This question comes from watching the TV right now, and they’re talking about Bruce Willis. I feel bad for him, I really do…
Bruce Willis apparently has what they call Frontotemporal Dementia. That’s a tounge twister mouthful for most average people, I can only assume Mr. Willis probably can’t even remember the name of his own condition…
Why isn’t there a ‘patient-friendly’ easy to remember name for disorders that literally affect a person’s brain and memory?
Like shit, I bet most people wouldn’t know what polytetrafluoroethylene is, but they gave everyone a simple name to know it by, teflon.
So, why don’t they have simpler terms for brain disorders so the suffering patient might be able to talk to their own doctor privately…?
You don’t need to speak Latin to notice common roots and get a gist for what a term means.
If you’re actually in a position where it’s useful to distinguish one type of dementia from another, having a meaning that’s linked to what the symptoms are may help you remember both name and symptoms.
If you’re not a medical professional, remembering either name or symptoms for specific types of dementia is unlikely to be useful.
You’re missing the whole point.
The disabled patient should be able to memorize the name of their own condition, if at all possible at least. Disabled people don’t 100% of the time have other people available to help.
I was specifically addressing your line about Latin.
I’m not really clear on what the aim of your broader point really is actually driving at. If someone struggles with language acquisition or production, yes they may struggle with the complete name of their specific diagnosis.
If communicating the specific name to the outside world is important, having it written down somewhere may help. We use tools to help move our bodies. Why wouldn’t we use tools to help extend our brains.
If it’s truly important to have the specific name, the other party may need to look it up anyway, which is easier with a spelling.
The problem with this point relating to dementia is that dementia specifically makes forming new memories harder. So they are unlikely to remember any specifics including their diagnosis. Also for the patient saying dementia or memory problems will be more than enough to tell everyone who’s not a doctor.
The frontotemporal bit won’t mean anything to the general public unless they remember more human anatomy than most, but everyone has heard of dementia that one is in common parlance anyway I think.