I may not be a doctor, but ...
From time to time copy crosses the desk with a reference to dying from an aneurysm, which is only half right.
An aneurysm is a bulge like a balloon in a blood vessel with a weakened wall. You could possibly harbor one, undiagnosed, in your brain or in your aorta. It is a time bomb, potentially fatal. And yet you may have had it for years, carrying out normal activities. You will not die from having it. But you may well die if it ruptures before it has been identified and repaired by surgery.
Make that copy read dying from a ruptured aneurysm.
Comments
What's sadder than a ruptured aneurysm is the fact that the misspelling "aneurism" gets a half million Google hits.
Posted by: Amy Reynaldo | October 14, 2010 9:54 PM
Ask any vein specialist: an acute (but unburst) aneurysm can indeed be fatal. Not only can they grow to block normal blood flow, but tissue breaking off from them can cause thrombosis is other parts of the body, including the lungs, brain, heart, and kidneys. Please, don't delude your readership in believing the myth the myth that an aneurysm has to burst to be fatal. They're bad, all right, and they can kill in a number of ways.
Posted by: Sir Bacon | October 14, 2010 10:15 PM
Sir Bacon's additional medical information is most welcome. But as a practical matter, it is clear in context that virtually all deaths from aneurysm in news reports involve ruptured aneurysms.
Posted by: John McIntyre | October 14, 2010 10:26 PM
One of my personal pet peeves is the ill-considered use of certain tropes, such as the hyperbole of "What's sadder than X is Y." Is a widespread misspelling really sadder than a person's sudden death by a ruptured aneurysm?
Posted by: Rolig | October 15, 2010 9:24 AM
My favorite, when cops/court reporters think they can write health stories, is "myocardial infraction." BAD heart! You've committed a crime and are going to JAIL!
Posted by: Denise Covert | October 15, 2010 9:42 AM
Amy:
Aneurism is not a misspelling. It is recognized as an alternative spelling by merriam-webster.com, NID3, and AHD4; the OED goes so far as to call it more common than aneurysm (though it's not clear if they mean worldwide or in Britain).
Posted by: John Cowan | October 15, 2010 10:24 AM
I hope I don't get an anyourism in my cartoid artery.
Posted by: RayRay | October 16, 2010 12:42 PM