1. A group of symptoms that collectively indicate or characterize a disease, psychological disorder, or other abnormal conditions.
2. A group of related or coincident things, events, actions, etc.
3. The pattern of symptoms that characterize or indicate a particular social condition.
4. A predictable, characteristic pattern of behavior, action, etc., that tends to occur under certain circumstances.
5. A group of things or events that form a recognizable pattern, especially of something undesirable.
6. A set of signs and symptoms that tend to occur together and which reflect the presence of a particular disease or an increased chance of developing a particular disease.

The constellation of numbness of the neck, arms, and back with headache, dizziness, profuse sweating, and palpitations after eating Chinese food laden with monosodium glutamate (MSG) strongly suggests the Chinese restaurant syndrome.

Other examples include the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the achoo syndrome, the alien hand syndrome, the sick building syndrome, the stiff baby syndrome, and many, many others.

The word syndrome has long been popular in medicine and, more recently, outside medicine (as in the "China syndrome"). The word comes from Greek syn-, "together" plus dramein, "to run"; that is, "to run together", or "to go together". A common misspelling: syndrone.

Contralateral (opposite side) weakness and numbness, aphasia, and ipsilateral (same side) monocular blindness as a result of atherosclerosis (thickening and hardening of the walls of arteries as a result of fat deposits on their inner lining) or other lesion causing obstruction of an internal carotid artery or one of its major banches.

1. A temporary loss of consciousness which sometimes causes provoked convulsive seizures as a result of the intensity of the carotid sinus reflex when pressure increases in one or both carotid sinuses.
2. Intense hypotension (low blood pressure) and bradycardia (abnormally slow heartbeat) following carotid sinus stimulation, resulting in dizziness, fainting or convulsions, and occasionally other neurologic symptoms.

1. A condition related to prolonged computer monitor use; such as, people who are viewing computer screens who tend to blink less and open their eyes more widely, all of which can result in dryness of the eyes, fatigue, burning, difficulty in focusing, headaches, etc.
2. CVS is caused by the decreased blinking reflex of the eyes while working long hours focusing on computer screens.

The normal blinking rate in human eyes is about 16–20 blinks per minute and recent studies have shown that the blinking rate decreases to as low as 6–8 blinks a minute for people who are working on computer screens for long periods and this can lead to an irritating condition called dry eyes.
3. A variety of problems related to prolonged viewing of a computer screen.

Short term effects include dry eyes, blurred vision, eye fatigue and excessive tearing.

Long term effects include migraines, cataracts, and visual epilepsy.

Some solutions include keeping reflections and glare to a minimum and to provide a non-fluorescent, uniform light source.

Special lamps are available that maintain the proper light around the monitor and generate light at much higher frequencies than regular light bulbs.

Glasses Can Correct Near and Far, but What About Those Screens in Between?

1. A syndrome of early childhood, characterized by progressive emaciation in spite of high caloric intake, a euphoric appearance, and occasionaly vertical nystagmus (oscillatory movement of the eyeballs), tremor, and ataxia, due to a tumor in the diencephalon.
2. Convulsive equivalent, a form of epilepsy, especially in children.

1. A deep vein thrombosis (blood clot along the wall of a blood vessel), usually in the leg, caused by sitting immobile for long periods in a cramped aircraft seat.

Once movement begins again the clot can move to heart or lungs, causing rapid death.

2. A form of phlebitis (inflammation of a vein) in which a blood clot forms in the lower leg after prolonged immobility in a cramped space; such as, traveling in a confined space, like a coach seat on a crowded air flight.

It is known as economy class syndrom because so many travelers are turning up with phlebitis.

A rare condition that occurs only in identical twins while the babies are still in the womb and involves the transfer of blood from one twin to the other one.

These vary, with pain and fatigue generally prominent, sometimes causing considerable disability.

Patients can usually dress and wash independently, but they can not cope with a job or household activities.

Patients generally score highly on measures of anxiety and depression.

1. Unusual flexibility of the joints or greater than the normal range of motion in a joint, allowing them to be bent or moved beyond their normal range of motion.

Hypermobility is often misused to describe extra movements as seen in a contortionist.

2. Increased range of the movement of joints, joint laxity, occurring normally in young children or as a result of disease; such as, Marfan's syndrome (disorder of connective tissue of musculoskeletal system or abnormal length of the limbs; especially the fingers and the toes) or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (disorder of the connective tissue; such as, joints that bend too easily into extensions).
3. Excessive joint play (movement) which permits increased mobility.

The area where two bones meet is called a joint and all joints have a cavity containing a small amount of synovial fluid, which allows for movement.

The attached tendons, muscles, ligaments, and joint capsules hold the joints in their correct positions.

Looseness of these supporting structures allows a joint to have extra motion and often, even normal activities that put stress on loose joints will irritate them.

Hypermobility syndrome may include congenital hip dislocations; scoliosis (curvature of the spine); elbow, kneecap and/or shoulder dislocations; or frequent ankle or wrist sprains.

A condition involving individuals who have a superior autobiographical memory (from Greek thymesis, "remember, memory").

The unusual characteristic of hyperthymesia is that the person has an extraordinary capacity to recall specific events from his/her personal past.

Remembering every day of one's life in extraordinary detail

• Mention any date since 1980 and a 42-year-old woman in California remembers every day of her life since her teens.
• She can relate where she was, what she was doing, and what made the news on any of the days.
• Having a normal healthy memory isn't just about retaining the significant things.
• Far more important is being able to forget the insignificant occurrences.
• Initial tests indicated that the woman was able to correctly identify the dates of every Easter for 24 years, plus where she was and what she was doing on those dates.
• Generally, a memory is formed in three stages: first it is encoded, then stored, and later retrieved.
• It is possible that hyperthymestics carry out these three tasks with much greater efficiency than people in general.
• The extraordinary memory of hyperthymestics could also be explained by a failure of the strategies their brains use to forget the things they don't need to remember.
• Efficient forgetting is a crucial part of having a fully functioning memory.

Pain and paresthesia (abnormal skin sensations), often succeeded by sensory loss, motor weakness, and loss of the reflexes, arising in the motor and sensory distribution of lumbar or sacral roots after the patient has walked some distance.

The neurologic signs, which are sometimes minimal but are accentuated by walking, are those of a cauda equina syndrome or a dull pain in the lower back and upper buttock region, analgesia in the buttocks, genitalia (or thigh), accompanied by a disturbance of bowel and bladder function.

A common gastrointestinal disorder involving an abnormal condition of gut contractions (motility) characterized by abdominal pain, bloating, mucous in stools, and irregular bowel habits with alternating diarrhea and constipation, symptoms that tend to be chronic and to wax (increase) and wane (decrease) over the years.

Although IBS can cause chronic recurrent discomfort, it does not lead to any serious organ problems.

Making the diagnosis usually involves excluding other illnesses. Treatment is directed toward relief of symptoms and includes changes in diet (eating high fiber and avoiding caffeine, milk products and sweeteners), exercise, relaxation techniques, and medications.

A syndrome of unknown origin, mainly affecting young children, that causes fever, reddening of the eyes (conjunctivitis), lips and mucous membranes of the mouth, ulcerative gum disease (gingivitis), swollen glands in the neck (cervical lymphadenopathy), and a rash that is raised and bright red (maculoerythematous) in a "glove-and-sock" fashion over the skin of the hands and feet which becomes hard, swollen (edematous), and it peels off.

It is also called mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome, a name that is quite descriptive because the disease is characterized by the typical changes in the mucus membranes that line the lips and mouth and by the enlarged and tender lymph glands.

Kawasaki disease affects the blood vessels and is now the main cause of acquired heart disease in children. It is most common in people of Asian descent, and it is more common with males than with females.

The syndrome was first described in the late 1960's in Japan by the pediatrician Tomisaku Kawasaki.

A disturbance of lipid (fat) metabolism that involves the partial, or total, absence of fat and often the abnormal deposition and distribution of fat in the body.

There are a number of different lipodystrophy syndromes. Some of them are present at birth (congenital) while others are acquired later. Some are genetic (inherited), others are not.

One lipodystrophy syndrome appears associated with the protease inhibitor drugs (preventing the production of new infectious viral articles) used in the treatment of AIDS.

In this lipodystrophy syndrome, the face, arms and legs become thin due to loss of subcutaneous fat. The skin becomes dry, the lips crack, and weight drops.

Dysencephalia splanchnocystica, a malformation syndrome, lethal in the perinatal period, and characterized by intrauterine growth retardation, sloping forehead, occipital encephalocele, ocular anomalies, cleft palate, polydactyly, polycystic kidneys, and other malformations; autosomal recessive inheritance.

Dysencephalia splanchnocystica, malformation syndrome, lethal in the perinatal period, and characterized by intrauterine growth retardation, sloping forehead, occipital encephalocele, ocular anomalies, cleft palate, polydactyly, polycystic kidneys, and other malformations; autosomal recessive inheritance.

An inherited disorder characterized by mental retardation and deformities of the mouth, tongue, fingers, and sometimes the face.

A condition consisting of fever, splenomegaly, atypical lymphocytes, abnormal liver function tests, and occasionally a skin rash that develops following a blood transfusion or perfusion of a organ during surgery.

A psychological reaction that occurs after a highly stressing event; such as, wartime combat, physical violence, or a natural disaster; and which is usually characterized by depression, anxiety, flashbacks, recurrent nightmares, and avoidance of any reminders of the event.

A congenital (present from birth) disease characterized by obesity, decreased muscle tone, decreased mental capacity, and hypogonadism.

Mental retardation is common. It can be caused by a deletion of chromosome 15 inherited from the father; the same deletion inherited from the mother causes Angelman's syndrome which is an autosomal recessive syndrome characterized by jerky puppetlike movements, frequent laughter, mental and motor retardation; as well as, peculiar open-mouthed faces, and seizures.

Andrea Prader and Heinrich Willi were Swiss pediatricians. Prader was a professor of pediatrics in Zurich. His articles and chapters in textbooks dealt with such topics as genetics, growth, endocrinology, and metabolism in children and adolescents. Prader and Willi first described the Prader-Willi syndrome in 1956. Cases of the disorder were not diagnosed in the United States until the 1960s.

Emotionally induced excessive water drinking at night.

A disorder of the temporomandibular joint that causes pain, usually in front of the ear or ears, sometimes in the form of a headache.

Pain in the temporomandibular joint can be caused by trauma; such as, a blow to the face, inflammatory or degenerative arthritis; or poor dental work or structural defects that push the mandible back toward the ears whenever the patient chews or swallows. Grinding or clenching the teeth is a frequent cause.

Sometimes muscles around the temporomandibular joint that are used for chewing can go into spasms, causing head and neck pain, as well as difficulty opening the mouth normally.

The kind of medical treatment depends on the cause and severity of the problem and can range from use of a mouth guard or medication to prevent night time tooth grinding to surgery.

1. A blotchy or mottled discoloration of the skin that develops from prolonged or repeated exposure to heat without a burn.
2. A syndrome (combination of symptoms) which consists of a brownish discoloration of the skin caused by the prolonged exposure to heat from a laptop computer.

The condition can lead to permanent darkening of the skin, and in some cases, it may lead to damage that results in skin cancers.

The heat that causes the condition originates from a laptop computer’s optical drive, the battery, or the ventilation fan; or any combination of these elements.

People who spend prolonged periods of time studying, reading, or playing games on laptop computers placed on their upper legs can develop toasted skin syndrome and the affected area may be itchy and lesions may occur.

The condition, technically called erythema ab igne, has been observed before on the lower legs of patients who worked in front of open fires or coal stoves.

Erythema ab igne is a reticulated, pigmented, macular eruption that occurs, mostly on the shins, of bakers, stokers, and others who are exposed to radiant heat.

The condition can also result from heating pads and hot water bottles, car heaters, fireplaces, stoves or other heat sources.

Workers; such as, bakers or chefs who encountered heat on the job have been at risk of getting toasted skin syndrome; and now, the increased use of a laptop on the lap has become another cause of this condition.

A condition characterized by sparse fine hair, broad nose with a long philtrum, swollen middle phalanges with cone-shaped epiphyses, and growth retardation.

1. Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) is the result of an intrauterine blood transfusion from one twin to another twin.

TTTS occurs in monochorionic, monozygotic twins. The donor twin is often smaller and anemic at birth. The recipient twin is usually larger and plethoric at birth.

2. Also known as Feto-Fetal Transfusion Syndrome (FFTS) and Twin Oligohydramnios-Polyhydramnios Sequence (TOPS) is a complication with high morbidity and mortality that can affect identical twins or higher multiple pregnancies where two or more fetuses share a common (monochorionic) placenta.

In twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, the twins share not only the same placenta but some of the same blood circulation; in other words, they essentially share a single blood supply. This allows the transfusion of blood from one twin (the donor) to the other (the recipient).

The donor twin becomes small and anemic, and the recipient twin becomes large and overloaded with blood.

The transfusion causes the donor twin to have decreased blood volume, retarding the donor's development and growth, and also decreased urinary output, leading to a lower than normal level of amniotic fluid (becoming oligohydramnios).

The blood volume of the recipient is increased, which can strain the donor's heart and eventually lead to heart failure, and also higher than normal urinary output, which can lead to excess amniotic fluid (becoming polyhydramnios).