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Ch 02 A & P Terms
Acquiring Medical Language
Term | Definition |
---|---|
impression | another way of saying assesment |
diagnosis | what the health care professional thinks |
differential diagnosis | a list of conditions the patient may have based on the symptoms exhibited and the results of the exam |
benign | safe |
malignant | dangerous; a problem |
degeneration | to be getting worse |
etiology | the cause |
remission | to get better or improve; most often when discussing cancer; remission does not mean cure |
idiopathic | no known specific cause; it just happens |
localized | stays in a certain part of th body |
systemic/generalized | all over the body (or most of it) |
morbidity | the risk for being sick |
mortality | the risk for dying |
prognosis | the chances for things getting better |
occult | hidden |
pathogen | the organism that causes the problem |
lesion | diseased tissue |
recurrent | to have again |
sequelae | a problem resulting from a disease or injury |
pending | waiting for |
disposition | what happened to the patient at the end of the visit |
discharge | literally means to unload, but it has 2 meanings: to send home fluid coming out of a part of the body |
prophylaxis | preventative treatment |
palliative | treating the symptoms, but not actually getting rid of the cause |
observation | watch; to keep an eye on |
reassurance | to tell the patient that the problem is not serious or dangerous |
supportive care | to treat the symptoms and make the patient feel better |
sterile | extremely clean, germ-free conditions; especially important during medical procedures and surgery |