There are at least 50 words in the Eskimo languages for snow, 25 in mainstream Swedish, and supposedly 180 or so in the Sami language of the nomadic inhabitants of the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
But there are even more words than that for “chest pain” among my patients, many of whom do not consistently or fully comprehend the English phrase, “If you have chest pain, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.”
This Saturday I had three serious cases of chest pain, but of course, they all used different words, like “empty feeling,” “tightness,” and “pressure.”
“The medical term is PAIN,” I patiently explained to all three. They all had normal EKGs. “Thirty years ago that would have been more reassuring than it is today,” I told each one of them. “But today we have blood tests that can show heart muscle damage that doesn’t ever show up on an EKG. So today’s standard of care is that you get to the emergency room where they can do these blood tests.”
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