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…?

  • over_clox@lemmy.worldOP
    1·
    14 hours ago

    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.

    • paraplu@piefed.socialEnglish
      1·
      5 hours ago

      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.

    • Berttheduck@lemmy.ml
      1·
      12 hours ago

      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.