The word sympathetic is the adjectival form of sympathy. This word arises from the Greek [συμπάθεια]and is composed of [syn/sym] meaning “together” and [pathos], a word which has been used to mean “disease”. In reality “pathos” has to do more with the “feeling of self”. Based on this, the word sympathy means “together in feeling”, which is what we use today.

How the term got to be used to denote a component of the so-called autonomic nervous system is part of the history of Medicine and Anatomy.

Galen of Pergamon (129AD-200AD), whose teachings on Medicine and Anatomy lasted as indisputable for almost 1,500 years, postulated that nerves were hollow and allowed for “animal spirits” to travel between organs and allowed the coordinated action of one with the other, in “sympathy” with one another. As the knowledge of the components of the nervous system grew, this concept of “sympathy” stayed, becoming a staple of early physiological theories on the action of the nervous system.

Jacobus Benignus Winslow (1669-1760) named three “sympathetic nerves” one of them was the facial nerve (the small sympathetic), the other the vagus nerve, which he called the “middle sympathetic”, and the last was what was known then as the “intercostalis nerve of Willis” or “large sympathetic", today’s sympathetic chain. Other nerves that worked coordinated with this “sympathetics” were considered to work in parallel with it. It is from this concept that the term “parasympathetic” arises.

Galen of Pergamon 
(129AD - 200AD)

Today we know that there is only one brain and only one nervous system with an autonomic component which has a “sympathetic” component that is mostly in charge of the “fight or flight” reaction and a “parasympathetic” component that has a “slow down” or “depressor” function. Both work coordinated, so I guess Galen was not "off the mark" after all.

So, we still use the terms “sympathetic” and “parasympathetic”, but the origin of these terms has been blurred by history.

Sources:
1. "Claudius Galenus of Pergamum: Surgeon of Gladiators. Father of Experimental Physiology" Toledo-Pereyra, LH; Journal of Investigative Surgery, 15:299-301, 2002
2. "The Origin of Medical Terms" Skinner, HA 1970 Hafner Publishing Co.
3. "Medical Meanings:A Glossary of Word Origins" Haubrish, WS American College of Physicians Philadelphia, 1997
4. "The History of the Discovery of the Vegetative (Autonomic) Nervous System" Ackerknecht, EH Medical History, 1974 Vol 18. 
Original image courtesy of Images from the History of Medicine at nih.gov

Note: The links to Google Translate include an icon that will allow you to hear the pronunciation of the word.

The medical term [epistaxis] refers to a “nose bleed”.

It is considered to be a Modern Latin term that originates from the Greek word [επίσταξη] (epístaxí). The word is composed of [επί] [epi-] meaning "on", "upon", or "above", and [στάζει] (stázei), meaning "in drops", "dripping".

The term was first used by Hippocrates, but only as [στάζει] , to denote dripping of the nose, and was later changed to [επίσταξη] to denote “dripping upon”. The term itself does not include or denote that the blood loss is from the nose, but its meaning has been implied and accepted for centuries. The plural form for epistaxis is epistaxes.

Skinner (1970) says that the term was first used in English in a letter by Thomas Beddoes (1760-1808) in a letter to Robert W. Darwin (1766-1848) in 1793. Robert Darwin was an English physician, father or Charles Darwin (1809-1882) author of “The Origin of the Species”.

Sources:
1. "The Origin of Medical Terms" Skinner, HA 1970 Hafner Publishing Co.
2. "Medical Meanings - A Glossary of Word Origins" Haubrich, WD. ACP Philadelphia 

Note: The links to Google Translate include an icon that will allow you to hear the pronunciation of the word.

Kiesselbach's plexus is named after Dr. Wilhelm Kiesselbach (1839 – 1902), a German otolaryngologist. It is an area in the anteroinferior aspect of the nasal septum where several arteries from different origins meet and anastomose.

This arterial plexus is also known as the "locus Kiesselbachii", Kiesselbach's triangle, or Little's plexus, or Little's area. This area of the anteroinferior nasal septum has a propensity for epistaxis or nasal bleeding. In fact, close to 90% of nose bleeds (epistaxes) happen in this area.

in this region, terminal branches of the anterior ethmoid artery, greater palatine artery, sphenopalatine artery and superior labial artery anastomose forming an anastomotic circle. The anastomoses are numerous enough to form a plexus.

Click on the image for a larger view

Thanks to Jackie Miranda-Klein for suggesting this post. Jackie is studying for the Physician Assistant Master's degree at Kettering College. Dr. Miranda.

Rudi Coninx, MD  is a physician and Chief a.i. Humanitarian policy and Guidance at the World Health Organization (WHO), based in Geneva. He obtained his MD from the University of KU Leuven Belgium, a Doctorate in Tropical Medicine from the Prins Leopold Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde, and an MPH from the John Hopkins University School of Medicine.

His CV shows more than twenty five years of national and international experience in policy and strategy development and analysis, policy dialogue, technical advice and program management support to countries and WHO country offices. Considerable experience in strengthening WHO country offices and in working with partners and networks at the global as well as filed level. Coordinated the WHO Country Focus Policy for more than five years and worked as a member in various strategic planning, decentralization, and global and regional partnership groups, including national and international committees, taskforces. Published several articles on policy analysis, management and health and development in regional and international journals.

He is also an Associate Faculty, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA.

He has held a series of positions with the International Committee of the Red Cross, and also within the World Health Organization. His LinkedIn profile can be found here.  

Thanks to Dr. Coninx for taking time of his busy schedule and collaborating with "Medical Terminology Daily" with the article "Did Andreas Vesalius really die from scurvy?" which he co-authored with Theo Dirix. We look forward to his future writings in this blog.