Eponyms in Medical Terminology Quiz

Answer: Pap smear

The Pap smear was named after Dr George Papanicolaou, an American physician of Greek ancestry. A Pap smear is a cervical smear for the early detection of cancer. Adam's apple was named after Adam (the first man on Earth according to the Old Testament). Ebola virus is named after a place in Zaire, Africa. Papilloma virus is not an eponym at all.

Answer: colour blindness

Daltonism is named after John Dalton, an English physician and chemist. Dalton was the first person to identify and study colour-blindness. Dalton and his brother were both colour-blind so his interest was natural. However, he is more famous for being the founder of atomic theory - the premise that all matter is made up of small indivisible particles called atoms.

Answer: Meniere's disease

Meniere's disease is named after Prosper Meniere, a French physician, who first described it in 1861. The aetiology (cause) of this disease is not known but it is thought to be related to a build-up of fluid in the inner ear.

Answer: Legionnaire's disease

Legionnaire's disease is a form of pneumonia, an infection of the lungs caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila. It was named after an outbreak of the illness in July 1976 at the US Bicentennial Convention of the American Legion in Philadelphia.

The outbreak resulted in 221 people becoming ill and 34 dying. The source was eventually traced to the evaporative air-conditioning system. The air-conditioning system contained the bacteria which were distributed via a fine mist of water and subsequently inhaled by the victims.

Answer: Christmas disease

There are two types of haemophilia. Haemophilia A is the more prevalent. Haemophilia B, or Christmas disease, affects only 15-20 percent of sufferers. Christmas disease was discovered in England in 1952. It was named after the first known patient with this disorder, Stephen Christmas, who was only ten years old at the time.

Answer: Brucellosis

Brucellosis is named after Sir David Bruce, a British army surgeon and bacteriologist. Bruce identified the bacteria that caused a disease called undulant fever in Malta in 1887. He found the bacteria in the spleens of British soldiers who died of undulant fever (also known as Malta fever).

The soldiers had contracted the disease by drinking contaminated goats' milk. Coxsackie virus is named after a place in New York where the virus was first identified. Lassa fever is named after a village in Nigeria where the fever was first reported. Lyme disease is named after Lyme, Connecticut, where the disease was first described.

Answer: hygiene

Hygiene is derived from Hygieia, Greek goddess of health. She was the daughter of Asclepius, the god of medicine. Psyche and Echo were characters from Greek mythology but they were not goddesses. Euthanasia is derived from Thanatos, Greek god of death.

Answer: insomnia

Insomnia is derived from Somnos (or Somnus), Roman god of sleep. Hypnosis is derived from Hypnos, Greek god of sleep. Morphine is derived from Morpheus, Roman god of dreams. Euthanasia is derived from Thanatos, Greek god of death.

Answer: arachnophobia

Arachnophobia is fear of spiders. Arachne was a character in Greek mythology. She was a young girl who was changed into a spider by the goddess Athena after she challenged Athena to a weaving contest.

Answer: Apgar score

The Apgar score is a score out of 10, used to assess the fitness of a newborn infant. It is based on heart rate, respiration, muscle tone, colour and response to stimuli. It is named after Virginia Apgar, an American anaesthesiologist. The other three choices were all named after male physicians.