Medical Questions » Syndrome Questions » Question No. 964
| Question: | I keep reading about new medical syndromes that are being found, and treated. They always have unpronounceable names, and only a few people seem to have them. Just what is a syndrome? |
| Answer: | Syndromes seem to be multiplying exponentially in modern medicine. Some are just a passing fad, or have only local significance; others though, become diagnostic classics, and are handed down with the combinations of the original describers' surnames (the etymology of which can be quite fascinating at times) or Greek/Latin hybrids that are designed to paralyse even the most articulate tongue.
A syndrome occurs when several patients all present with the same combination of apparently unconnected complaints. They all follow the same course with their disease, and they all respond the same way to treatment.
Syndromes can vary from the now infamous AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) and Zollinger-EUison syndrome (severe recurrent peptic ulcers) to Hand-Schuller-Christian syndrome (a children' s disease characterised by a thin skull, protruding eyes and a type of diabetes) and irritable bowel syndrome (a relatively common condition accompanied by varied bowel habits and belly pain).
To be told you have a syndrome means nothing. It is which syndrome that counts, and some are quite mild and innocuous.
|
|
|
