Deciphering "Doc-talk"

Recently I had the opportunity to tour the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago. This facility contains artifacts, illustrations, and sculptures that trace the healing practices of Eastern and Western medicine. Exhibits include medical imaging, ophthalmic art, nursing, pain management, surgicogenomics, orthopedics, and pharmacological science. The museum’s mission is “to enrich people’s lives by enhancing their appreciation and understanding of history, development, and advances of surgery and related subjects in health and medicine.” (brochure) Visit their website for more information http://www.imss.org/ .

The facility provoked my thoughts on the ubiquitous exposure the lay person has with modern medicine. Media, news articles, Internet and greater use of the health system forces one to become increasingly literate with the terms of medical science. “Doc-talk” is not necessarily the lingua franca of the public however. To help you decipher “doc-talk” I have planned two blog entries that will relate the meaning of certain terms and abbreviations commonly used by physicians and health care professionals. The lay person is expected to understand what has taken health care professionals years to master.

This first entry will reveal some of the more common medication abbreviations and medical terminology. The second will feature prefixed and suffixes most commonly used that will indicate anatomical and physiological terms. Many entries have their origin in Greek and Latin. Hopefully these blog entries will provide enough information so you can have a reasonable understanding of what is meant when your medical professional uses “doc-talk.”

Prescription abbreviations: Rx (from the Latin imperative recipe) – take thee of, ac (ante cibum) – before meals, ap (ante prandium) – before dinner, b.i.d. (bis in die) – twice daily, hd (hor decubitus) – at bedtime, p.r.n. or ad lib. (pro re nata or ad libitum) – as needed, q.h. (quaque sec hora) – every hour, q.i.d. (quarter in die) – four times daily, qtt – drops, sig (signa) – give following directions, ss (semis) – one half, t.i.d. (ter in die) – three times daily, ut dict – as directed.

Other terms used: Bx – biopsy, CBC – complete blood count, C/O – complains of, Dx – diagnosis, Fx – fracture, Hx – history of, NPO – (nil/nihil per os) nothing by mouth, O2 – oxygen gas, pH – acidity scale ( 0 – 14 with 7 as neutral; lower numbers are acid, higher numbers are basic or alkaline), R/O – rule out, c (with line over it) – with, s (with line over it) – without.

Other useful terms: ataxia – loss of control over body functions, edema – abnormal swelling or accumulation of fluid (pulmonary edema - accumulation of fluid in the lungs), ischemia – decrease in oxygenated blood being delivered to an organ (TIA – transient ischemic attacks or silent strokes that occur when brain is briefly deprived of oxygen, MI – myocardial infarction or heart attack caused by decreased oxygenated blood flow to the heart), metastasis – migration of cancer (CA) cells to other organs and parts of the body.

What is the difference between a CT Scan, MRI, fMRI, and PET Scan? The CT Scan (computerized tomography) utilizes an X-ray machine working with a computer to examine body organs, constructing a series of cross-section scans in one dimension. It is useful for viewing detailed pictures of body tissues and structures. The MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) uses nuclear magnetic resonance of protons to help distinguish between healthy and diseased tissues in a three dimensional proton density image. The fMRI (functional MRI) is a particular MRI that registers blood flow to functioning areas of the brain. A PET Scan (positron emission tomography) uses positrons to discover functional information. Images show molecular function and activity, the metabolic activities of body tissues. Its three dimensional images can be used to identify whether a tumor is benign or cancerous. PET Scans are often used to compliment the more common CT Scan and MRI.

Coming next: common medical suffixes and prefixes.