1. Does anyone know why the word transverse is in there in the
diagnosis? What does it mean exactly?
2. Also, does anyone know when the first case of Transverse Myelitis
was diagnosed - exactly how long has it been around? Was the orig. case
thought to be a virus?
About transverse, I can remember with my friend in '94, they had
him in a room with a class of students and they would "pop" him on one
side and the other side would flinch. Then the students would line up
and each would tap the right jaw, or the left jaw, and the other side
would react. I thought that was what the transverse meant. However, a
nurse where I worked said that's not what it means. He thought it meant
something about "around the spine."
I can also remember in '96 when my friend was in the hospital
again, a class of students standing there and one lady said "He seems a
bit transverse." And the teacher said "No, this man is not transverse."
I looked it up in the dictionary and it didn't help me much.
About the first diagnosis, I am assuming it was before 1957
because we have someone on here who has had TM since 57...I was
wondering if TM was written on the papers right at that time. It seems
like I can recall a health book I had from the 60's that had Transverse
Myelitis in the chapter with polio. I am just wondering where the name
came from, and what the symptoms were originally....what it was thought
to be originally, and if the diagnosis or the theories changed over
time.
Maybe all of this is already in various sites on the internet or
maybe it has been posted previously. Just some more food for thought.
Thanks.
Barbara in Louisville, KY
barbd(AT)adept.net