part of the body so that all practitioners have a clear vision of what the diagnosis is and what should be done to treat it. Many building blocks of medical terms refer to the anatomy of the body. When combined with prefixes and/or suffixes, these building blocks pinpoint what part of the body the other building blocks of the word describe. The direction of a movement or a position of the body is important for accurate care. Refer to Table 12.3 for a list of root/stem words.
Table 12.3 Common Root/Stem Words
DIRECTIONAL ROOT/STEM WORDS move to the side move inward
bending or being bent
pull away from or straighten palms up
MUSCLE AND SKELETAL ROOT/STEM WORDS muscle bone
cartilage neck ribs
DIGESTIVE ROOT/STEM WORDS large intestine or colon teeth
stomach and intestine stomach liver
cerebro or encephalo mening(o)
myelo neuro
aer aur
dema gloss or lingu(o) Nutrition Fundamentals and Medical Nutrition Therapy