MEDICAL VOCABULARY

Ache: pain that won’t go away

Sentence: I can’t sleep because my knees ache in the night.

Amnesia: a condition that causes people to lose their memory

Sentence: I can’t remember the accident because i had amnesia.

Arthritis: a disease that causes the joints to become swollen and crippled

Sentence: My grandmother can’t knit anymore because the arthritis in her hands is so bad.

Benign: not harmful (not cancerous)

Sentence: We’re hoping that the tests will show that the lump in your breast is benign.

Brace: a device that holds injured body parts in place

Sentence: You will probably always have to wear a brace on your ankle when you jog.

Coroner: a person who determines the cause of death after a person dies

Sentence: We only call the coroner if we think a death is suspicious.

Crutches: objects that people with injured legs or feet use to help them walk

Sentence: I’d rather hop on one foot than use crutches.

Dementia: loss of mental capacity

Sentence: It is hard to watch a loved one suffering with dementia.

Fatal: causing death

Sentence: The doctor made a fatal error when he wrote the wrong prescription.

Inconclusive: unclear

Sentence: We have to do more x-rays because the first ones were inconclusive.