# Why Ebola is capitalized but diabetes isn’t



## Northerner (Aug 9, 2014)

Ebola and West Nile virus are capitalized. But why? Not every disease is. Here’s a quick explanation, drawn from style guides and assorted other readings:

Diseases named after regions are capitalized.

Ebola is the name of a river in Zaire, and it was near the Ebola River that the virus first caused disease in humans. Thus, the disease became known as the Ebola virus.

West Nile in West Nile virus is capitalized for a similar reason: It was first found in a patient in the West Nile district of northern Uganda.

Diseases named after people are capitalized.

Some disease names are capitalized because they are named after the person who discovered them. For example, Alzheimer’s disease is named after a German doctor named Alois Alzheimer, and Down’s syndrome is named after a British doctor named John Langdon Down.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/poste...8/why-ebola-is-capitalized-but-diabetes-isnt/


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## KookyCat (Aug 9, 2014)

Never mind the capitals, diabetes means to "cross over"?  That can't be good PR for our darling condition, I'm suddenly overtaken by the image of the lady from Poltergeist beckoning me into the light


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## Redkite (Aug 9, 2014)

Diabetes doesn't mean "to pass over".  It is a Greek word meaning "syphon", which I suppose could be loosely translated as "pass through".  The full name for the disease being "diabetes mellitus", ie sugar syphon - since the doctors of the time tasted sweetness in the patients' urine.


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## robert@fm (Aug 9, 2014)

It's quite simple; eponyms such as "Spartan" are capitalised, metonyms such as "spartan" are not. "Diabetes" isn't even a metonym, so there's no reason for it to be capitalised.



KookyCat said:


> Never mind the capitals, diabetes means to "cross over"?  That can't be good PR for our darling condition, I'm suddenly overtaken by the image of the lady from Poltergeist beckoning me into the light



Actually, it means "to pass through". Our problem(s) and _diabetes insipidus_ were named for the one thing they have in common; a tendenct to excessive urination.


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## Austin Mini (Aug 9, 2014)

In the olden days, the 1950s & 1960s, Diabetes was known as 'Sugar Diabetes' which my darling sister in law keeps on calling it.


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## KookyCat (Aug 9, 2014)

Redkite said:


> Diabetes doesn't mean "to pass over".  It is a Greek word meaning "syphon", which I suppose could be loosely translated as "pass through".  The full name for the disease being "diabetes mellitus", ie sugar syphon - since the doctors of the time tasted sweetness in the patients' urine.



Good grief, I like sugar syphon, it sounds more chipper, I'm not so keen on the quick snaffle of a wee cocktail for diagnostic purposes though 



robert@fm said:


> Actually, it means "to pass through". Our problem(s) and _diabetes insipidus_ were named for the one thing they have in common; a tendenct to excessive urination.



"Pass through" is still giving me poltergeist flashbacks.  I suggest we all put our heads together and create a new name for our friend, once we've decided we can upload a video of us all in a flash mob style dance announcing the official renaming.  Bound to go viral in seconds.  My vote is Mabel.


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## bill hopkinson (Aug 9, 2014)

Redkite said:


> Diabetes doesn't mean "to pass over".  It is a Greek word meaning "syphon", which I suppose could be loosely translated as "pass through".  The full name for the disease being "diabetes mellitus", ie sugar syphon - since the doctors of the time tasted sweetness in the patients' urine.



Or in the blood. In Thailand, if I say diabetes to a pharmacist, they say, "Oh, sweet blood".


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## KookyCat (Aug 9, 2014)

bill hopkinson said:


> Or in the blood. In Thailand, if I say diabetes to a pharmacist, they say, "Oh, sweet blood".



I like that, I have "sweet blood" sounds so much gentler


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