4 ms·
The "Declownification" of medical diagnoses has continued for a long time. I met a medical historian giving a tour of the apothecary shop in Colonial Williamsbu
by michaelbuckbee 3y ago
The "Declownification" of medical diagnoses has continued for a long time. I met a medical historian giving a tour of the apothecary shop in Colonial Williamsburg who described how "consumption" was a clown car of tuberculosis, lung cancer, black lung (from mining), and a host of other lung ailments.
Over time each was identified as something unique, given a more precise name and treatment methods and eventually nobody is diagnosed with "consumption" anymore.
- nradov 3y agoWe still see much of the same thing going on today with many syndromes which are largely collections of symptoms with no definitive diagnostic test: depression, leaky gut, chronic fatigue, long COVID, etc. In many cases the symptoms probably aren't just psychosomatic and there is some underlying pathology but the root causes are unclear and we're probably inappropriately bundling multiple distinct conditions together.