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It doesn’t go to my head!

 •  • by Paul Ingraham
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A weekly nugget or two of pain science news and ideas for patients and pros, usually 400–1000 words. The blog is the “director’s commentary” on the core content of PainScience.com: a library of major articles and books about common painful problems and popular treatments. See the blog archives or updates for the whole site.

I’ve always had trouble remembering the name of the “cephalic” vein, because the name seems wrong. What does it have to do with the head? It doesn’t go to my head! I finally went looking for an explanation and found one quickly on Wikipedia: “Ordinarily the term cephalic refers to anatomy of the head. When Persian physician Ibn Sīnā's Canon was translated into medieval Latin, cephalic was mistakenly chosen to render the Arabic term al-kífal, meaning ‘outer’.”

Phew, I feel much better knowing that! (It’s also probably to stick in my mind much more better now.) And now I wonder how many other anatomical terms are based on mistranslations …

PainSci Member Login » Submit your email to unlock member content. If you can’t remember/access your registration email, please contact me. ~ Paul Ingraham, PainSci Publisher