Techspeak and Medtalk in Healthcare

Techspeak and Medtalk in HealthcareRunning head MEDTALK IN HEALTHCAREAccording to Harvard Health Commentaries (2006), physicians and other(a) health care providers often use technical language when talking to their patients about health related issues. They use linguistic process that are non especially technical but to a person who is unfamiliar with medical examination lineinology, these watchwords may still be difficult to understand. This is called techspeak or medtalk (Harvard Health Commentaries, 2006). Arbetter (1992) and Harvard Health Commentaries (2006) emphasizes the splendour of understanding doctors suggestions and recommendations in regards to health, however understanding their terminology will be a struggle. Learning a few Latin and Greek root words and whatsoever common prefixes and suffixes will help a non-medical person have greater understanding of medtalk. because most of the medical harm are composed of word parts that have their origins in Ancient Gree k or Latin (Arbetter, 1992).Harvard Health Commentaries (2006) suggest that taking a Latin class will not help much. They state the followingPerhaps thats because many of the most common terms doctors used are simply regular words used in a different way than what is usual for most people. And while technical terms are more(prenominal) readily noticed and translated, the less technical terms may be even harder to spot and avoid.Some doctors will use words or phrases to avoid giving patients misinformation. Harvard Health Commentaries (2006) elapses this example After chemotherapy, the lesion on chest X-ray disappeared. The term lesion could refer to a rash, lump or abnormality. The meaning of the term could refer to something insignificant or something severe. Physicians will use this term because more information is needed. They will avoid a more specific term such as cancer to describe the situation until there is more definitive information. This also prevents patients to worry about a medical situation that is still unclear.Although Arbetter (1992) considers taking a Latin and Greek class to be unhelpful in understanding medical terminology, learning common Greek and Latin root words, prefixes, and suffixes highly used in the medical field will give greater understanding of medical terminology, or the study of terms that are used in the art and science of medicine (Arbetter, 1992). Here are some common Latin, Greek, and prefixes and suffixes used in medtalk presented by Arbetter (1992).Latin words, vaso or angio both means vessel or vessels, so an angiogram would mean an X-ray of the blood vessels. A vasodilator would be a drug that widens the blood vessels.Prefixes a or an means absent or without. Anorexia means without appetite and anemia means without blood.Prefixes hyper and hypodermic syringe are often seen in medical terminology. Hyper- means increased or over, and hypo- means decreased, or under. Therefore, hyper thyroidal would mean to have high er than normal activity of the thyroid gland and hypothyroid would mean just the opposite, to have lower than normal activity of this gland.The suffix -pathy and osis means unhealthiness or refers to a condition. Thus, neuropathy would refer to any disease of the nervous system. Nephrosis is a disease of the kidney.The suffix -ectomy refers to a surgical removal. An appendectomy is the surgical removal of the appendix.It is advantage for non-medical people to know the meaning of medical terms because understanding health-related issues can be beneficial. Knowing some medical terms sometimes prevent unnecessary worrying and can give reassured in dealing with daily health-care situations/According to Harvard Health Commentaries (2006), it is important to talk to your doctor, listen carefully, and ask for explanations especially if something is unclear. It is also recommended to ask for clarification in situations where you fulfill words that are unfamiliar.ReferencesHarvard Health Commentaries. 2006, November. Tech speak. Harvard Health Publications Group. Retrieved from http//www.health.harvard.eduArbetter, S. 1992. How to speak medtalk. Current Health 2, a Weekly Reader publication, May 1992, p. 24.