There are some really interesting (in some cases, down right funny!) syndromes out there. I just read about a new one today..."container syndrome." This one addresses babies who are always placed on their backs or strapped into seats, thus never having the chance to develop their muscles. This can cause contorted neck muscles, misshapen skulls (plagiocephaly), and delayed motor skills. Apparently it can cost up to $12,000 to reverse these effects.

Here are some others that I like:

Fragile X syndrome - Sounds a bit misogynistic to me, like when female politicians cry when they lose a primary election...completely hypothetical, of course. (In reality, though, this sad condition affects boys, not girls, causing mental retardation, as well as other afflictions.)

Gastric dumping syndrome - How much did you eat, anyway?!

Androgen insensitivity syndrome - That's the name for those who use the Fragile Xer term.

Alice in Wonderland syndrome (or micropsia) - A good one for Bob!

Short Bowel syndrome - Let's hope these guys don't have the dumping syndrome!

And the list goes on...

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

I'm glad I don't have any of those. They are interesting, but I don't see anything funny about them.

I don't think there is anything funny about the conditions (and neither, I'd say, does Kalleh) but there is something funny about the way these conditions get named. It's as if giving something a twee name alters our perception of whether it's serious or not.

I haven't checked what all of those syndromes listed by Kalleh are but I do have "pointless syndrome anxiety syndrome" which means I hate the way that everything is made into a syndrome these days. Got a bad temper in the office? Don't get sacked, get treatment, you have "office rage syndrome". Things like this annoy me (thanks to my PSAS condition) because they are not medical terms they are newspaper terms and all too frequently they are being used as an excuse to justify things that would have been considered trivial (or in the office rage example, just plain bad manners) in previous ages.

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

A syndrome is a large barrel-shaped container rotating axially so as to hold by centrifugal force against the wall, unmarried couples in various states of sexual union

Syndrome from Greek συνδρομος (sundromos) 'concurrence', literally 'running together'; Latin concurrens 'clashing; coinciding, happening', cf. con- and συν- 'together' + currens and δρομος 'running'.

zm, couldn't have been more appropriate, well done

quote:

They are interesting, but I don't see anything funny about them.

Yes, Tinman, Bob is right. Of course the syndromes themselves aren't funny, but the names can be. Sorry if I gave you the impresson that my post had an air of epicaricacy.

Z, thanks for the background on the word. Now it makes sense how some of these syndromes evolve (linguistically, that is).

Yes, Kalleh, I knew you weren't making fun of the conditions, but I don't even find the names of the ones you mentioned funny, except perhaps Alice in Wonderland Syndrome.

Well, it must be that I've worked in healthcare and have seen those syndromes (except the Alice in Wonderland one) all my life, so I've thought about them (as I indicated above). Or...maybe I just have a weird sense of humor.

Did you at least find my use of "epicaricacy" a little funny?

quote:

Originally posted by BobHale:
I do have "pointless syndrome anxiety syndrome" which means I hate the way that everything is made into a syndrome these days. Got a bad temper in the office? Don't get sacked, get treatment, you have "office rage syndrome". Things like this annoy me (thanks to my PSAS condition) because they are not medical terms they are newspaper terms .

I share BobHale's sense of pointlessness.
In medical use, syndrome is often wrongly used to equate with diagnosis.
A syndrome is only the concurrence of several symptoms in a disease. Unfortunately it commonly stultifies further enquiries about the nature of the disease (if known) and its cause (often unknown). A diagnosis is much more complicated. It was best defined by E J M CAMPBELL, J G SCADDING, R S ROBERTS in the British MedicalJ7ournal, 1979.

quote:

"A disease is the sum of the abnormal phenomena displayed by a
group of living organisms in association with a specified common
characteristic or set of characteristics by which they differ from the
norm for their species in such a way as to place them at a biological
disadvantage."

This allows for the logical heterogeneity of "diseases," since features derived from any of several fields of study may be specified to characterise the patients on the study of whom the description of an individual disease is based.
The sorts of features commonly used can be ranged in a hierarchy rising from clinical description
or syndrome, through abnormalities of structure and function, to
causation. Each of these features tends to displace its antecedent as medical knowledge advances.
Syndrome are often casually invented as convenient terms of reference e.g. chronic fatigue syndrome, post-traumatic stress syndrome, Gulf War syndrome etc. Nobody should deny the illnesses of those so affected, but ther error is to assume that a respectable name means the nature of the symptoms or signs are understood, or are homogeneous. Syndromes are no more than convenient collective repositories.
So beware!

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
Did you at least find my use of "epicaricacy" a little funny?

Yes, I meant to mention that my post gave you an opportunity to use your favorite word. You're welcome.

I've wondered what the difference between syndrome and dysfunction was. Is dysfunction and disorder the same thing? They sound the same to me. When does a dysfunction become a disease? Or are disease and dysfunction completely separate concepts? It sounds like they overlap to me.

Some conditions that were syndromes before are now dysfunctions or disorders. For example, Attention Deficit Syndrome became Attention Deficit Dysfunction or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Dysfunction. As far as I know, these three are all the same with different names. Am I right?

Dysfunction and disorder sound the same to me -- something doesn't work as it should -- but syndrome sounds to me like a collection of symptoms associated with or indicative of a particular disease or dysfunction.

I just read that there is something called CDS, Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome, in dogs. Sounds like doggie Alzheimer's to me.

I'm with Bob and Pearce about syndromes. That's one of the reason I brought this subject up. That recent coinage of "container syndrome" just did it. "Container syndrome?" Come on!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tinman:
I've wondered what the difference between syndrome and dysfunction was.

You rightly highlight the unnecessary confusion that the careless use of highfalutin medicalised words can cause. Syndromes are not diagnoses, but a recurring collection of symptoms and signs. Dysfunction means no more than disordered function, which can be quite normal (physiological)— e.g. gastric dysfunction may be no more than indigestion after excessive food or drink. It may also be applied to abnormal conditions, e.g. bladder dysfunction caused by a small or irritable bladder may cause frequent urination. But bladder dysfunction is the result not the cause of the disorder.

[QUOTE}Some conditions that were syndromes before are now dysfunctions or disorders. For example, Attention Deficit Syndrome became Attention Deficit Dysfunction or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Dysfunction. As far as I know, these three are all the same with different names. Am I right?


Yes. Again, slovenly use of words. Some medics seem to obtain satisfaction in inventing catchy, trendy portentous phrases to groups of symptoms, thereby falsely implying that Medicine understands them and their cause, whereas in truth there are still many disorders the cause of which is unknown or incompletely understood. Hence my distaste for the concealment and the attendant complacency of applying a fancy label, which often serves only to inhibit further research.

This might help. Maybe not.

(drome etymology)

quote:

Some medics seem to obtain satisfaction in inventing catchy, trendy portentous phrases

And not just medics. Most professionals use jargon and this, within their circle, serves a useful purpose as it can save time. All within the circle understand it.

But the "crime" is when professionals use their special jargon to bamboozle those outside their circle, simply to "prove" their cleverness.