Glossary entry

Greek term or phrase:

ημίθανη κατάσταση

English translation:

half life

Added to glossary by Kyriacos Georghiou
Feb 4, 2012 17:06
12 yrs ago
Greek term

ημίθανη κατάσταση

Greek to English Medical Medical: Pharmaceuticals Pharmacokinetic properties
This is from a Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) for a medicinal product to treat corns and calluses (which my client keeps referring to as "Callous Removal Liquid"!). Based on the location of the manufacturer etc, my guess is that this SPC was probably translated from English into Greek many years ago.

Under 'Pharmacokinetic properties" for one of the active ingredients, it says:

«Την αφαίρεση του salicylate ακολουθεί μία πρώτης τάξεως κινητικότητα με ημιθανή κατάσταση περίπου 4 ωρών εκτός των υψηλών συστηματικών δόσεων που καταλήγουν σε συγκέντρωση του μηχανισμού αφαίρεσης.»

Now, I'm pretty sure I know what it's trying to say and what it should say. However, could my learned colleagues please confirm for me what it actually says, and let me know if you think the Greek is correct (because, as things stand, my comments about this sentence are far longer than its translation!).
Proposed translations (English)
3 +2 half life
Change log

Feb 9, 2012 09:44: Kyriacos Georghiou Created KOG entry

Discussion

Maria Walker Feb 7, 2012:
Dave, after looking into it some more, perhaps 'dying state' is more accurate.
Dave Bindon (asker) Feb 7, 2012:
Thanks, Maria. My query wasn't so much whether or not 'half life' is the correct term in this case (I know it is), but whether or not 'ημίθανη κατάσταση' can be used as a translation of 'half-life'.

In the end, because I didn't have time to consult the client, I sent two versions of the translations: one using the correct terms like 'half life' and another direct translation of what the documents actually said.
Maria Walker Feb 7, 2012:
similarly applied to any substance, such as a drug in serum, whose quantity decreases exponentially with time. Ref:http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php?t=39079
Dave Bindon (asker) Feb 5, 2012:
Deadline Unfortunately I don't have time to ask the client: it's due tomorrow morning. Typical client! They've had the Greek document since at least 1999, and now the translation becomes urgent!
I'll provide them with two versions: a heavily annotated literal version (in case this was the client's intention) and a 'clean' version. It won't take long to do...thankfully most of the translation is OK.
Thank you all for your comments!
Kyriacos Georghiou Feb 5, 2012:
I endorse Anna's reasoning 100%
Anna Spanoudaki-Thurm Feb 5, 2012:
Dave, unless the reason for the (back-)translation is to show how bad the original translation is, I would inform the client and ask whether they want a literal but wrong translation or an SPC that makes sense. If you write things like "half-dead state" you run the risk that they think that you don't know what you are writing about. Of course, you know the situation better...
Dave Bindon (asker) Feb 4, 2012:
Thanks! Anna, I'm really glad you've backed-up my belief that ημιθανής κατάσταση is wrong (although some people might argue that half-dead and half-alive are the same thing, I don't think scientists would agree to use this terminology interchangably!)

Nick, thanks for the back-up info about "first order kinetics". That's how I translated it. I also translated αφαίρεση as 'elimination'.

Since this is a 'rush job' (Friday afternoon enquiry for Monday delivery [for 3 SPCs]) I can't ask the client for advice. I'll just provide a 'true' translation, "warts and all".

@ Anna - your link is for the same product! But there is no way I could use that instead or my own translation: the Greek version is very different and (in my opinion) inaccurate. I have to write "half-dead state" instead of
"half-life"!!
D. Harvatis Feb 4, 2012:
You are correct Dave I think you have correctly guessed the source text. "Ημιθανής κατάσταση" is of course wrong, as is "αφαίρεση" (should be "απομάκρυνση" or -less likely- "απέκκριση"). Also, "κινητικότητα" should be "κινητική" as you said. Another mistake is that the sentence should start "Η απομάκρυνση..." instead of "Την...".
Anna Spanoudaki-Thurm Feb 4, 2012:
Dave, maybe you will find this interesting....
http://www.yourmedicines.ie/attachments/Scholl_corn_callous_...
Anna Spanoudaki-Thurm Feb 4, 2012:
kinetics=κινητική, like in "κινητική αντίδρασης", "φαρμακοκινητική" etc

"ημιθανής κατάσταση" means half-dead not half-life :) I would have never guessed what it is supposed to mean.

half-life= (χρόνος) ημίσειας ζωή(ς)/ημιζωή(ς)

Nick Lingris Feb 4, 2012:
...first-order kinetics, with an elimination half-life of about 2.0 to 4.5 hours...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin

Hi, all
Kyriacos Georghiou Feb 4, 2012:
The problem with "κινητική" is that it is an adjective.
Perhaps you could translate "κινητικότητα" as kinetic activity but I'm not sure
Dave Bindon (asker) Feb 4, 2012:
And... I think κινητικότητα should actually be κινητική. Can anyone confirm that?
Dave Bindon (asker) Feb 4, 2012:
Thanks That's really why I'm asking. I'd worked out that it has to mean 'half life' here but I've seen ημίσεια ζωή before, so I'd like to know if anyone can confirm that it is at all correct to say "half-dead state" instead!
Αφαίρεση and συνγκέντρωση also seem wrong to me. They don't seem to be decent translations of 'elimination' and 'saturation', which are the terms which I'd expect to see.
Kyriacos Georghiou Feb 4, 2012:
I found this in iate, which is closer to the original Greek: terminal half-life
http://iate.europa.eu/iatediff/FindTermsByLilId.do?lilId=110...
Kyriacos Georghiou Feb 4, 2012:
Haven't seen it expressed like this before. Usually: ημίσεια ζωή
See what others say

Proposed translations

+2
9 mins
Selected

half life

Probably similar to the half life of radioactive elements
Note from asker:
Having researched the subject, I can confirm that the substance does indeed have a half-life of 4 hours. But is this really how 'half-life' should be expressed in Greek?
Peer comment(s):

agree Anna Spanoudaki-Thurm : Yes! And *NO* this is not how 'half-life' should be expressed in Greek!
1 hr
Thank you Anna. I agree with your "Yes" and "No" as well as that 'half-life' should not be expressed in Greek as "ημίθανη κατάσταση". It's an interesting philosophical point, however, whether something is "half-dead" when it is "half-alive" :)
agree D. Harvatis
2 hrs
Thank you D.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks!"
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