How To Talk In Abbreviations and Medical Jargon-a VERY VERY Useful Skill

Studying/Testing
Foundations

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Get familiar with the head of the bed, aka the “HOB.” Especially know that raising the head is generally to do one of three things:

1.    Facilitate breathing

2.    Reduce risk of aspiration (fluid or food getting into the lungs)

3.    Lower blood pressure

·         *Peripheral often means “in the limbs” and even more often, “in the legs and feet”

·         “Dependent” tends to mean, “lower than” the heart. For example, “dependent edema” usually means edema in the lower extremities.

·         Never forget what distal and proximal mean. These terms are applied to the even the most minute physiological environments. For example, “in a heart attack, the infarction (necrosis of cells) has occurred distally to the original site of thrombosis.” Thus, the lack of oxygen has killed cells in tissues down stream from the original site…distal to the original site.

·         Hypoxia: the state of inadequate oxygen supply. This can refer to the entire body, or a minute area of tissue.

·         Hypoxemia: you guessed it. “-emia” = blood. Inadequate (low) oxygen saturation in the blood.

·         Perfusion: the process of delivering blood to tissues (cells). Ischemia is the lack of perfusion (blood flow) to the tissue (cells).

·         Oxygenation: the process of oxygen entering the body(mainly to tissues and cells).

·         Eventually, you will do well to understand this concept (especially 4^th semester), but the sooner, the better (apply the above vocabulary to this statement): Ischemia

·         The heart rate will often be elevated if the blood pressure is low. This is a compensatory mechanism. The heart is attempting to push whatever blood volume it has forward, to get oxygen to cells.

·         Blood glucose is very much affected (raised by) stress. Including hospitalization. Non-diabetics will sometimes need insulin while hospitalized. Why is this? Much of it is related to the “hormonal stress response,” which activates cortisol and / or epinephrine/norepinephrine. These ALL raise blood sugar.  Why? Physiologically, they were meant to give you an energy source in case you need to take action to combat the stress.

·         Get to know (especially Adult health 1 and 2) the stress response, blood sugar, and catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine).

·         Understand the differences in the central and peripheral nervous system