Talk:Kernicterus
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NB: the key to understanding scientific/medical terms is to understand the roots, because the same word roots/structures are used over and over. "Kern" is Greek for "nut" or "nucleus" (from which we get the English word "kernel") and "icterus" is Greek for jaundice. The Latin "nucleus," in turn, has three scientific applications: the nucleus of the atom; the nucleus of the cell; and the nuclei of the brain, various collections of nerve bodies which can be readily identified at autopsy, or can be seen in other tissue preparations.
Likewise "polycythemia" breaks down into the Greek "poly," "many;" "cyt," "cell;" and "hem," "blood": [too] many blood cells.