Body Structure Supplementary Information

Body Structure Supplementary Information

 

Do This  Additional Terms Not Listed in Textbook

Make sure you focus on these as well for the assignments!

Suffix Definition Example
abdomin/o abdomen abdominal
path/o disease, suffering, feeling, emotion pathogenic
plas/i, plas/o development, growth, formation hyperplasia
theli/o, thel/o nipple, nipple shaped epithelial cell
umbilic/o navel, umbilicus umbilical
-blastoma immature tumor retinoblastoma
-coccus berry-shaped bacterium staphylococcus
-lucent to shine radiolucent
-opaque obscure radiopaque
-somes bodies chromosomes
-suppression to stop cardiosuppression
-type picture, classification genotype

 

 

Video Anatomy and Physiology Introduction

While we will not be going in-depth to actual A&P (there are other courses you will take during your health related programs that cover this in depth) we still need to learn the basics as it informs the word parts throughout the chapters. This is a great base level of knowledge that will help inform your future courses as well!  The video below provides an introduction to the body as a whole and why learning these concepts are important

 

 

Info Areas of Clarification

This chapter focuses on key terms that may or may not be composed of word parts as you have seen in Chapters 1-3. However, this is an extremely important chapter to understand as it is the basis of what we will learn in each of the body systems chapters. Therefore, there is more terminology to learn here outside of the prefix, root, suffix format you have encountered thus far. 

As you memorize the language components of medical terminology it is important to support that learning within the context of anatomy and physiology.  It is important to put into context where in the body the medical term is referencing, and then consider how it works within the body.

Anatomy focuses on structure and physiology focuses on function. Much of the study of physiology centers on the body’s tendency toward homeostasis.  This is why the Introduction to A&P is included above, and why so much of the text focuses on A&P of the body systems.

 

The body structure itself is composed of many parts and there are several ways to divide the body into more easily understood parts. These include

 

Structural Organization of the Body:

Cells - Tissues - Organs - Systems - Organism

 

Body Cavities:

There are 2 main cavities that are broken down to smaller cavities within each of those.

Dorsal - includes cranial and spinal cavities

Ventral - includes thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic (or abdominopelvic) cavities

This illustration shows a lateral and anterior view of the body and highlights the body cavities with different colors. The cranial cavity is a large, bean-shaped cavity filling most of the upper skull where the brain is located. The vertebral cavity is a very narrow, thread-like cavity running from the cranial cavity down the entire length of the spinal cord. Together the cranial cavity and vertebral cavity can be referred to as the dorsal body cavity. The thoracic cavity consists of three cavities that fill the interior area of the chest. The two pleural cavities are situated on both sides of the body, anterior to the spine and lateral to the breastbone. The superior mediastinum is a wedge-shaped cavity located between the superior regions of the two thoracic cavities. The pericardial cavity within the mediastinum is located at the center of the chest below the superior mediastinum. The pericardial cavity roughly outlines the shape of the heart. The diaphragm divides the thoracic and the abdominal cavities. The abdominal cavity occupies the entire lower half of the trunk, anterior to the spine. Just under the abdominal cavity, anterior to the buttocks, is the pelvic cavity. The pelvic cavity is funnel shaped and is located inferior and anterior to the abdominal cavity. Together the abdominal and pelvic cavity can be referred to as the abdominopelvic cavity while the thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic cavities together can be referred to as the ventral body cavity.

 

Here is a video to help you understand the different cavities of the body:

 

 

 

 

Abdominal Regions:

Image of body broken out by regions

 

A video that explains how the lines were identified is here:

 

 

 

Abdominal Quadrants: 

Image of body broken out by quadrants

 

 

Body Planes:

Vertical planes - Frontal (front/o=front, -al=pertaining to) & Midsagittal (lateral: later/o=side, -al=pertaining to)

Horizontal plane - Transverse (axial: ax/o=axis, -al=pertaining to)

Image showing body split up by planes

 

 

 

We can also dissect the spinal cord into regions

Spinal column

Image of the spinal cord regions

 

 

We also must understand the directional/positional terms that relate to the body as they will be used for the body systems as well:

Positional and Directional Terms

In addition to the terms on the image, we must also know:

abduction adduction
proximal distal
parietal visceral
prone supine
inversion eversion
palmer plantar
superficial  deep

image of the body broken out by directional terms

 

 

A video that discusses the planes, orientation, and directional terms is located here:

 

 

 

Color (chrom/o)

There are several terms that signify color that will be used throughout the body systems. These include: 

White

albin/o

leuk/o
Yellow

cirrh/o

jaund/o

xanth/o
Blue

cyan/o
Red

erythr/o
Black

melan/o
Gray

poli/o

 

 

 

References:

Body Cavities, Regions, Quadrants, Planes, and Position/Direction Images: attributed to FA Davis

Spinal Column Image: attributed to Cancer Research UK / Wikimedia Commons