I mentioned in a previous post that I have a vocab book full of words I had to look up this semester related to my studies. Here are some of my favourites:
exudate - oozing fluid from a wound
tangentiality - a mild though disorder characterised by never getting to the point.
infarction - death of organ tissue that occurs when the artery carrying its blood supply is obstructed by a clot.
paralytic ileus - when the bowels aren't moving and there are no bowel sounds present.
diaphoresis - excessive sweating.
emboli - a clot that travels from one part of the body to another.
renal calculi - kidney stones.
oliguria - lack of urine.
diuresis - excessive urination.
enuresis - urinary incontinence, bedwetting.
dysuria - pain during urination.
hirsutism - excessively coarse and pigmented body and facial hair on a woman, caused by hyperandrogenism.
pruritis - itching.
striae - stretch marks.
ptosis - drooping of the upper eyelid due to a neurological disorder (Paris Hilton has this, LOL)
bruxism - habitual teeth grinding that often occurs while sleeping.
petechiae - bruising.
polydipsia - abnormal intense thirst which leads to drinking large amounts of fluid (a symptom of diabetes)
polyphagia - gluttonous excessive eating.
thrombocytopenia - reduction in the number of platelets in the blood, causing bleeding into the skin, spontaneous bruising and prolonged bleeding.
colostrum - breast milk.
expressive aphasia - unable to speak.
apnoeic - not breathing.
rhinorrhea - runny nose.
cebrospinal rhinorrhea - when cerebrospinal fluid (from the brain) leaks out of the nose.
I think one of the reasons there are so many latin words and acronyms in the health care industry is so the patients don't know what the doctors are talking about and they can feel superior, LOL. As nurses though, we need to know how to explain things to the patients in plain English.
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