9. The meaning of eponymous terms and syndromes in clinical medicine

From the history of medicine it is known that the profession of a doctor in various threads is associated with art, literature and other branches of human activity. This is confirmed by the frequent combination of medical and literary activities (F. Rabelais, F. Schiller, A. Kronin, A.P. Chekhov, V.V. Veresaev, M.A. Bulgakov, etc.). Introduction to clinical practice of clinical terms with the names of writers, poets, their literary characters, mythological heroes, etc. testifies to the broad outlook of doctors. Unfortunately, practical doctors are not familiar with eponymous clinical symptoms and syndromes. We will analyze only a small group of such terms in order to arouse interest in this issue among students, doctors of various specialties.

A number of medical terms bears the names of writers, artists, philosophers. The most famous among therapists is the symptom of Musset, named for the French poet Alfred Musset (1810 - 1858), who suffered from aortic valve insufficiency, which was accompanied by a shake of the head in the rhythm of heart contractions. Van Gogh's syndrome, which, suffering from a mental disorder, performed an amputation of the ear. The syndrome itself is a psychopathological symptom complex in which patients with an imaginary disease operate on their own or persistently require surgery from doctors.

In psychiatry, such terms as masochism are widely known - after the Austrian prose writer of the late 19th century Sacher-Masoch, whose works describe in detail sexual perversion with causing physical pain to a partner; sadism - associated with the name of the 18th century French writer Marquis de Sade; Safism - named after the ancient Greek poetess Safo, who lived on the island of Lesbos, identified with female homosexuality.

Stendhal's Syndrome (Henri Marie Beil, 1783 - 1842) characterizes impressionable natures, who, when ―sorting out‖ positive emotions, may experience loss of consciousness or even a shock state, which happened with Stendhal, who admires the artistic creations of painters in Florence.

The syndromes associated with the names of literary heroes are interesting. So, Pickwick’s syndrome is named after one of the heroes of the novel by C. Dickens, Notes of the Pickwick Club, a servant of Joe, who had hypoventilation of the lungs against the background of obesity, a sudden irresistible desire to fall asleep, shallow breathing, hypertension, shortness of breath. Munchhausen syndrome, in which patients usually present case histories with traits of implausibility and drama. Since 1955, Todd introduced into medical practice the syndrome ―Alice in Wonderland‖ (named after the heroine of the same book by the English writer L. Carroll, 1832–1898), which is characterized by depersonalization, derealization (with a distorted idea of space and time), and visual illusions, split personality. Since 1921, the term ―bovarism‖ was introduced, meaning a mixture of dreams and reality, dreamy distraction.

A large group of clinical terms associated with the names of the characters of legends, myths. So, the symptom of Buddha is a sign of weakness of the peripheral or central motor nerve, which imitates the classic pose of this person - God. Among radiologists, a concept such as two-faced Janus syndrome is used - by the name of the god of the ancient Romans (patron of doors, entry and exit, all principles). Janus syndrome is manifested by a clinical and radiological picture of unilateral lung ventilation disorders. Psychoanalysts consider the Oedipus complex ("family romance") as the sexual attraction of the child to their parents (the hero of ancient Greek mythology Oedipus married his mother). Such concepts are known as gambrinism - a pathological addiction to beer (Gambrinus - the legendary Flemish king, beer lover and patron of brewing), narcissism - sexual narcissism (the mythological young man Narcissus, who fell in love with his reflection in water), Othello syndrome - delirium of jealousy.

We hope that even this small part of the eponymous terms will expand the clinical horizons of students and doctors.