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Zebra (medicine)
Zebra is the American medical slang for arriving at a surprising, often exotic, medical diagnosis when a more commonplace explanation is more likely. It is shorthand for the aphorism coined in the late 1940s by Theodore Woodward, professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who instructed his medical interns: "When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don't expect to see a zebra." (Since zebras are much rarer than horses in the United States, the sound of hoofbeats would almost certainly be from a horse.) By 1960, the aphorism was widely known in medical circles. Medical novices are predisposed to make rare diagnoses because of (a) the availability heuristic ("events more easily remembered are judged more probable") and (b) the phenomenon first enunciated in ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' (circa 85 BC), "the striking and the novel stay longer in the mind." Thus, the aphorism is an important caution against these biases when teaching medical students to weigh medical evidence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medical Slang
Medical slang is the use of acronyms and informal terminology to describe patients, other healthcare personnel and medical concepts. Some terms are pejorative. In English, medical slang has entered popular culture via television hospital and forensic science dramas such as '' ER'', ''House M.D.'', '' NCIS'', ''Scrubs'', and ''Grey's Anatomy'', and through fiction, in books such as ''The House of GoId'' by Samuel Shem (Stephen Joseph Bergman), ''Bodies'' by Jed Mercurio, and ''A Case of Need'' by Jeffery Hudson (Michael Crichton) Examples of pejorative language include ''bagged and tagged'' for a corpse, a reference to the intake process at a mortuary; ''donorcycle'' for ''motorcycle'' or ''PFO'' for ''pissed Alcohol_intoxication.html" "title="nowiki/>Alcohol intoxication">drunk] and fell over''. Less offensive are the terms ''blue pipes'' for veins; ''cabbage'' for a heart bypass (''coronary artery bypass graft'' or CABG), and ''champagne tap'' for a flawless lumbar puncture, that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recluse Spider
The recluse spiders (''Loxosceles'' (), also known as brown spiders, fiddle-backs, violin spiders, and reapers, is a genus of spiders that was first described by R. T. Lowe in 1832. They are venomous spiders known for their bite, which sometimes produces a characteristic set of symptoms known as loxoscelism. Recluse spiders are now identified as members of the family Sicariidae, having formerly been placed in their own family, the Loxoscelidae. Although recluse spiders are feared, they are usually not aggressive. Relation with other spiders Sicariidae are of the superfamily Scytodoidea. Other families in the Scytodoidea include Drymusidae, Scytodidae, and Periegopidae. Habitat and appearance ''Loxosceles'' is distributed nearly worldwide in warmer areas. All have six eyes arranged in three groups of two (dyads) and some are brownish with a darker brown characteristic violin marking on the cephalothorax. However, the "violin marking" cannot be used as a reliable way to ident ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Razors (philosophy)
A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, safety razors, disposable razors, and electric razors. While the razor has been in existence since before the Bronze Age (the oldest razor-like object has been dated to 18,000 BC), the most common types of razors currently used are the safety razor and the electric razor. History Razors have been identified from many Bronze Age cultures. These were made of bronze or obsidian and were generally oval-shaped, with a small tang protruding from one of the short ends.Warwickshire County Council: New Prehistoric Archaeology Objects "Even further away in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medical Slang
Medical slang is the use of acronyms and informal terminology to describe patients, other healthcare personnel and medical concepts. Some terms are pejorative. In English, medical slang has entered popular culture via television hospital and forensic science dramas such as '' ER'', ''House M.D.'', '' NCIS'', ''Scrubs'', and ''Grey's Anatomy'', and through fiction, in books such as ''The House of GoId'' by Samuel Shem (Stephen Joseph Bergman), ''Bodies'' by Jed Mercurio, and ''A Case of Need'' by Jeffery Hudson (Michael Crichton) Examples of pejorative language include ''bagged and tagged'' for a corpse, a reference to the intake process at a mortuary; ''donorcycle'' for ''motorcycle'' or ''PFO'' for ''pissed Alcohol_intoxication.html" "title="nowiki/>Alcohol intoxication">drunk] and fell over''. Less offensive are the terms ''blue pipes'' for veins; ''cabbage'' for a heart bypass (''coronary artery bypass graft'' or CABG), and ''champagne tap'' for a flawless lumbar puncture, that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medical Terminology
Medical terminology is a language used to precisely describe the human body including all its components, processes, conditions affecting it, and procedures performed upon it. Medical terminology is used in the field of medicine Medical terminology has quite regular morphology, the same prefixes and suffixes are used to add meanings to different roots. The root of a term often refers to an organ, tissue, or condition. For example, in the disorder known as hypertension, the prefix "hyper-" means "high" or "over", and the root word "tension" refers to pressure, so the word "hypertension" refers to abnormally high blood pressure. The roots, prefixes and suffixes are often derived from Greek or Latin, and often quite dissimilar from their English-language variants. This regular morphology means that once a reasonable number of morphemes are learnt it becomes easy to understand very precise terms assembled from these morphemes. Much medical language is anatomical terminology, concern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician, serving as the personal physician of Saladin. Born in Córdoba, Almoravid Empire (present-day Spain), on Passover eve, 1138 (or 1135), he worked as a rabbi, physician and philosopher in Morocco and Egypt. He died in Egypt on 12 December 1204, when his body was taken to the lower Galilee and buried in Tiberias. During his lifetime, most Jews greeted Maimonides' writings on Jewish law and ethics with acclaim and gratitude, even as far away as Iraq and Yemen. Yet, while Maimonides rose to become the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt, his writings also had vociferous critics, particularly in Spain. Nonetheless, he was posthumously ackno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Alexander Lindsay (physician)
James Alexander Lindsay (20 June 1856, in Fintona, County Tyrone – 14 December 1931, in Belfast) was a British physician and professor of medicine, known for his collection ''Medical axioms, aphorisms, and clinical memoranda'' (1923, London, H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd.). Biography After education at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and at the Methodist College Belfast, James Alexander Lindsay matriculated at Queen's College Belfast, where he graduated in 1877 B.A. and in 1878 M.A. in ancient classics. In 1882 he obtained the M.D. and M.Ch. degrees in the Royal University of Ireland.page 1201 /ref> After two years of working in clinics in London, in Paris, and in Vienna, he returned to Belfast. At the |
Samuel Gee
Samuel Jones Gee (13 September 1839 – 3 August 1911) was an English physician and paediatrician. In 1888, Gee published the first complete modern description of the clinical picture of coeliac disease, and theorised on the importance of diet in its control. His contribution led to the eponym Gee's disease. Gee is also credited with the first English-language description of cyclic vomiting syndrome. as cited by Life Samuel Gee was born in London, where he spent his medical career. His father, William Gee, was a businessman but the family was not wealthy. He had two years of formal primary education, supplemented by home schooling. His secondary education was at the University College School, London. He went on to study medicine at the University College Hospital, gaining an MB in 1861 followed by an MD in 1865. Gee initially worked as a house surgeon at the University College Hospital. He moved to the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street in 1865. His career prog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hickam's Dictum
Hickam's dictum is a counterargument to the use of Occam's razor in the medical profession. While Occam's razor suggests that the simplest explanation is the most likely, implying in medicine that diagnosticians should assume a single cause for multiple symptoms, one form of Hickam's dictum states: "A man can have as many diseases as he damn well pleases."Wallace T. Miller"Letter From the Editor: Occam Versus Hickam" ''Seminars in Roentenology'', vol. 33 (3), 1998-07, page 213, attributed to "an apocryphal physician named Hickam" The principle is attributed to an apocryphal physician named Hickam, possibly John Barber Hickam, MD. When he began saying this is uncertain. In 1946 he was a housestaff member in medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Hickam was a faculty member at Duke University in the 1950s, and was later chairman of medicine at Indiana University from 1958 to 1970.Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology: September 2002 - Volume 22 - Issue 3 - pp 240-246) See also *Ze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Occam's Razor
Occam's razor, Ockham's razor, or Ocham's razor ( la, novacula Occami), also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony ( la, lex parsimoniae), is the problem-solving principle that "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity". It is generally understood in the sense that with competing theories or explanations, the simpler one, for example a model with fewer parameters, is to be preferred. The idea is frequently attributed to English Franciscan friar William of Ockham (), a scholastic philosopher and theologian, although he never used these exact words. This philosophical razor advocates that when presented with competing hypotheses about the same prediction, one should select the solution with the fewest assumptions, and that this is not meant to be a way of choosing between hypotheses that make different predictions. Similarly, in science, Occam's razor is used as an abductive heuristic in the development of theoretical models rather than as a rigoro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sutton's Law
Sutton's law states that when diagnosing, one should first consider the obvious. It suggests that one should first conduct those tests which could confirm (or rule out) the most likely diagnosis. It is taught in medical schools to suggest to medical students that they might best order tests in that sequence which is most likely to result in a quick diagnosis, hence treatment, while minimizing unnecessary costs. It is also applied in pharmacology, when choosing a drug to treat a specific disease you want the drug to reach the disease. It is applicable to any process of diagnosis, e.g. debugging computer programs. Computer-aided diagnosis provides a statistical and quantitative approach. A more thorough analysis will consider the false positive rate of the test and the possibility that a less likely diagnosis might have more serious consequences. A competing principle is the idea of performing simple tests before more complex and expensive tests, moving from bedside tests to bloo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ehlers–Danlos Syndromes
Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS) are a group of 13 genetic connective-tissue disorders in the current classification, with the latest type discovered in 2018. Symptoms include loose joints, joint pain, stretchy velvety skin, and abnormal scar formation. These may be noticed at birth or in early childhood. Complications may include aortic dissection, joint dislocations, scoliosis, chronic pain, or early osteoarthritis. EDS occurs due to variations of more than 19 genes that are present at birth. The specific gene affected determines the type of EDS. Some cases result from a new variation occurring during early development, while others are inherited in an autosomal dominant or recessive manner. Typically, these variations result in defects in the structure or processing of the protein collagen. Diagnosis is often based on symptoms and confirmed by genetic testing or skin biopsy, but people may initially be misdiagnosed with hypochondriasis, depression, or chronic fatigue syn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
