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Greek to English translations [PRO] Medical - Medical: Pharmaceuticals / Pharmacokinetic properties
Greek term or phrase:ημίθανη κατάσταση
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!).
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.
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!
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...
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"!!
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...".
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.
Haven't seen it expressed like this before. Usually: ημίσεια ζωή See what others say
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Answers
9 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
half life
Explanation: Probably similar to the half life of radioactive elements
Kyriacos Georghiou Cyprus Local time: 01:37 Works in field Native speaker of: English, Greek PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Thanks!
Notes to answerer
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?
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peer agreement (net): +2