Medical Terminology Simplified

220 CHAPTER 6• Digestive System

Word Element Meaning Word Analysis

Suffixes

-algia pain gastr/algia(găs-TRĂL-jē-ă): pain in the stomach

gastr: stomach

-dynia gastr/o/dynia(găs-trō-DĬN-ē-ă): pain in the stomach

gastr/o: stomach

-emesis vomiting hyper/emesis(hī-pĕr-ĔM-ĕ-sĭs): excessive vomiting

hyper-: excessive, above normal

-megaly enlargement gastr/o/megaly(găs-trō-MĔG-ă-lē): enlargement of the stomach

gastr/o: stomach

-orexia appetite an/orexia(ăn-ō-RĔK-sē-ă): loss of appetite

an-: without, not

Anorexia can result from various conditions, such as adverse effects of medication, as

well as other physical or psychological causes.

-pepsia digestion dys/pepsia(dĭs-PĔP-sē-ă): difficult or painful digestion; also called indigestion

dys-: bad; painful; difficult

Dyspepsia is a feeling of epigastric discomfort after eating.

-phagia swallowing, dys/phagia(dĭs-FĀ-jē-ă): difficulty swallowing or eating

eating dys-: bad; painful; difficult

-rrhea discharge, flow dia/rrhea(dī-ă-RĒ-ă): discharge or flow of watery stools from the bowel

dia-: through, across

Pronunciation Help Long sound a ̄in ra ̄te e ̄in re ̄birth ı ̄in ı ̄sle o ̄in o ̄ver u ̄in u ̄nite

Short sound a ̆in a ̆lone e ̆in e ̆ver ̆ıin ı ̆t o ̆in no ̆t u ̆in cu ̆t

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