When a medical professional refers to testing for "-emia," what are they focusing on?

When a medical professional refers to testing for "-emia," they are specifically focusing on blood conditions. The suffix "-emia" is derived from the Greek word “haima,” meaning blood, and is commonly used in medical terminology to describe various types of conditions that affect the blood. For instance, different "-emias" such as anemia (a deficiency of red blood cells) and leukemia (a type of cancer affecting blood cells) explicitly indicate a focus on the state or condition of the blood.

Understanding this suffix helps in recognizing that any condition recognized by "-emia" involves an abnormality or disease related to the blood and its components. Other options like enlargement of organs, infections, or physical examinations do not relate specifically to blood and therefore do not apply to the context of the suffix "-emia."