I’m fed up with the term ‘idiopathic’. It may seem like a fine technical term, but one cannot help but notice its similarity to another word. In Greek, ‘idiot’ originally meant a private individual, but in Latin it came to mean ‘bungler’. Yet those who write ‘idiopathic’ are perhaps the most honest of all. They are not bunglers.
Idiopathic multiple sclerosis, idiopathic Alzheimer’s, idiopathic Hashimoto’s, idiopathic Guillain-Barré, idiopathic rheumatoid arthritis, idiopathic autism, idiopathic type 1 diabetes, idiopathic glaucoma, idiopathic lupus…
Yes, these terms should be used in this way, and then perhaps more doctors would consider that behind what we conveniently call a ‘syndrome’ or label with a specific disease name, there might be a known cause to be sought.
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Never mind, I’d happily hammer frozen green beans into the wall as nails, provided everyone else agreed to regard objects made of real iron and with sharp points as actual nails. Are we agreed?
Behind the above idiopathic phenomena there are real patients, ‘idiopaths’, in whom we could at least investigate whether Lyme disease and its co-infections are actually the underlying cause. There is a more or less proven link in each case. So why don’t we consider it?
ONE IN FIVE PEOPLE MAY BE AFFECTED. LYME DISEASE MAY BE BEHIND ONE IN FIVE PEOPLE’S SYMPTOMS. LET’S THINK ABOUT IT!
This week we’re looking at multiple sclerosis, but we already have articles on other topics that explore the link.
(C) Lyme Borreliosis Foundation
