What does the suffix -phylaxis mean?
Matt Beckwith
are tachyphylaxis and calciphylaxis. What the heck is tachyphylaxis, anyway?
Matthew Rabuzzi
Matt Beckwith <beck...@jaxnet.com> writes:
: What does the suffix -phylaxis mean? Examples of words which are
: What the heck is tachyphylaxis, anyway?
Greek "phylakterion", a safeguard (whence the Hebrew "tefillin"
phylacteries), comes from "phylassein" = to guard or defend,
from "phylax" = a watchman.
"Prophylaxis" is proactive guarding against, i.e. prevention of,
disease.
"Anaphylactic shock" is due to a hypersensitive allergic reaction;
the "ana" is an intensifier of the "phylaxis", so we have
"hyper-guarding", as it were.
"Tachyphylaxis" or rapid guarding I would =guess= to refer to
a markedly fast guarding reflex (physical motion) toward a
certain part of the body, for instance in an injury or
swelling where there is tenderness.
"Calciphylaxis" -- if you weren't an MD
(where is your medical dictionary, by the way?) --
I would interpret as a cobbled-up word for
drawing a protective circle or pentagram with chalk
while conjuring up evil spirits.
But strictly speaking such a device would be apotropaic
rather than prophylactic.
......................................................................
The appliance of science for the society of satiety
Matthew Rabuzzi
Jeffrey Paul Schaefer
The term tachyphylaxis is usually applied to a situation where a
drug which was once effective is no longer so as the body "gets
used to it's effect".
A typical situation where this occurs is nitrate therapy.
Nitrates do not work well when given around the clock. If it is
given around the clock, the body seems to adapt to it rendering
the medication ineffective. This is why nitroglycerine patches
are removed for 8-12 hours of the day.
The term is not used to describe the development of antibiotic
resistance by bacteria.
JPS
PS: Readers of alt.grammar.english are asked to pardon my run-on
sentences, comma splices, and other transgressions, I'm only a
clinician. :-)
Bernie Willis
: What does the suffix -phylaxis mean? Examples of words which are pretty
: strange having this suffix are tachyphylaxis and calciphylaxis. What the
: heck is tachyphylaxis, anyway?
the suffix "-phylaxis" means "guard against". It is usually used in
medicine to form words relating to the body's immune system. Not being an
MD and not having a medical reference handy, that is as much help as I
can give you.
Since "tachy-" refers to speed, maybe "tachyphylaxis" is a Traffic Cop. ;)
Or would he be a "tachyphylactic" or a "tachyphylactor?" :/
--
===Bernie Willis===
<ber...@ccnet.com>
Ravpreet Singh Gill
beck...@jaxnet.com (Matt Beckwith) wrote:
>What does the suffix -phylaxis mean? Examples of words which are pretty
strange having this suffix
>are tachyphylaxis and calciphylaxis. What the heck is tachyphylaxis, anyway?
>
of the body against infection. This makes sense, because according to my
medical dictionary, tachyphylaxis is "the rapid immunization to a toxic dose
of a substance by previously injecting tiny doses of the same substance."
Also according to my medical dictionary, calciphylaxis is "a state of induced
tissue sensitivity characterized by calcification of tissue when challenged by
an appropriate stimulus." I hope this helps.
Ravpreet Singh Gill
Steven B. Harris/Virginia George
writes:
>What does the suffix -phylaxis mean? Examples of words which are
pretty strange having this suffix
>are tachyphylaxis and calciphylaxis. What the heck is tachyphylaxis,
anyway?
>
I believe the root is Greek: phylox, a guard. Prophylaxis is something
that guards before (like a prophylactic device, see condom).
Tachyphylaxis is when something guards only for short or fast time,
then quits. It's what happens, for example, when you use nasal sprays
too much-- soon they only work for 10 minutes and they clog up againg.
I have to admit I've never heard of calciphylaxis. Maybe it has to do
with osteoporosis preventive medicine. <g>
Steve Harris, M.D.
Ian Jones
Hence prophylaxis = towards protection, and
anaphylaxis = away from protection.
Tachyphylaxis is the phenomenon of a decreased response to the same doses
of a drug, (had to look that one up).
Cheers, Ian
smgr...@gmail.com
> What does the suffix -phylaxis mean? Examples of words which are pretty strange having this suffix
> are tachyphylaxis and calciphylaxis. What the heck is tachyphylaxis, anyway?
Jerry Friedman
Kerr-Mudd,John
23 years.
--
Bah, and indeed, Humbug.
occam
"phylaxis" in English (from the Greek) (faɪˈlæksɪs) medical term for
protection (against infection or other dangers).
May I offer you "prophylactic" as a better known example of its use?
As for "calci-", that is clearly a made-up compound term for calcium +
phylaxis to describe some form of calcification. It's not quite clear
why the medic who coined the word felt the need for 'phylaxis' in that
word.
Kerr-Mudd,John
"clearly"
bebe...@aol.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calciphylaxis
It might be that other forms of calcification don't share that trait
with it, so that the name of the disease may have been coined to
illustrate this specificity.