PATHO

Patho is a combining form used in medical terminology, derived from the Greek pathos, meaning suffering or disease. It appears in terms that describe the origin, development, and study of disease, and it is used across medicine, biology, and related fields.

Common examples include pathogenic (disease-causing), pathogen (an organism that causes disease), pathogenesis (the origin and development of a disease), pathophysiology (the functional changes that accompany disease), and pathological (relating to disease or the study of disease). The noun pathology refers to the science that investigates disease, while a pathologist is a professional who analyzes tissues to diagnose illness.

Patho- emphasizes disease processes and abnormal function, in contrast to other roots that describe normal physiology or non-disease contexts. It is distinct from pathos in non-medical fields such as psychology, where the term often relates to emotion rather than disease. In medical writing, patho- forms part of compound terms rather than existing as a standalone word.

Because patho- is a prefix, it is typically followed by another combining form or a suffix (for example, pathogenesis, pathophysiology, pathological). It is widely used in clinical, laboratory, and research contexts to denote aspects of disease and its mechanisms.

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