Some conditions and diseases are named after the people who discovered them, or after specific symptoms. (Lupus is so named because in ancient Greece doctors thought the rash on the face of a sufferer looked like a wolf bite. Hodgkin's Disease, which is a form of cancer, was named for the person who discovered it.) Many medical terms come from the "ancient" languages - Latin and Greek. What happens is that several word parts are joined together to specifically describe what is going on.
"algia" is a suffix that means pain. "myo" (in this case the o is dropped because there's another vowel right after it) is muscle. "fibro" refers to connective tissues like tendons and ligaments. Hence, fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles and connective tissue.
"arthro" means joints, and "itis" means inflammation. Arthritis is inflammation of the joints. Again, two terms joined to describe what's going on.
Although they have not found a cure for this potentially severe, debilitating condition, it's pretty easy to see what the symptoms are, and that's where they got the name.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
o_O
since when does there have to be a cure to be able to name things…. aids and cancer have names and no cures..
References :
November 30th, 2008 at 12:20 am
A disease or condition doesn't have to have a cure to have a name. Some cancers are incurable, and they have "Names."
References :
D.E.R.
November 30th, 2008 at 1:05 am
Some conditions and diseases are named after the people who discovered them, or after specific symptoms. (Lupus is so named because in ancient Greece doctors thought the rash on the face of a sufferer looked like a wolf bite. Hodgkin's Disease, which is a form of cancer, was named for the person who discovered it.) Many medical terms come from the "ancient" languages - Latin and Greek. What happens is that several word parts are joined together to specifically describe what is going on.
"algia" is a suffix that means pain. "myo" (in this case the o is dropped because there's another vowel right after it) is muscle. "fibro" refers to connective tissues like tendons and ligaments. Hence, fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles and connective tissue.
"arthro" means joints, and "itis" means inflammation. Arthritis is inflammation of the joints. Again, two terms joined to describe what's going on.
Although they have not found a cure for this potentially severe, debilitating condition, it's pretty easy to see what the symptoms are, and that's where they got the name.
References :
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Medical Transcription Department.
November 30th, 2008 at 1:11 am
some diseases and ailments are named for what they affect and how they affect it…
for example: tonsilitis is an inflamation (-itis) of the tonsils
arthritis: inflamation (-itis) of the joints (arthr-)
References :