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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..?

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[-] howrar@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

The fewer syllables you use, the fewer words you can make. There are too many disorders out there to give them all simple names in an unambiguous way.

[-] over_clox@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Also, the fewer syllables for people suffering brain/memory issues, the easier it is for them to communicate.

Nobody expects a person with brain problems to remember the entire medical encyclopedia, but it would make it quite a bit easier to shorten the most common brain disorders, where the suffering person might be able to remember and say it on their own.

[-] BussyCat@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

He has dementia which is an easy enough word for most people to be able to say. If you want to know the location of the dementia it’s in the frontotemporal area of the brain. But why that complex word well the front of the brain is called the frontal lobes which is a fairly logical name then the temporal lobe is the part that’s near your temples which is also kind of logical.

Historically medicine has been bad about being less specific with names and instead just naming things after people which while they are easier to say don’t actually describe what’s happening

[-] over_clox@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yes, it's easy for most people to say and spell dementia. Except for some of the people actually suffering from brain/memory disorders...

this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2025
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