefix. There are, of course, more, and on specialty units in a hospital, there are likely others that will be commonly heard as well.

Dysuria, meaning “a urine condition” (-uria) that is “painful” (dys-), is often one of the symptoms of a urinary tract infection (UTI). As mentioned above, a patient will likely have a urinalysis to help diagnose a UTI (Mayo Clinic, 2022c).

The prefixes hyper- and hypo- are used in many medical terms, and it is critical to use the correct prefix because they mean the exact opposite of one another. The list below demonstrates this concept:

• hyperglycemia (blood sugar that is high)
• hypoglycemia (blood sugar that is low)

• hypertension (pressure that is high or high blood pressure)
• hypotension (pressure that is low or low blood pressure)

• hyperthyroidism (condition of high thyroid)
• hypothyroidism (condition of low thyroid)

• hyperkalemia (blood condition with high potassium)
• hypokalemia (blood condition with low potassium)

Fig. 3.18 is an image of a neoplasm. This term has the prefix neo- (“new”) and the suffix -plasm (“formation”). A neoplasm occurs when cells reproduce more than they should. It can be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous), and if the cancer spreads to another place, such as other tissues or organs, it is called metastasis, meaning “place” (-stasis) that has “changed” (meta-) (National Cancer Institute, 2022).

The prefix pre-, meaning “before,” is used in a number of medical terms; for example:

• precancerous (“pertaining to before cancer”; for example, a precancerous colonic polyp, shown in Fig. 3.19)
• prenatal (“pertaining to before birth”; for example, prenatal care)

The prefix tachy- (“fast”) is the opposite of the prefix brady- (“slow”). Tachycardia means a “condition” (-ia) of a “fast” (tachy-) “heart” (cardi/o) and can occur during exercise or can be a serious medical conditions such as an arrhythmia.

Tachypnea, meaning “breathing” (-pnea) that is “fast” (tachy-), is the opposite of bradypnea, which was discussed earlier on this page. Tachypnea can occur when a person is exercising vigorously or with certain medical conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumonia (Berry & Fletcher, 2022).