So it occurred to me today that we throw a lot of d words around in medicine. For instance, during the course of reviewing hyponatremia (a DEFICIENCY of sodium) alone I came up with ten --deca-- different ways to say "shit's fucked up" using, exclusively, words that start with d:
deficit
deficiency
depletion
disorder
disregulation
damaged
decompensated
deformity
degenerative
Then there's the standard, garden variety disorganized, disproportionate, debilitated, debris (debride), decapitation, decay, decerebrate, delirium, as well the more exotic and alluring:
1. Decipara ~ a woman who has given birth for the tenth time to infants, alive or dead. Notice that they have to CLARIFY that she's given birth to infants, and not, say, kittens.
2. Dactolysis ~ the spontaneous amputation of fingers or toes. As seen in leprosy, ainhum and produced in utero. Holyfriggencrap.
3. Deutromycotina ~ the phylum of imperfect fungi.
And then, my personal, all-time favorite:
Defecography ~ Radiography of the ano-rectal region after instilling barium paste into the rectum. The defecation process is [then] imaged by direct filming (fluroscopy) or video recording. No way.
