Blood and Lymphatic System

• Medical root words of the blood and lymphatic system:

  Erythr - red

  Fusion - Merger or blending 

  Globin - protein

  Hem or hemat - Blood 

  immun - Exempt or immunity

  leuk - white

  lymph - Clear water or fluid

  necr - death

  nucle - Kernel or nucleus

  phylaxis - protection

  sept - Putrefying; wall

  thromb - clot

  tox - poison
• Medical prefixes for the blood and lymphatic system: 

  An- Without or absence of

  Ana- Up or toward

  Anti- Against or opposite of 

  Mal- bad

  Mono- one

  Trans- across
• Medical suffixes for the blood and lymphatic system: 

  -emia - Condition of blood

  -ia - Condition of 

  -ic - Pertaining to 

  -lysis - Loosen or dissolve

  -ology - Study or science of 

  -oma - tumor

  -osis - Condition of

  -pathy - disease

  -penia - Abnormal reduction in number or deficiency 

  -philia - Loving, love of, or affinity for 

  -rrhage- Profuse bleeding; hemorrhage
• Hematology

  • general field of medicine focusing on blood-related disease
• Erythropenia

  • Abnormally reduced number of red blood cells in a blood sample. 

  Leukopenia

  • Abnormally reduced number of white blood cells in a blood sample. 
• Hemolysis

  • rupture of red blood cells, a blood transfusion is not compatible with the recipient’s blood. 
  • Mismatched blood penetrates the red blood cells, causing them to enlarge and possibly burst. 
• Hemorrhage

  • Abnormal loss of blood, usually a sign of trauma or illness.
• Anaphylaxis

  • A life threatening, immediate reaction to a foreign substance. 

  Anemia

  • reduced number of red blood cells or their ability to carry oxygen. 

  Dyscrasia

  • A nonconstructed term, derived from the Greek word meaning ‘difficult temperament’. It refers to any abnormal condition of the blood. 

  Edema

  • This is a nonconstructed term, derived from the Greek word oidema meaning ‘swelling’. (minamanas) 
  • leakage of fluid from the bloodstream into the interstitial space between body cells. 
• Hemophilia


  An inherited disorder. There is an absence of blood-clotting proteins that are necessary for coagulation. The hemophiliac may experience abnormal blood losses even after minor injuries
• Hematoma


  Formed when a mass of blood outside the blood vessels is confined and usually clotted within an organ or space within the body.

  • bruise or contusion
• Hemoglobinopathy


  A disease that affects the hemoglobin or protein within the red blood cells
• Hemorrhagic fever


  An infectious and often life-threatening disease causing internal bleeding and high fevers. Viruses, including ebola, often cause this disease
• Malaria

  • Caused by a parasitic protozoa form of bacteria, carried by mosquitoes.
  • The word means bad air. 
  • It infects the red blood cells and liver, causing periodic flare-ups of high fever. 

  Mononucleosis

  • caused by a virus and characterized by enlarged lymph nodes and spleen, atypical lymphocytes, throat pain, fever, and fatigue. 
  • kissing disease.
• Hodgkin’s Disease 

  • a malignant form of cancer of lymphatic tissue (lymphoma) characterized by the progressive enlargement of the lymph nodes, fatigue, and deficiency of the immune response. 
  •  more sensitive to radiation than other non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. 
• Immunodeficiency 

  • insufficient number of white blood cells, called lymphocytes, available to fight infection in the body .
  • A patient suffering from this is referred to as ‘immunocompromised’. 
• Inflammation

  • derived from the Latin inflammatio which means ‘to set ablaze’
  • Symptoms may be edema, redness, heat, and pain. 
• Leukemia

  • A cancer that forms in the red (bone) marrow found inside bones. 
  • It produces abnormal white blood cells
• Necrosis

  • The death of one or more cells or an entire portion of a tissue or organ. 
  • Nonconstructed
  • The dead tissue is called ‘necrotic’ 
  • may be the result of an injury, frostbite, or lack of circulation. 

  Septicemia

  • presence of bacteria and their toxins in the circulating blood of the body. 
  • The Latin form of this word is sepsis; the person suffering from this condition is septic. 
  • blood poisoning. 
• Thrombosis

  • The formation or presence of one or more blood clots. 
• Anticoagulant

  • chemical agent that delays or prevents the clotting of blood, and may be used to dissolve existing blood clots or reduce the chances of forming clots.

  Attenuation

  • A process that weakens a pathogen, making it less infectious.

  Transfusion

  • The process of introducing blood to the body to restore blood volume to normal levels. 
  • Homologous transfusions involve blood voluntarily donated by others. 
  • Autologous transfusions involve blood donated by a patient for their personal use. 
• AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) 

  • A disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), it destroys the white blood cells known as the helper T cells. This destroys the immune response. 
• CBC (Complete Blood Count) 

  • A common laboratory test that evaluates a sample of blood and provides diagnostic information about a patient’s general health. 
• HCT or Hct Hematocrit 

  • Often part of the CBC and is obtained by using a centrifuge to separate a sample of blood into separate cells.

  HGB (Hemoglobin)

  • The globular-shaped protein molecules found inside the red blood cells.

  PLT (Platelet Count) 

  • A laboratory procedure that calculates the number of platelets in a known volume of blood.