This question comes from watching the TV right now, and they’re talking about Bruce Willis. I feel bad for him, I really do…
Bruce Willis apparently has what they call Frontotemporal Dementia. That’s a tounge twister mouthful for most average people, I can only assume Mr. Willis probably can’t even remember the name of his own condition…
Why isn’t there a ‘patient-friendly’ easy to remember name for disorders that literally affect a person’s brain and memory?
Like shit, I bet most people wouldn’t know what polytetrafluoroethylene is, but they gave everyone a simple name to know it by, teflon.
So, why don’t they have simpler terms for brain disorders so the suffering patient might be able to talk to their own doctor privately…?
This is a big problem with medicine in general. Medicine is unfortunately very much an old white man’s club, it’s getting better slowly, but all the knowledge and the way it is taught comes from that old white guy standard.
Medical terminology is complex because medicine is complex. There is definitely an element of being part of an exclusive club but there is also communicating lots of information quickly and efficiently.
Frontotemporal dementia describes a specific set of symptoms and if you are medically trained tells you most everything you need to know about what is happening. As opposed to the patient is a bit confused or sees things sometimes which could be many different things.
The language and how diagnoses are communicated are really important, a good medic should tell the patient their diagnosis with the medical words but should explain what those mean in as much detail as the patient wants.
Most patients are able to understand dementia even if the frontotemporal bit doesn’t make sense to them.
Official medical terminology tends to be based off of Latin. How many people do you know that speak Latin?
Benadryl is the consumer friendly name for diphenhydramine hydrochloride. And yes I just pulled those letters out of my ass, I learned long ago that brand name Benadryl is expensive, but far cheaper alternatives exist.
I guess that is sort of the opposite of my thought though, my point is that important things should be easier to remember, especially those with brain/memory issues. Just because I can remember and spell long and complicated words, doesn’t mean everyone else can…
You don’t need to speak Latin to notice common roots and get a gist for what a term means.
If you’re actually in a position where it’s useful to distinguish one type of dementia from another, having a meaning that’s linked to what the symptoms are may help you remember both name and symptoms.
If you’re not a medical professional, remembering either name or symptoms for specific types of dementia is unlikely to be useful.
You’re missing the whole point.
The disabled patient should be able to memorize the name of their own condition, if at all possible at least. Disabled people don’t 100% of the time have other people available to help.
I was specifically addressing your line about Latin.
I’m not really clear on what the aim of your broader point really is actually driving at. If someone struggles with language acquisition or production, yes they may struggle with the complete name of their specific diagnosis.
If communicating the specific name to the outside world is important, having it written down somewhere may help. We use tools to help move our bodies. Why wouldn’t we use tools to help extend our brains.
If it’s truly important to have the specific name, the other party may need to look it up anyway, which is easier with a spelling.