Medical speak is filled with tricky shorthand that can be confusing, condescending, and even life threatening, but not anymore: Be your own interpreter with our cheat sheet.
Decode Your Doctor’s Language
Confusing Medical Acronyms, Decoded
Does “CR” stand for Cardiac Rehabilitation? or Colon Resection? When dealing with doctors, don’t be embarrassed to ask about
abbreviations, especially if they involve a medication or procedure;
they could have double meanings.
Funny Medical Acroynms, Decoded
Like G.O.M.E.R.: Get Out of My Emergency Room! Say what?
10 of the more shocking slang terms that doctors might use »
Helpful Medical Acronyms, Decoded
Our friends at The Doctors television show shared some abbreviations they use to care for patients that can help you at home too, like F.A.S.T.: Facial droop, Arm weakness, Slurred speech, Time to call 911.
Emergency Medical Acronyms, Decoded
If you’ve ever been in a hospital and heard a code announced over the loudspeaker that sent the staff scampering, you’ve probably wondered what was going on. Now you know:
BLUE: Adult medical emergency
WHITE: Pediatric medical emergency
PURPLE: Child abduction
GRAY: Combative person
SILVER: Combative person with a weapon and/or hostage
YELLOW: Bomb threat
PINK: Infant abduction
ORANGE: Hazardous-materials spill
BROWN: Bed full of excrement
RED: Fire
(Note: Emergency codes can differ from hospital to hospital.)
Extreme Medical Acronyms, Decoded
Sometimes shortcuts are an easier way of noting that something really bad is either about to happen—or already has.
A.V.: Anticipatory Vomiting
P&E: Prep & Enema
B.T.H.O.O.M.: Beats The Hell Out Of Me
G.O.K.: God Only Knows
F.U.O.: Fever of Undetermined Origin
C.Y.A.: Cover Your Ass (there’s been a screw-up)
U.F.O.: Unidentified Foreign Object
N.W.S.: New World Screwworm (parasitic infection)
A.N.D.: Allow Natural Death
M.D.T.: Maggot Debridement Therapy (use of fly larvae to clean wounds)
M.F.C.: Measure For Coffin
D.R.T.: Dead Right There (at scene of accident)
D.R.T.T.T.: Dead Right There, There, and There (at scene of accident, in multiple parts)
Medical Acronyms from the Lab, Decoded
Your blood test results may contain abbreviations for some important components. Here’s what they mean:
Immune Function:
W.B.C.: White Blood Cell count (infection fighters)
Prostate Health:
P.S.A.: Prostate-Specific Antigen (prostate cancer marker)
Energy Levels:
R.B.C.: Red Blood Cell count (oxygen transporters)
M.C.V.: Mean Corpuscular Volume (size of average red blood cell, gauge of anemia)
M.C.H.: Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (amount of hemoglobin in red blood cell, gauge of anemia)
Heart Disease:
H.D.L.: High-Density Lipoprotein (good cholesterol)
L.D.L.: Low-Density Lipo- protein (bad cholesterol)
V.L.D.L.: Very-Low- Density Lipoprotein (very bad cholesterol)
apo B: apolipoprotein B (heart-disease marker)
C.R.P.: C-Reactive Protein (measure of arterial inflammation)
Liver and Kidney Disease:
G.G.T.: Gamma-Glutamyl Transpeptidase (liver-disease marker)
A.L.T.: Alanine Transaminase (liver-disease marker, can also appear as S.G.P.T.)
B.U.N.:Blood Urea Nitrogen (gauge of kidney function)
Originally Published in Reader's Digest
