Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: medical metaphors

  • A note on medical metaphors

    JMS Pearce Hull, England   Cafe au lait patches in NF1. © 1993-2021, University of Washington, Seattle. From GeneReviews. Source. When Winston Churchill memorably referred to his bouts of depression as “black dog,” in two words he painted a picture that embraced feelings, which otherwise would have taken hundreds of words to describe. I have to…

  • Experiencing metaphor: a medieval headache

    Jamie McKinstry Durham University, United Kingdom   Metaphors have been used extensively in medicine to describe patients, illustrate diseases, and educate students.1 By comparing unlike things that have something in common, they enhance communication in education, science, and clinical medicine.2 Not restricted to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, their use dates back to areas such…