Diseases I invented

The disease necrotizing fasciitis (a flesh eating disease caused by a number of bacterium such as Clostridium perfringens) was being discussed at a family party. Yep we’re a fun bunch I know :P Ok so I admit it, I'm the one who started it but then I got accused of making the disease up! There’s just no trust sometimes, lol. It then got me thinking about diseases and conditions that have been made up. For example a lady called Elaine Murphy (now a baroness) back in 1974, as a young doctor got together with her husband John Murphy and made up a condition. They called it ‘cello scrotum’ and err you can take a guess as to what it concerned… or Google it :) The condition was then widely reported in a number of medical journals. After 34 years, Baroness Murphy finally admitted her hoax by writing a letter to the British Medical Journal – the same journal where she revealed her amazing discovery. You see if you're gonna make something up, that’s the way to go about it. I started wondering about other ridiculous sounding conditions… but those which are actually true, not hoaxes. Anyhoo here’s my list of odd sounding conditions:

1) Tennis elbow – small tears of tendons attaching the forearm muscles to the bone at the elbow.
2) Housemaid’s knee – friction between the skin and the patella, causing inflammation.
3) Jogger’s nipple – soreness created by friction between skin and layer of clothing.
4) Fiddlers neck – skin irritation caused by contact between the skin and the instrument.
5) Bird-fancier’s lung – lung inflammation caused by contact with bird faeces. Causes chills, fever and cough.
6) iPod finger – doctors say using the same finger to operate your MP3 or texting can cause RSI.
7) Phossy jaw – white phosphorous (found in matches) causes brain damage and makes the jaw waste away.
8) Hatter’s shakes – Mercury used in hat making caused nerve damage and shakes.
9) Baker’s itch – rash on the hand caused by allergies to flour and other bread making ingredients.
10) Scrivener’s palsy – neurological condition that causes cramps/ spasms due to repetitive movements such as handwriting; aka writer’s cramp.

Most of these are now quite commonly known but they still sound a bit ridiculous and made up. Also I'm pretty sure there are more than 10 but I can't think of any right now. Feel free to add away any that come to mind. Meanwhile I’m going to go away and make up a ridiculous sounding disease now. Look out for me in the next issue of the British Medical Journal :P