A recent study from McMaster University revealed that medicalized terms carry a weightier, more serious connotation than corresponding lay terms for the same condition, but only if they had recently entered the lexicon.

How good are you at deciphering ridiculous medical jargon? Let’s find out!

Match the normal words on the left with the fancy ones on the right. Note that the medical terms corresponding to the normal words 1 to 8 had, according to the McMaster scientists, entered the lexicon years hence, so they don’t carry a more ominous connotation.

It’s the medicalized terms for 9-16 that are the troublemakers.

Normal words                          Medicalized terms
1. High blood pressure                a. Hypercortisolism
2. Lou Gehrig’s disease               b. Hypertrichosis
3. Stroke                                           c. Erectile dysfunction disorder
4. Gall bladder disease                d. Seborrheic dermatitis
5. Sore throat                                 e. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
6. Cushing’s disease                      f. Myocardial infarction
7. Celiac disease                            g. Hypertension
8. Heart attack                               h. Pharyngitis
9. Impotence                                  i. Gluten enteropathy
10. Male pattern baldness           j. Androgenic alopecia
11. Chronic fatigue syndrome  k. Myalgic encephalomyelitis
12. Skin tags                                    l. Cerebrovascular accident
13. Excessive sweating              m. Gastroesophageal reflux
14. Dandruff                                   n. Cholecystitis
15. Impotence                              o. Hyperhydrosis
16. Excessive hairiness             p. Acrochordon

Answers: 1-g, 2-e, 3-l, 4-n, 5-h, 6-a, 7-I, 8-f, 9-c, 10-j, 11-k, 12-p, 13-0, 14-d, 15-c, 16-b

Where do you fit?

Number Correct   Your Title
16                                   Einstein
14-15                             Ivy League
12-13                             Specialist
10-11                             Med Student
8-9                                 Politician
<8                                  Wall Street

The Chinese government has pulled the plug on some Web sites it stopped blocking in the run-up to last summer’s Beijing Olympics.

Hong Kong-based Asiaweek reported for example that part of its Web site as well as those of the New York Times, the Voice of America and the BBC had been blocked for the last 2 weeks.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao recently reasserted the government’s right to censor Web sites that were in violation of its law. Apparently there are laws prohibiting web sites from suggesting there are 2 Chinas for example.

“I hope that the Web sites in question will be able to self-regulate, and not do things that will violate Chinese law, and for the sake of both sides, develop conditions for Web site cooperation,” Mr. Liu wrote on the Foreign Ministry’s Web site.

Chinese officials tend to ramp up Internet censorship during periods of political or economic stress. The Great Economic Crisis of 08-09 has slowed even the vaunted Chinese economy, and some officials fret that rising unemployment might trigger social unrest.

China’s is not the only government that blocks access to certain Internet sites. Australia and Great Britain recently cut Internet distribution of child pornography for example, while Germany prohibits search engines from posting sites associated with Nazi activity.

But according to Rebecca MacKinnon, a specialist in Internet issues at Hong Kong University, China defines Internet crime far more broadly, imposes censorship far more capriciously, and offers no appeals process for sites that have been blocked.

How would you feel if your physician said you have heartburn, male pattern baldness or excessive sweating?

Now, how would you feel if she said you have gastroesophageal reflux disease, androgenic alopecia or hyperhydrosis?

The terms are synonymous but the medicalized ones carry different connotations, according to scientists at McMaster University.
 
To investigate the impact of medical terminology on perceptions of disease, Meredith Young and colleagues asked college students to rate medical and lay terms for several medical conditions.

When a condition was given a fancy medical label, students perceived it to be more serious, more legitimate as a disease, and less prevalent than when labeled using a lay term. The perceptions were not impacted by severity of the condition.

Thus a patient told she has gastroesophageal reflux disease is likely to think she is sicker than had she been told she has heartburn.  The authors speculate the difference can impact a patient’s sense of well-being and willingness to comply with care plans among other things.

The differences were observed only in conditions that had been recently medicalized (see post later today on this matter).

“A simple switch in terminology can result in a real bias in perception,” Young told the Journal of Life Sciences. The study co-author added, “These findings have implications for many areas, including medical communication with the public, corporate advertising and public policy.”

Karin Humphres, another co-author said “This is particularly important when you have…conditions that have become medicalized… through the influence of pharmaceutical companies, who want to make you think that you have a disease that will need to be treated with a drug.”