Skip to Main Content

somato-, somat-

[Gr. sōma, stem sōmat-, body] Prefixes meaning body.

somatocrinin

(sō″măt-ō-krin′ĭn) [somato- + -crin + -in] Growth hormone-releasing hormone.

somatoform disorder

(sō-mat′ŏ-form″) [somato- + -form] A psychological disorder in which the physical symptoms suggest a general medical condition and are not explained by another condition such as a medication or another mental disorder. The symptoms must be clinically significant enough to impair function. A variety of conditions are included in this classification, including somatization disorder, conversion disorder, pain disorder, and hypochondriasis. Psychological factors are associated with and precede the condition. Symptoms may include loss of sense of touch, double vision, blindness, deafness, paralysis, and hallucinations. Individuals with conversion symptoms show “la belle indifference” or a relative lack of concern for their symptoms. The symptoms are not intentionally produced or feigned. The diagnosis cannot be established if the condition can be explained by the effects of medication or a neurological or other general medical condition. Somatoform disorder was formerly called conversion hysteria, now considered obsolete and pejorative. SYN: conversion disorder; psychosomatic disease.

 TREATMENT: The patient may benefit from reassurance, esp. when it is provided by a trusted health care professional.

somatogenic

(sō″măt-ŏ-jen′ik) [somato- + -genic, to produce] Originating in the body. SEE: psychogenic.

somatome

(sō′mă-tōm″) [soma + -tome] A somite.

somatomedin

(sō″măt-ŏ-mēd′ĭn) Any of several insulin-like growth factors that are produced in the liver and other tissues and require growth hormone to exert their function of stimulating growth, esp. in bone, cartilage, and muscle. SEE: growth hormone; insulin-like growth factor.

somatoparaphrenia

(sō″mă-tŏ-par″ă-frē′nē-ă) [somato- + para- + -phrenia] In patients with unilateral brain damage, the delusion that the side of the body opposite the brain injury does not belong to the patient.

somatostatin

(sō-mat′ŏ-stat″ĭn) [somato- + statin] A peptide that regulates and inhibits the release of hormones by many different neuroendocrine cells in the brain, pancreas, and gastrointestinal tract. Somatostatin inhibits gastric motility and gastric acid secretion, blocks the exocrine and endocrine function of the pancreas, and inhibits the release of growth hormone by the anterior pituitary gland; it also inhibits the growth and release of hormones by neuroendocrine tumors. It is also used to treat variceal hemorrhage in patients with cirrhosis and to treat pancreatitis. Octreotide is a synthetic version of somatostatin.

somatotopic

(sō″măt-ŏ-top′ĭk) [somato- + top- + -ic] Pert. to the correspondence between a particular part of the body and a particular area of the brain.

somatotrope

(sō-mat′ŏ-trōp″, sō′măt-ŏ-trōp″) [somato-...

Pop-up div Successfully Displayed

This div only appears when the trigger link is hovered over. Otherwise it is hidden from view.