: Robert B. Taylor
: The Amazing Language of Medicine Understanding Medical Terms and Their Backstories
: Springer-Verlag
: 9783319503288
: 1
: CHF 71.20
:
: Allgemeines
: English
: 238
: Wasserzeichen/DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: PDF

This book tells the intriguing and often colorful stories of the medical words we use. The origins of clinical and scientific terms can be found in Greek and Latin myths, in places such as jungles of Uganda and the islands of the Aegean Sea, in the names of medicine’s giants such as Hippocrates and Osler, and in some truly unlikely sources.

In this book you will learn the answers to questions such as:

•    nbsp;     nbsp;  What disease was named for an American space flight?

•  &n sp;    &n sp;   Do you know the echoic word for elephantine rumbling of the bowels?

•  &n sp;    &n sp;   What drug name was determined by drawing chemists’ notes out of a hat?

•             What are surfer’s eye, clam digger’s itch, and hide porter’s disease?

This book can give you new insights into the terms we use every day in the clinic, hospital, and laboratory. Knowing a word’s history assists in understanding not only what it means, but also some of the connotative subtleties of terms used in diagnosis and treatment. The Amazing Language of Medicine is intended for the enrichment of physicians, other health professionals, students, and anyone involved in clinical care and medical science.



Dedication5
Preface6
Contents8
List of Figures9
Chapter 1: About Medical Words and Their Origins21
Some Words About the Medical Words We Use Today23
My Interest in Words24
What’s Ahead?25
References27
Chapter 2: Medical Words with Mythological Origins28
In the Grove of Academia28
The Odd Origin of Apollo Disease30
Mercury and its Movements30
Atlas and the Celestial Globe33
Aphrodite Arising from the Sea33
Children of Aphrodite: Eros, Hymen, and Priapus34
Children of Aesculapius35
Atropine and the Three Fates37
The Sphinx and Muscles that Squeeze Tightly37
Oedipus and His Mother39
Narcissus, Echo, and an Ill-Fated Attraction39
Undine and the Penalty for a Broken Promise41
The French Disease and the Shepherd41
Ulysses in the Clinic Today42
Morpheus, the God of Dreams43
The Maze and the Inner Ear44
The River of Forgetfulness45
References45
Chapter 3: Descriptive Medical Terms: Activities, Actions, and Appearances46
Physician: From Greek to Latin to French to English—To Provider47
Plague: Rats, Fleas, Quarantine, and the Black Death48
Ascorbic Acid and the Battle Against Scurvy49
Sartorius: the Tailor’s Muscle50
The Ornithological Origins of the Disease Named Pica51
Testis, Testimony, and the Swearing on Highly Valued Items52
Nausea on the High Seas53
Perils of Eating Like an Ox53
Epilepsy, the Not-So-Divine Disease54
Islets, Diabetes, and Insulin55
The Emperor and the Horse55
Sydenham, Huntington, and the Chorines56
The Artery of Stupefaction58
Pudendum, Shame, and Shamelessness58
The White Plague, Euphemisms, and Poets59
The Little Mouse of Strength60
The Paintbrush that Changed History61
Damn the Sphenoid62
Horses and Sea Monsters62
Diphtheria and the Skin of the Goat63
Anal Varicosities and the Ring of Fire63
About the Glove of the Fox64
The Tale of the Tailbone65
Shutting the Window of Vision65
A Vision of a Fort66
Ears, Goats, and Tragic Flaws67
The Body’s Holy Bone67
Beware of the Mad Dog68
Sewing and Seams69
References70
Chapter 4: Medical Words from Various Languages71
Rumors, Noises, and Hums71
Druggists and Grocers72
Making a Crackling Sound73
Hospital74
What is Done When There is not Enough Care for All75
Sausages, Books, and Botox75
The Pox, Great and Small76
Tobacco as Cure and Curse77
The Flowering Plant That Gave Us Mary Jane79
From Brazil to Your Medicine Cabinet, and Then Not79
More Potent than Marijuana80
Eye Shadow and Demons81
The Story of the Magic Hairball81
The Red Boys of the Gold Coast83
Black Fever and the Sand Fly83
The Tale of the Dangerous Bug84
Bringing Home the Tattoo85
Running Amok or Amuck85
Agar, Dessert, and Jelly86
The Perils of Polished Rice87
The Laughing Death Syndrome88