diseases named after food

by Louis B. Lin, M.D.
I, personally, found medical school to be a grueling and tedious regimen of rote memorization and sleep deprivation – the experience of which can be more or less distilled down to a masochistic exercise in self denial and deprivation for the sake of human well being (and Porsches and golf club memberships). One bright spot in my training was the quirky trivia and neat historical anecdotes that would pop up once in a while. Doctors throughout history have proven to be a very creative and resourceful bunch, and their naming conventions can often be downright tongue in cheek. Among my favorites are disease findings and symptoms that are named after food. I am morbidly fascinated about how gross and unpalatable these naming conventions can be, but I smile when I realize that such “culinary” descriptors may partially arise out of the dark humor that is a natural outcome of such rigorous training and prolonged exposure to human suffering. Without further delay, here is a list of ten disease findings from the emerging medical specialty of “culinary pathology and pathophysiology.” Where appropriate, a photograph of the disease is linked – be warned – they are not pretty.