# What Would Doctors Call This? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 7, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119 "2003-09-07T17:29:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anaxagoras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b77776/32.png) [@Anaxagoras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaxagoras)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/1 "2003-09-07T17:29:43Z")
I’m toying with a science fiction concept that relies on a nasty disease as a plot device. This disease has these characteristics: - sexually transmitted - victim gets a slight fever over a period of two or more weeks - female victims are permanently sterilized My question is, what would medical doctors call this disease? And what acronym would they associate with it? And what would the general public call it? If this disease were airborne instead of sexually transmitted, would these names be any different? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/2 "2003-09-07T17:37:17Z")
Diseases are often named after the first patient in which it is diagnosed, i.e. Hodgkins Disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease and Kaposi’s Sarcoma. If you want a scientific sounding name, look up Greek or Latin words that refer to the parts of the boday affected or the major symptoms and signs. ---
**Author:** ![Anaxagoras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b77776/32.png) [@Anaxagoras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaxagoras)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/3 "2003-09-07T18:09:25Z")
I regret that my grasp of Greek and Latin are not what they should be. I blame our public school systems … ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/4 "2003-09-07T18:12:30Z")
Should be pretty obvious from your stated pathology… Disease pathologists would say **STPM** , or **Sexually Transmitted Pseudo-Menopause**. Everybody else would say **The Pill Bug**. If aerosol… same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/5 "2003-09-07T18:17:12Z")
Or Sexually Transmitted Feminine Sterility (STFS). The Pill Bug sounds like a good common name. Airborne Female Sterility (AFS), if it’s airborne. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/6 "2003-09-07T18:43:38Z")
This sounds a lot like _The White Plague_ by Frank Herbert, except the disease was transmitted by mere skin contact and it was fatal to females. The common name that the non-scientist characters used for the disease was the book’s title. It sounds like you’re using a similar idea that I’ve been toying with for a couple of years for a story that so far only resides in my head. I’m not planning on going any further with it so if you’d like to email me I’d be glad to share. ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/7 "2003-09-07T18:49:52Z")
STIFF ~ Sexually Transmitted Infertility For Females. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/8 "2003-09-07T19:06:03Z")
**The Dream Disease of Straight Guys Who Want Another Excuse to Not Wear Condoms as a Plot for a Science Fiction Story**. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/9 "2003-09-07T19:42:21Z")
Call it **The Long-Overdue Disease that Gay Men Can Give to Each Other Yet Suffer No Consequences, I Can Deal With the Slight Fever**. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/10 "2003-09-07T21:16:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*Diseases are often named after the first patient in which it is diagnosed, i.e. Hodgkins Disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease and Kaposi’s Sarcoma. > \*\* [nitpick] Kaposi was the doctor (a dermatologist IIRC) who first described the disease that now bears his name. Likewise, Thomas Hodgkin was the English physician who first described the now eponymic cancer of the lymphoid tissue.[/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/11 "2003-09-08T03:25:02Z")
Febrile Uterine Chronic Infertility… runs and hides ---
**Author:** ![lucky\_henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@lucky\_henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucky_henry)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/12 "2003-09-08T03:40:21Z")
The doctor would call it his ticket to the big time if he was the first to write about it in a medical journal! ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/13 "2003-09-08T04:58:17Z")
Right KarlGauss, Almost no diseases are named after patients. Lou Gehrig’s disease is an anomaly due to the fact that he was so well known, and the name just stuck. ALS was well known long before that. I believe there are only two or three named after patients, one being Christmas disease, the other I can’t recall. If someone wants to wade through [www.whonamedit.com](http://www.whonamedit.com) they can probably find a few more, but in 99.9% of the cases the doctor grabs the fame, not the patient. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/14 "2003-09-08T12:57:37Z")
These symptoms sound similar to chlamydia, which can leave women infertile. For realism, could you pick a (deliberately) mutated version of that? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/15 "2003-09-08T15:06:28Z")
Isn’t it time for ALS to be known as Stephen Hawkings’ disease? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/16 "2003-09-08T15:09:59Z")
Dizzy Gillespie’s cheeks became hugely distended when he played his horn. This condition was unusual outside the glass-blowing profession. When a researcher asked to study Diz’s cheeks, he agreed only if it were renamed after him. Now, the condition (which I believe had been known as glassblower’s pouches) is called Gillespie’s pouches. This is rare. As you now know, top billing usually goes to the researcher. Once in a while, the same person identifies two diseases and tacks his name on both. There are two diseases of the breast named for Padgett; one of them is benign, the other is malignant. My mother-in-law had the misfortune of being diagnosed with the benign one, when in fact she had the other one. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/17 "2003-09-08T16:39:36Z")
Febrile amenorrhea ---
**Author:** ![Anaxagoras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b77776/32.png) [@Anaxagoras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaxagoras)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/18 "2003-09-08T19:45:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by picunurse \* > \*\*Febrile amenorrhea \*\* That sounds like what I am looking for. Does “amenorrhea” mean “incapable of producing eggs”? ---
**Author:** ![Anaxagoras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b77776/32.png) [@Anaxagoras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaxagoras)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/19 "2003-09-08T19:52:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by istara \* > \*\*These symptoms sound similar to chlamydia, which can leave women infertile. For realism, could you pick a (deliberately) mutated version of that? \*\* Actually, I am toying with the idea that the (world) government has deliberately developed a disease that makes women infertile in order to combat overpopulation. The government has a “cure” that lets a woman become pregnant, once, upon application, screening, and approval. Sort of a eugenics program. (I stole the idea from Larry Niven, of course.) Anyway, the story’s crisis is that the disease has mutated, gone air-borne, and sterilized 99% of the world’s population. The question is, what effects would this have on society? I am not familiar with chlamydia. What are its symptoms? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119/20 "2003-09-08T20:13:07Z")
“Amenorrhea” means absence of menstruation, typically. The Mayo Clinic has an online article about [chlamydia](http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?objectid=76877F15-F95F-44BB-85C8B47F756CBA49). Here’s their signs and symptoms section: > [@](#): > > Chlamydia is difficult to detect because early-stage infections often cause few or no signs and symptoms that might alert you to see your doctor. Up to 75 percent of women and between 25 percent and 50 percent of men don’t have any signs and symptoms. When signs or symptoms do occur, they usually start one to three weeks after you’ve been exposed to chlamydia. Even when signs and symptoms do occur, they’re often mild and transient, making them easy to overlook. > > Signs and symptoms of chlamydia infection may include: > > Painful urination > Lower abdominal pain > Vaginal discharge in women > Discharge from the penis in men > Painful sexual intercourse in women > Testicular pain in men [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-doctors-call-this/200119.md?page=2)