mindmap root((TROPH)) atrophy 1、 Gradual loss of muscle or flesh, usually because of disease or lack of use.
2、 A decline or degeneration.
🌱After a month in a hospital bed, my father required a round of physical therapy to deal with his muscular atrophy. 🌳From its literal Greek roots, atrophy would mean basically "lack of nourishment." Although the English word doesn't usually imply any lack of food, it always refers to a wasting away. Those who have been bedridden for a period of time will notice that their muscles have atrophied. And muscular atrophy is a frequent result of such diseases as cancer and AIDS. We also use atrophy in a much more general sense. After being out of work a few years, you may find your work skills have atrophied; someone who's been living an isolated life may discover the same thing about his or her social skills; and a democracy can atrophy when its citizens cease to pay attention to how they're being governed. hypertrophy 1、 Excessive development of an organ or part.
2、 Exaggerated growth or complexity.
🌱Opponents claimed that the Defense Department, after years of being given too much money by the Congress, was now suffering from hypertrophy. 🌳When the prefix hyper-, "above, beyond" （See HYPER,） is joined to -trophy, we get the opposite of atrophy. An organ or part becomes hypertrophic when it grows so extremely that its function is affected. Muscle hypertrophy is common in men who do strength training, and is often harmless; but extreme muscle hypertrophy generally involves taking steroids, which can do great damage to the body. Hypertrophy of the heart sounds as if it might be healthy, but instead it's usually a bad sign. As the example sentence shows, hypertrophy, like atrophy, can be used in nonmedical ways as well. dystrophy Any of several disorders involving the nerves and muscles, especially muscular dystrophy.
🌱The most common of the muscular dystrophies affects only males, who rarely live to the age of 40. 🌳Since the prefix dys- means "bad" or "difficult" （See DYS,） dystrophy is always a negative term. Originally it meant "a condition caused by improper nutrition," but today the term is instead used for a variety of other conditions, particularly conditions that noticeably affect the muscles. Of the many types of muscular dystrophy, the best known is Duchenne's, a terrible disease that strikes about one in 3,300 males and produces severe wasting of the muscles. However, the muscular dystrophies generally affect many other organs and systems as well. And the other dystrophies, which tend to involve the eyes or hands, don't much resemble the muscular dystrophies. eutrophication The process by which a body of water becomes enriched in dissolved nutrients.
🌱Local naturalists are getting worried about the increasing eutrophication they've been noticing in the lake. 🌳Eutrophication, which comes from the Greek eutrophos, "well-nourished" （See EU,） has become a major environmental problem. Nitrates and phosphates, especially from lawn fertilizers, run off the land into rivers and lakes, promoting the growth of algae and other plant life, which take oxygen from the water, causing the death of fish and mollusks. Cow manure, agricultural fertilizer, detergents, and human waste are often to blame as well. In the 1960s and '70s, the eutrophication of Lake Erie advanced so extremely that it became known as the "dead lake." And many areas of the oceans worldwide—some more than 20,000 square miles in extent—have become "dead zones," where almost no life of any kind exists.