Eponyms In Medical Terminology

Eponyms are frequently used in medical terminology. They’re thrown around every day without true knowledge of what the meaning really is. An Eponym is a noun that is named after a person, such as Alzheimer’s disease or Uhthoff’s phenomenon associated with Multiple Sclerosis. Today, the latter will be explained in great detail to a group of individuals that have been experiencing symptoms that are associated with the phenomenon. To start off, you’ll need to understand what Multiple Sclerosis, frequently called MS, is all about.

MS is one of many degenerative neurological autoimmune disease involving the body’s immune and nervous systems. The nerves throughout the body are insulated by a compound composed of a mixture of proteins and phospholipids

Nerves affected by MS had become inflamed, and when the optic nerve had been affected in these patients experienced issues with vision as expected including blurred vision, loss of vision, blind spots and so on. However, the original cause was thought to be exercise. This was not totally wrong, because the cause of Uhthoff’s discovery was suspected to be due to heat production by neurons. A neuron without a myelin sheath must utilize more energy to conduct a nerve impulse compared to a myelinated neuron. This energy output generates and releases energy in the form of heat that may have secondary effects on the body. As it turns out, more than half of individuals afflicted by demyelinating diseases experience some form of heat sensitivity. Optic neuritis from inflammation caused by MS in combination with a degree of heat sensitivity lead to the visual issues, but Uhthoff’s phenomenon includes more than just lesions involving the optic nerve. Many accounts of this phenomenon involve overheating from heat that is produced by neurons. Increased temperature has adverse neurological effects including the inhibition of action potential conduction. In damaged nervous tissue, MS causes this temperature threshold to be become lower, sometimes even around normal resting body temperature. Once the threshold is reached, symptoms that are

So next time you’re at the park with your children, try to always have a cold beverage with you and stay out of the sun as much as possible, as this will cause an increase in temperature, and increase the likelihood of Uhthoff’s phenomenon occurring. Avoid hot tubs, saunas and hot environments all together if possible. When exercising, it will be of the utmost importance to monitor body temperature to prevent overheating and Uhthoff’s phenonmenon. The use of cooling vests, hats, fans and other gadgets, designed to be a nice, refreshing way to cool down, are often used to alleviate Uhthoff’s phenomenon symptoms. An important thing to remember is to avoid temperature extremes, including extreme cold temperatures, as this will also cause adverse neurological effects as a result of MS. Overall, this debilitating phenomenon that occurs in conjunction with demyelinating diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and heat sensitivity is only temporary, and can be alleviated using a variety of methods to decrease overall body temperature. While the detailed causes of Uhthoff’s phenomenon are not completely clear, scientists in the last 30 years have made incredible advances in treating and diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis, and that is one step in the right