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I'm constantly AMAZED at how much people on this list know about things whether in general or medical....keep it up....Joan -----Original Message----- From: Carole Hercun <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Monday, August 02, 1999 5:31 PM Subject: Re: It's Greek To Me >Very interesting. Hope you plan to continue these >lectures. Perhaps Greek 102 next time. Seriously >though, we all need to be informed and educated >consumers in today's health care marketplace. > Carole H. > > >--- "J. R. Bruman" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> Greek To Me >> August 1999 >> Frequently, patients urgently seeking information >> from the >> medical literature are put off by the big strange >> words. But it >> really isn't all that difficult. Doctors seem to >> favor those >> words, even when an English synonym is available, >> for a variety >> of reasons: Conciseness, precision (many common >> English words >> have become too ambiguous), and tradition. Up to >> about the mid- >> 1700s, formal schooling was a privilege of the >> well-to-do, and >> because of its rarity, textbooks generally were >> printed in Latin >> or Greek, to be independent of the many local >> languages such as >> French, German, Italian, Swedish, Danish, etc. >> Modern doctors >> often maintain the tradition when a new word is >> needed, so that >> it will carry a hint of meaning to readers of many >> nationalities. >> And with a little digging in the dictionary, such >> words can be >> broken into parts and understood even by non-medical >> readers. >> >> For example, the name of the ubiquitous PD drug >> Sinemet is a >> combination of the Latin "sine" (=not, without) and >> the Greek >> "emet" (=sickness, as in English "emetic" or >> "emesis"). That's >> easy, but what about a word like "rhabdomyolysis" as >> mentioned >> in the official description of tolcapone (Tasmar)? >> Well, "rhabdo" >> is Greek for rod, or rod-like; "myo" is Greek for >> muscle; and >> "lysis" is Greek for disintegration or dissolution. >> The term >> refers to sudden and severe destruction of skeletal >> (as opposed >> to heart, gut, etc.) muscle, thought by the Tasmar >> writers to be >> related to neuroleptic malignant syndrome, since it >> appeared with >> other symptoms in several trial subjects who >> abruptly stopped >> taking Tasmar, and killed at least one of them. And >> one of the >> signs of rhabdomyolysis (and neuroleptic malignant >> syndrome) is >> the elevation of myoglobulin, a protein component of >> muscle >> tissue, in the blood or urine. What's myoglobulin, >> you ask? >> Well, "myo" = muscle, again, and "globulin" refers >> to the little >> microscopic globules formed by any of several >> proteins that are >> insoluble in water. Myoglobulin is released when the >> muscle >> tissue containing it is destroyed. See how easy it >> is? And, see >> how valuable it can be to decipher those big words? >> When you >> have done this for a while, you see the same root >> forms recurring >> in other words, which you can take apart in the same >> way. >> >> Doctors aren't generally interested in or renowned >> for skill in >> linguistics, so sometimes the system doesn't work. >> "Neuroleptic" >> is a case in point. It is of course a combination of >> the Greek >> "neuro" (= nerve, nervous system) and "lept-" (= >> sieze, grab >> hold of); but the term seems to be reserved only for >> drugs that >> _improve_ the user's mental state, i.e., >> antipsychotic drugs. >> What about drugs having a different use, but which >> may _degrade_ >> the user's mental state, i.e., cause psychotic >> symptoms? Some >> examples are levodopa, and numerous others commonly >> used to >> treat PD. Well, those aren't strictly "neuroleptics" >> and the >> word creators haven't provided a good substitute >> term. This is >> unfortunate, because both classes of drugs share the >> important >> feature that on rare occasion, abrupt withdrawal of >> either one >> may cause a life-threatening syndrome that includes >> multiple >> autonomic failure. Authors in the PDR and elsewhere >> tend to blur >> the distinction by calling syndromes "like", but not >> identical >> to, neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Not a very good >> situation. >> Cheers, >> Joe >> >> J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 >> 3527 Cody Road >> Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013 >> > >_____________________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com >