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<span>Introduction&mdash;Part 1 of 2</span>
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<h1 align="center">Understanding Medical Words Tutorial</h1>
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<h1>Introduction&mdash;Part 1 of 2</h1>
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<p> <img alt="" align="right" height="203" hspace="12" src="https://medlineplus.gov/images/umw-image004.png" width="299"/> What did the doctor say?</p>
<p>Do you ever feel as if you and your doctor weren't speaking the same language? Sometimes even words that you think you understand can have a different meaning to your doctor.</p>
<p>For example: <strong>heart attack</strong>.</p>
<p>Your uncle experienced the symptoms of what you understand to be a heart attack, including:</p>
<ul class="bulletlist">
<li>racing heartbeat</li>
<li>chest pain</li>
<li>shortness of breath</li>
<li>passing out</li>
</ul>
<p>Your uncle's heart stopped beating! Luckily, the emergency responders used CPR and revived him.</p>
<p>Later when you're talking to the doctor, you say how glad you are that he survived his heart attack. The doctor says, "He didn't have a heart attack. He had a cardiac arrest; but no muscle damage." What does the doctor mean?</p>
<p>What is going on? To you, a heart attack means the heart doesn't beat. To the doctor, a heart attack means there is damage to the heart muscle.</p>
<p> <img alt="" style="float:left;margin:0px 25px 25px 0px" height="203" src="https://medlineplus.gov/images/umw-image006.png" width="299"/> Another
example: <strong>fever</strong>. You take your child's temperature and it is 99.5 degrees. You call the doctor and say
your child has a fever of 99.5 degrees. She says, "That's not a fever." What does she mean? </p>
<p>What is going on? To you, a fever is anything above 98.6 degrees. To the doctor, a fever is a temperature over 100.4
degrees. You and your doctor sometimes are speaking a different language; but using the same words.</p>
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