Medical Terminology · Pharmacology · Medium

Polypharmacy

Meaning: The use of multiple medications by one patient, increasing risk of interactions and side effects.

In practice: A medication review was arranged to address her polypharmacy, as she was taking fourteen different tablets daily.

Word parts

  • poly- means many

Many medical words are built from Greek and Latin parts like these, so learning a few helps you work out new terms.

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Which word means: A suffix meaning the process of recording or imaging.

Which word means: Directed towards the tail end or lower part of the body, away from the head.

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