Jump to content

List of eponymous diseases

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jay (talk | contribs) at 16:20, 14 June 2004 (provided names for some). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A large number of diseases have been named after people. Most often, their namesakes discovered or described the disease, while occasionally the disease is named after the first patient described (Christmas disease) or the place where it was first identified (Bornholm disease).

The proliferation of eponyms in medicine is partly due to the fact that until recently the exact cause of many diseases was a mystery. The best way to refer to a syndrome, then, was to refer to the person who first addressed its existence.

There is controversy over the naming conventions for eponymous diseases. Many sources now agree that an apostrophe should be used if the disease is named after the patient, and no apostrophe if the disease is named after the physician (for example, Down syndrome). However, older conventions are still commonly in use, and usage in practice is effectively random.

Eponyms by medical specialism followed by name of the person:

Alphabetical list

See also

  • WhoNamedIt.com, a site dedicated to medical eponyms and their namesakes.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_eponymous_diseases&oldid=4102021"