the.com/syndrome
A cluster of symptoms that agreed to show up together but never explained why.
means A set of signs or symptoms that consistently occur together, often pointing to a particular condition even when the underlying cause isn't fully known.
from From Greek 'syndrome,' literally a 'running together' — from 'syn-' (together) plus 'dromos' (a running, a course, as in a racecourse). Physicians borrowed the image: symptoms that run together, arriving as a pack rather than alone, even when the single cause tying them to one another stays hidden.
- origin
- Greek for running together
- vs disease
- describes pattern, not confirmed cause
- doctor speak
- lets them diagnose without fully understanding
- fun fact
- some syndromes later turn out to be several diseases