Lingua Medica: Dichotomous Disservice?
Authors: R A Carleton
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1997)

Medical Writings1 April 1997Lingua Medica: Dichotomous Disservice?Richard A. Carleton, MDRichard A. Carleton, MDMemorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Pawtucket, RI 02860.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-126-7-199704010-00031 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Physicians often prefer to think dichotomously about phenomena that are clearly continua. Examples include “febrile” or “afebrile,” “obese” or “not obese,” and “hypercholesterolemic” or “not hypercholesterolemic.” Many true dichotomies do exist in biology; examples include behavioral traits (“smoker” or “nonsmoker”) and genetic traits in which a certain polypeptide is or is not made depending on the presence or absence of a given gene. Most biological phenomena, however, are continua. Physicians, like other persons, prefer certainty to uncertainty and unambiguity to ambiguity. To label a phenomenon as being on one side or the other of a dichotomous distinction creates an aura ...References1. Spodick DH. Q-wave infarction versus S-T infarction. Nonspecificity of electrocardiographic criteria for differentiating transmural and nontransmural lesions. Am J Cardiol. 1983; 51:913-5. Google Scholar2. Roberts R, Morris D, Pratt CM, Alexander RW. Pathophysiology, recognition and treatment of acute myocardial infarction and its complications. In: Schlant RC, Alexander RW, eds. The Heart. 8th ed. New York: McGraw; 1994:1112. Google Scholar3. Paddock FK. The diagnostic significance of serous fluids in disease. N Engl J Med. 1940; 223:1010-5. Google Scholar4. Light RW. Pleural Diseases. 3d ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins; 1995. Google Scholar5. Light RW, Macgregor MI, Luchsinger PC, Ball WC Jr. Pleural effusions: the diagnostic separation of transudates and exudates. Ann Intern Med. 1972; 77:507-13. Google Scholar6. Runyon BA, Montano AA, Akriviadis EA, Antillon MR, Irving MA, McHutchison JG. The serum-ascites albumin gradient is superior to the exudate-transudate concept in the differential diagnosis of ascites. Ann Intern Med. 1992; 117:215-20. Google Scholar7. Sackett DL, Hayes RB, Tugwell P. Clinical Epidemiology: A Basic Science for Clinical Medicine. Boston: Little, Brown; 1985. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Richard A. Carleton, MDAffiliations: Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Pawtucket, RI 02860.Corresponding Author: Richard A. Carleton, MD, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Pawtucket, RI 02860. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byIs it Meaningful to use Biochemical Parameters to Discriminate Between Transudative and Exudative Pleural Effusions?Influence of diuretics on the concentration of proteins and other components of pleural transudates in patients with heart failureThe Language of Medication-TakingJohn F. Steiner, MD, MPH and Mark A. Earnest, MDSemantics, Inflammation, Cytokines and Common SenseSINGLE-VERSUS MULTIPLE–DOSE ANTIMICROBIAL PROPHYLAXIS FOR MAJOR SURGERY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW 1 April 1997Volume 126, Issue 7Page: 589-591KeywordsElectrocardiographyHeart failureInfarctionLactate dehydrogenaseMyocardial infarctionMyocardiumOverweightPleural effusionProteinsStable coronary artery disease ePublished: 15 August 2000 Issue Published: 1 April 1997 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 1997 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...