Every now and then I have wished we had a medical forum....but then I realize that maybe I'd be the only one interested! However, with CJ asking me to write limerick definitions of medical words for his OED project and with my logophile friend sending me lots of medical words to post about, I have decided to start a thread of interesting medical words. If one comes to you, just find the thread and post it. And, don't hesitate to reply. It is interesting to see how some of these words are used in non-medical ways.

My friend sent me adjuvant - a drug added to a prescription to hasten or increase the action of the principle ingredient.

It seems very similar to synergism - producing an effect that neither drug or ingredient could produce alone or one that is greater than the total effects of each agent acting by itself.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

Tophus:
A nodular mass of uric acid crystals. Tophi are characteristically deposited in different soft tissue areas of the body in gout. The word tophus comes via Latin from the Greek tophos, meaning a porous volcanic stone. In chronic tophaceous gout, nodular masses of uric acid crystals (tophi) deposit in different soft tissue areas of the body. Even though tophi are most commonly found as hard nodules around the fingers, at the tips of the elbows, and around the big toe, tophi nodules can appear anywhere in the body. They have been reported in unexpected areas such as in the ears, vocal cords, or around the spinal cord!

Kalleh,

Yuck... makes me want to limit my "tofu" intake...

Reviving a thread...

There is a new diagnosis that researchers and doctors aren't sure about: Is it a medical disease or a psychological one? It's called Morgenllons. Have you heard of it? It is quite interesting to read about. The patients experience crawling and biting sensations, dementia, insomnia, painful sores that never heal, and mysterious tangled fibers that push through open wounds. Is it real? More than 4,500 cases have been reported apparently.

Of course there are Web sites about it, both supporting and debunking the diagnosis.

It's an interesting phenomenon. I don't know how it got it's name, though it probably came from a patient or a researcher. My thought is that it's a psychological disease, but who knows.

adjuvant--One of those words that seems like it ought to have a different meaning, perhaps very young soldier after his first commission

Hey, a long time ago I had written a limerick on "adjuvant therapy:"

Adjuvant therapy's great;
A mixture of drugs will create
Effects that we hone.
Instead of alone,
Together they'll lengthen your fate!

If I recall, I wrote that one when the project was still on Wordcraft. I think my limericks have come a long way since this one.