What it means
The ending in words for something being broken apart or set free. Hemolysis is the breaking of red blood cells, thrombolysis is breaking up a blood clot (the job of a thrombolyticthrom-boh-LIT-ikA drug that dissolves blood clots that have already formed.thromb/o clot-lytic breaking downFull entry drug), dialysis separates wastes out of the blood, and paralysis is a loss of movement, a "loosening" of muscle control.
Remember it
Lysis sounds like "loose": things come apart.
Related terms
hem/o
A word part that means blood.
dialysis
A treatment that removes wastes and extra fluid from the blood when the kidneys can no longer do it.
paralysis
Loss of the ability to move a part of the body, and sometimes loss of feeling in it.
thrombolytic
A drug that dissolves blood clots that have already formed.