Pathology is Funny

Science is wonderful. It is a world full of funny, sometimes ridiculously long and impossible to pronounce words. I have a bit of a geeky pleasure that involves a glass of red and reading my medical dictionary. One of my favorite sections of a medical dictionary is the comprehensive list of phobias usually found in an appendix in the back somewhere. While I'm not one to make fun of a persons medical condition, and the potential suffering that comes with it, geniophobia (the fear of chins - yes the body part) is just too good not to laugh at a bit. Below is a list of some of my favorite medical terms and pathological conditions. Feel free to pour yourself a drink...

Easily Fragmented Friable Vegetations - hands down my favorite sentence to say when teaching cardiovascular pathology. It is a manifestation seen in infective endocarditis, where the inner lining of the heart (including valves) becomes inflamed. This condition is characterized by little clumps (vegetations) of fibrin, platelets and microorganisms that stick to the surface of the endocardium. They can break off and crumble, hence the "easily fragmented friable" part of the whole deal. Cool as F!

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Suppurative - this word relates to a substance that I have personally had a close encounter with in my massage practice. I can't help a mild dry heave whenever I see it in print, or hear it uttered. I hate it because of that, but also because it sounds quite proper and positive. Something like... "He was suppurative and confident as he delivered his speech to the board of directors," or "She exemplified a type of suppurative awareness that allowed her to command the audience." But its pus. It means forming or oozing pus.

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Jumping Frenchmen of Maine - I swear this is a thing. WebMD describes it as "an extremely rare disorder characterized by an unusually extreme startle reaction.", and says that "Jumping Frenchmen of Maine was first identified during the late nineteenth century in Maine and the Canadian province of Quebec among an isolated population of lumberjacks of French Canadian descent." It also involves echolalia and echopraxia, involuntary mirroring of what another person says or is doing. Whoa!

Borborygmi - the rumbling sound that occurs due to movement of gas in the intestines. You sometimes get it when you're hungry. If you say it with constriction in the back of the throat and more guttural, it kinda sounds like the actual thing. It also kind of sounds like the name of a small village on an island somewhere in the south pacific.

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Pruritis Ani - this...

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Got any good ones?