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Derogatory Medicine Trivia Quiz

The haughty history of medicine is reflected in some of the derogatory terms that persist in today's medical lexicon. How many of these terms are you familiar with, and can you spot the real terms from amongst the contrived ones?

A multiple-choice quiz by mikej941. Estimated time: 7 mins.

Author
mikej941

Time
7 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
186,134

Updated
Jun 11 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
4 / 10

Plays
6400

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Your doctor compassionately informs�you that your deformed,�mentally retarded son has Hurler's syndrome, and that he will�likely not live to be a teenager.� Several hours later,�the medical student assigned to your child enters the room.�Much to your shock,�the tactless student announces, "I am so sorry Mr. and Mrs. Smith that your son is a?"
Hint

Mongoloid

Bird-headed dwarf

Gargoyle

Cretin

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Question 2 of 10

2. What unprepossessing word is used to describe the obesity of a patient who is 100 or more pounds overweight?
Hint

Grotesque

Vile

Unnatural

Morbid

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Question 3 of 10

3. Merriam Webster defines�a cretin as a "stupid,�vulgar and insensitive person,"�so you understandably�feel insulted when your pediatrician,�after examining your child,�asks you if there are any other cretins in your family?� What has he asked you?
Hint

Are there any other children in your family with�achondroplasia?

Any other children in the family with juvenile hypothyroidism?

Are there any�other children in your family with�stunted growth as a result of�Human Growth Hormone�deficiency?

Do any other children in the family have Hunter's Syndrome?

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Question 4 of 10

4. Seckel Syndrome is better known as what?
Hint

Gargoylism

Bird-headed dwarfism

Leprechaunism

Mule-faced goonism

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Question 5 of 10

5. What derogatory term is used in medicine to describe usually non-viable fetuses with extremely rare, visually hideous, anatomically perplexing, birth defects? In cultures throughout the world, these fetuses/stillbirths are objects of both curiosity and fright. Many are the result of chromosomal abnormalities.�� The Mutter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia has a large collection of these preserved in formaldehyde.

Answer: (One Word: The film about serial killer Aileen Wournos' life has this one word title)

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Question 6 of 10

6. The Stanford-Binet IQ has sub-classifications for mental deficiency based upon�the intelligence quotient (IQ) obtained with the test.�If your IQ on the Stanford Binet test is in the 20-49 range,�what derogatory classification do you fall into?
Hint

Simpleton

Moron

Imbecile

Idiot

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Question 7 of 10

7. What euphemistic term is widely used derogatorily by doctors to suggest that there is no physical basis for your problems,�or that you are lying about your symptoms?
Hint

Supratentorial

Extratesticular

Gray-matter effect

Extralobular

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Question 8 of 10

8. What 19th century physician named a disease that was derogatory to a whole race of people?
Hint

Harvey Cushing

John Langdon-Down

Thomas Addison

Burrill Crohn

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Question 9 of 10

9. This rare disorder,�less commonly known as Donohue's syndrome,�is characterized by severe resistance to insulin,�dwarfism,�atrophy of fat tissue, and unusual�craniofacial features. What is the name of this disorder? Hint

Imbecilic Gnome Syndrome

Bird-Headed Dwarfism

Gargoylism

Leprechaunism

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Question 10 of 10

10. People who have an infiltration of their lymphatic system with worms have a condition that derogatorily compares them to what? Hint

Hippopotamuses

Decaying Corpses

Elephants

Rotten Fish

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Gargoyle

Hurler's syndrome is a rare genetic metabolic disease due to an enzyme deficiency.�Patients have enlarged livers and spleens with protuberant abdomens.�All patients are mentally retarded,�hunch-backed,�and have�gross facial features that are said to resemble the gargoyles of Gothic architecture.�The term gargoylism, despite its offensiveness, remains very widely used.�

2. What unprepossessing word is used to describe the obesity of a patient who is 100 or more pounds overweight?

Answer: Morbid

A person who is either 100 pounds overweight or who has a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 40,�is referred to as morbidly obese.� BMI equals a person's weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. (BMI=kg/m2).

Answer: Any other children in the family with juvenile hypothyroidism?

Cretinism is a syndrome appearing in early infancy.� It is a result of a deficiency in thyroid hormones during fetal or early life.� If the child does not receive hormone replacement,�mental retardation and dwarfism result.� Achondroplasia, Hunter's syndrome, and Human Growth Hormone deficiency all cause their own distinct form of dwarfism.

4. Seckel Syndrome is better known as what?

Answer: Bird-headed dwarfism

Seckel Syndrome is better known as bird-headed dwarfism.�� Fortunately, bird headed dwarfism is a rare disorder.�The convex,�beaked pattern of the nose,�the microcephalic head and the absence of ribs contribute to the bird-headed appearance.� Gargoylism and bird-headed dwarfism are real clinical entities; mule-faced goonism is not.

Answer: Monsters

Aileen Wournos may deserve this description, but fetuses that never had a chance to live certainly do not. The "Monster" exhibit at the Mutter Museum was not open to the general pubic when I visited it as a medical student twenty years ago. Hopefully, that has not changed.

Answer: Imbecile

Borderline mental deficiency (IQ 70-80),�Moron (IQ 50-69),�Imbecile (IQ 20-49) and Idiot (below 20).� Due to the widespread misuse of these terms by the general public,�they have been largely replaced by the terms mild,�moderate,�severe and profound mental retardation.

7. What euphemistic term is widely used derogatorily by doctors to suggest that there is no physical basis for your problems,�or that you are lying about your symptoms?

Answer: Supratentorial

The tentorium cerebelli is formed from the dura mater and separates the cerebrum from the cerebellum.�Higher brain functioning (complex thought processing) occurs in the cerebrum,�whereas the cerebellum is�involved primarily in the coordination of voluntary movement.�The cerebrum is located superior to the cerebellum,�and thus "supratentorial" is a euphemism for "It's all in your head."

8. What 19th century physician named a disease that was derogatory to a whole race of people?

Answer: John Langdon-Down

John Langdon-Down described a condition characterized by mental retardation,�short stature,�flattened facial features, epicanthal folds (slanted-eyes) and cardiac anomalies.�He called the disease Mongolism.�He postulated that this disease represented�a reversal of evolution from the superior Caucasian Race to the inferior Mongol race.�While this disease is more commonly referred to now as Down's Syndrome or Trisomy 21,�the term "Mongolism" is still heard.

Answer: Leprechaunism

Leprechaunism is inherited as an autosomal recessive.

10. People who have an infiltration of their lymphatic system with worms have a condition that derogatorily compares them to what?

Answer: Elephants

Elephantiasis is a disease that causes marked swelling of the extremities. The resemblance of the patient's huge extremities to the large legs of an elephant explains the derogatory name. The disease is caused by multiple parasitic worms, all of which are transmitted by mosquitoes. Elephantiasis is most commonly found in African nations.

Source: Author mikej941

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