Doctor, I Have A Doctor Trivia Quiz

Answer: Down's syndrome

Down' syndrome was named after Doctor John L H Down, an English doctor who described the disease in 1862.
Down's syndrome is also called trisomy-21, because the cause of the condition is the presence of a third chromosome in the pair numbered 21.
As it is a genetical disorder, there is no cure.
Many Down patients can complete their education, find a job and live (almost) independently, but more severe cases need help all life long. The prognosis depends on the amount of early support patients get and on the type of disease - those with a partial or mosaic (in some but not all cells) triplication of the chromosome will have less severe symptoms and restrictions than those who have a full extra copy in all their cells.

Answer: Hansen's disease

Hansen's disease is the modern name for a condition that was already known in the Bible as leprosy. The Norwegian Gerhard Hansen isolated the bacterial cause for leprosy in 1873, and since then the disease carries his name.
Hansen's disease is a bacterial infection that damages the the nervous system. The very first symptoms are numb spots, paler in colour, mostly on the extremities (hands and feet). Infections in these spots may pass without noticing and thus without adequate treatment, and this leads to the dreaded loss of limbs.
There is a vaccine, but its effectiveness is low. Early diagnosis is necessary, because, while the infection itself is curable with antibiotics, nerve damage and tissue loss are not reversible.

Answer: Tourette syndrome

Doctor Georges Gilles de la Tourette was a French doctor who described this neurological condition for the first time in 1873.
He named this condition first "la maladie des tics", but his colleagues soon used his name to indicate the disease.
Tourette syndrome may manifest itself by uncontrollable movements, for instance unnecessary winking or uncontrollable swinging of the arms. A relatively rare, but well-known, manifestation causes patients to make inappropriate verbal utterances, in some cases including swearing.
There is no definite cure for patients with Gilles de la Tourette, but some medicines, relaxation techniques or counselling may limit the occurrence of the symptoms.
Contrary to many of the other medical conditions mentioned in this quiz, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome doesn't have adverse effects on general health or life expectancy.

Answer: Menière's disease

Menière's disease was first identified by the French Doctor Prosper Menière.
The disease is a disorder in the inner ear, causing vertigo (dizziness), tinnitus (a persistent ringing or buzzing), hearing loss and a headache. Mild cases of Menière's disease have this sensations only in one ear, while more serious cases can experience these feelings in both ears.
Most episodes of Menière's disease are temporary, sometimes twenty minutes to half an hour, with various intervals.
The cause is not yet clearly identified. A sure cure is not available, but some medicines, diets or surgery have caused improvements in a number of cases.

Answer: Alzheimer's disease

It was Alois Alzheimer who identified this condition in 1906, but his colleague Emil Kraepelin coined the term "Alzheimer's disease".
Most patients of Alzheimer's disease are older than 65, but the few who contract the disease earlier are more heavily afflicted and die only a few years after the diagnosis. When a patient contracts Alzheimer's disease after the age of 65, the disease can typically develop at a slower pace.
Symptoms of Alzheimer's are disorientation, language problems and loss of the short-term memory.
The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are caused by brain degeneration and the excess accumulation of certain proteins (beta-amyloids) in the brain, however the underlying cause is rarely known. Some treatment options exist, but they are supportive and can at best delay but not stop, prevent or cure the disease.

Answer: Addison's disease

Addison's disease is caused by an imbalance of the hormones produced by the adrenal glands, more specifically by insufficient productions of steroid hormones. The early symptoms are vague and diverse, such as fatigue, fever, weight loss, anxiety, headache, dizziness, weight loss or muscle pains. Unfortunately these symptoms may (especially when they are not all present at the same time) indicate many other disorders. Only when it comes to a crisis (involving low blood pressure, loss of consciousness, low level of sodium and sugar in the blood, high level of calcium and potassium in the blood), the diagnosis may be easier.

In such cases treatment is very urgent. Addison's disease was named after the British doctor Thomas Addison, who dedicated in 1855 an article to this disease.

Answer: Bell's palsy

The mechanism to Bell's palsy has been identified: the facial nerve does not function as it should. However, the cause for this dysfunction is unknown.
Because the facial nerve does not function properly, part of the face either contracts (twitches) or relaxes uncontrollably - leading to the "drooping" eye.
These symptoms can also be caused by other afflictions, such as a stroke or a brain tumor. Diagnosis of Bell's palsy is thus based mostly on excluding other possible causes for the symptoms.
Even without treatment, Bell's palsy can heal within some weeks - weeks that are very uncomfortable for the patient, of course.
Although the disease was named after the Scottish doctor Charles Bell (1774-1842), he was not the first to describe it: at least two ancient Arabic or Persian treatises mention the symptoms, as well as three Renaissance doctors
from the Netherlands, England and Germany.

Answer: Marfan's syndrome

Marfan's syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects connective tissue. Like all genetic disorders, it cannot be cured but only managed.
People with Marfan's syndrome are usually (but not always) tall and slender, with long limbs, long digits and toes. In many cases they also have distortions of the backbone, and chest deformities such as a sunken sternum. The eyes may present various abnormalities, of which a dislocation of the lens is most common.
Patients may also experience fatigue or shortness of breath as well as life-threatening complications from anomalies of the heart valves and the aorta.
Marfan's syndrome was named after the French doctor Antoine Marfan, who identified the disease in 1896 in some teens.

Answer: Brucellosis

Brucellosis was not named after the city of Brussels (as one might expect), but after the Scottish doctor Sir David Bruce, who first established the causal link between the Brucella bacteria and the disease.
Symptoms as fever, night sweats and pain in the joints can indicate various inflammations. Biological tests can indicate the presence of slowly developing Brucella bacteria, and then a long-term treatment with antibiotics can cure the disease.
Eating contaminated food is the main cause of infection by the Brucella bacteria, but one could also get infected via contact of a scratch or cut with infected animals or (very seldom) by inhaling contaminated air.

Answer: Korsakoff's syndrome

While many people associate Korsakoff's disease with an overindulgence of alcohol during several years, it may also be caused by unbalanced diets and/or heavy fasting. The syndrome was named after the Russian doctor Sergei Korsakoff, who described this possible outcome of long-term alcoholism in 1890.
Korsakoff's syndrome can present some of the following symptoms: amnesia (memory loss), confabulation (false memories), apathy, lack of insight into one's health condition and hallucinations. An example of the confabulation would be claiming having witnessed personally an event of historic importance, while evidence shows that one was not near the place at that time.
Treatment involves giving additional thiamine, but has only limited success - only a quarter of all patients will make a recovery under thiamine replacement therapy. Early detection of thiamine deficiency and correction via supplements can prevent symptoms from developing or worsening.