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28 Shevat 5761 - Febuary 21, 2001 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family
Your Medical Questions Answered!
by Joseph B. Leibman, MD

Diplomate, Board Certification of Emergency Medicine

Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine Ma'ayenei Hayeshua Hospital

Doctors and patients do not speak the same language. I remember in my pre-medicine days hearing many terms that people used and not knowing what diseases they referred to. It took me some time but I think I have discovered the meaning of many of them.

A "heart attack" in medical language is a myocardial infarction or an MI. It means part of the heart has been deprived of oxygen for a long enough period that it dies and is replaced by scar tissue.

A "stroke" is a CVA, when the same thing happens in the brain. A "nervous breakdown" and "exhaustion" seem to mean the same thing: an acute episode of psychosis.

The "grippe" is an old term which refers to the flu or influenza.

A "miscarriage" is a completed abortion; one should not be insulted by this term which does not refer to a procedure that is against Jewish law, despite using a similar name.

A "lazy eye" is strabismus; it is a problem of one of the muscles that move the eye.

Old people often complain that their "rheumatism" is acting up, it seems to me that they are referring to arthritis despite the similarity of the word to rheumatic disorder which is a disease like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoid and other rare entities.

"Lumbago" is another term often used by the elderly referring to back pain.

"Exposure" is a literary term which refers to hypothermia, a dangerous lowering of body temperature.

The 24-hour virus and food poisoning are terms for gastroenteritis; this is a vomiting and diarrheal disease that usually resolves on its own.

"Mongoloidism" is an old term for Down's syndrome which is a disorder of birth where a child has an extra chromosome. The term mongoloidism is now considered derogatory.

"Hyperactivity" likewise is considered derogatory, the correct term is ADD or attention deficit disorder. Also we don't call people "mentally retarded." Mentally challenged is more acceptable.

The common "cold" is a number of viruses causing similar symptoms, the fact that they are so diverse makes finding a cure difficult.

"Cold sores" are herpes, and treatment is available.

Sun poisoning is probably an extensive sunburn that makes people feel lousy all over. Many treatments are available, but liberal pain relief is a must.

On the doctor side, "Lannec's Cirrhosis" is a nice way of saying alcoholic cirrhosis.

Then we have my three favorites -- idiopathic, noscomial, and iatrogenic. Idiopathic means a disease that we don't know how you got it, noscomial means you got it from being in the hospital, and iatrogenic means you got it from something the doctor did. This won't make communication between physicians and patients better but maybe it will help a little. Write me in care of the Yated.

A message from Glaxo, sponsor of this column. Migraine sufferers; I have tried Imitrex for my migraines and it does work well. One of my readers has complained about the price -- Glaxo has been given your letter and is preparing an answer for my column.

 

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