Jack,
The theory behind dropping the apostrophe from eponymous diseases, syndromes, signs, etc., is that these things belong to the patient who now has them--not the namers. In other words, the patient is the one with the disease. <vbg>
Strangely, this new way of medical writing does not seem to hold true across the board. We still have Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and a host of others. I do so wish the powers that be would at least be consistent.
When doing such writing, I go with the tune requested by he who pays the fiddler. Left on my own, I would continue to properly place the apostrophes. After all, it took me a long time to learn and remember them. The same personal rules hold for X Ray (noun), X-Ray (adjective, verb) and x-ray (the whole kitten kaboodle). Please note the lower-case "x" and "r" in the newly adapted written form of x-ray; I know of no reason for this change.
Holly |
