A large number of diseases have been named after people. Most often, their namesakes discovered or described the disease, while occasionally the disease is named after the first patient described (Christmas disease) or the place where it was first identified (Bornholm disease).

The proliferation of eponyms in medicine is partly due to the fact that until recently the exact cause of many diseases was a mystery. The best way to refer to a syndrome, then, was to refer to the person who first addressed its existence.

There is controversy over the naming conventions for eponymous diseases. Many sources now agree that an apostrophe should be used if the disease is named after the patient, and no apostrophe if the disease is named after the physician (for example, Down syndrome). However, older conventions are still commonly in use, and usage in practice is effectively random.

Alphabetical list

A

• Aarskog-Scott syndrome – Dagfinn Aarskog , Charles Scott
• Aase-Smith – Jon Morton Aase , David Weyhe Smith
• Abdallat-Davis-Farrage syndrome – Adnan Al Abdallat , S.M. Davis , James Robert Farrage
• Abderhalden-Kaufmann-Lignac syndrome – Emil Abderhalden, Eduard Kauffman, George Lignac
• Abercrombie disease – John Abercrombie
• Achard-Thiers syndrome – Emile Achard , Joseph Thiers
• Ackerman tumor – Lauren Ackerman
• Addison disease – Thomas Addison
• Adson-Caffey syndrome – Alfred Adson , I.R. Caffey
• Aicardi syndrome – Jean Aicardi
• Alagille syndrome – Daniel Alagille
• Albers-Schönberg disease – Heinrich Albers-Schönberg
• Albright syndrome – Fuller Albright
• Albright-Butler-Bloomberg disease – Fuller Albright , Allan Macy Butler , Esther Bloomberg
• Albright-Hadorn syndrome – Fuller Albright , Walter Hadorn
• Aleutian disease – Aleutian Islands
• Alexander disease – William Stuart Alexander
• Alice in Wonderland syndrome – Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Alpers disease – Bernard Jacob Alpers
• Alport syndrome – Arthur Cecil Alport
• Alström syndrome – Carl Henry Alström
• Alzheimer disease – Alois Alzheimer
• Anders disease – James Meschter Anders
• Andersen disease – Dorothy Andersen
• Anderson-Fabry disease – William Anderson, Johannes Fabry
• Angelman syndrome – Harry Angelman
• Angelucci syndrome – Arnaldo Angelucci
• Anton-Babinski syndrome – Gabriel Anton , Joseph Babinski
• Apert syndrome – Eugène Apert
• Aran-Duchenne spinal muscular atrophy – François-Amilcar Aran , Guillaume Duchenne
• Armanni-Ebstein nephropathy – Luciano Armanni , Wilhelm Ebstein
• Arnold-Chiari malformation – Julius Arnold , Hans Chiari
• Arthus phenomenon
• Asherman syndrome – Joseph G. Asherman
• Asperger syndrome – Hans Asperger
• Avellis syndrome – Georg Avellis
• Ayerza syndrome – Abel Ayerza
• Ayerza-Arrillaga syndrome – Abel Ayerza , Francisco Arrillaga

B

• Babington disease – Benjamin Babington
• Babinski syndrome – Joseph Babinski
• Babinski-Fröhlich syndrome – Joseph Babinski, Alfred Fröhlich
• Babinski-Froment syndrome – Joseph Babinski, Jules Froment
• Babinski-Nageotte syndrome – Joseph Babinski, Jean Nageotte
• Bahima disease
• Baker cyst – William Morrant Baker
• Balkan nephropathy
• Bamberger disease – Heinrich von Bamberger
• Bamberger-Marie disease – Eugen von Bamberger , Pierre Marie
• Bancroft filariasis – Joseph Bancroft
• Bang disease – Bernhard Bang
• Banti disease – Guido Banti
• Bárány syndrome – Robert Bárány
• Barlow disease – Thomas Barlow
• Barlow syndrome – John Barlow
• Barraquer-Simons syndrome – Luis Barraquer Roviralta , Arthur Simons
• Barré-Liéou syndrome – Jean Alexandre Barré, Yang-Choen Liéou
• Barrett's ulcer – Norman Barrett
• Bart-Pumphrey syndrome – R.S. Bart , R.E. Pumphrey
• Bartholin cyst – Caspar Bartholin
• Bartter syndrome – Frederic Bartter
• Basedow disease – Karl Adolph von Basedow
• Basedow syndrome – Karl Adolph von Basedow
• Bassen-Kornzweig syndrome – Frank Bassen , Abraham Kornzweig
• Bazin disease – Pierre-Antoine-Ernest Bazin
• Becker muscular dystrophy – Peter Emil Becker
• Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome – John Bruce Beckwith , Hans-Rudolf Wiedemann
• Behçet disease – Hulusi Behçet
• Bekhterev disease – Vladimir Bekhterev
• Bell palsy – Charles Bell
• Benedikt syndrome – Moritz Benedikt
• Benjamin syndrome – E. Benjamin
• Berger's disease – Jean Berger
• Bergeron disease – Etienne-Jules Bergeron
• Bernard syndrome – Claude Bernard
• Bernard-Soulier syndrome – Jean Bernard , Jean Pierre Soulier
• Bernhardt-Roth paraesthesia – Martin Bernhardt , Vladimir Karlovich Roth
• Bernheim syndrome – Hippolyte Bernheim
• Besnier prurigo – Ernest Henri Besnier
• Besnier-Boeck-Schaumann disease – Ernest Henri Besnier , Cæsar Peter Møller Boeck , Jörgen Nilsen Schaumann
• Biermer anaemia – Michael Anton Biermer
• Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis – Edwin Bickerstaff
• Bilharzia – Theodor Maximilian Bilharz
• Bing-Neel syndrome – Jens Bing , Axel Valdemar Neel
• Binswanger dementia – Otto Binswanger
• Bland-White-Garland syndrome – Edward Franklin Bland , Paul Dudley White, Joseph Garland
• Bloom syndrome – David Bloom
• Blount syndrome – Walter Putnam Blount
• Boerhaave syndrome – Herman Boerhaave
• Bogorad syndrome – F.A. Bogorad
• Bonnevie-Ullrich syndrome – Kristine Bonnevie , Otto Ullrich
• Bourneville-Pringle disease – Désiré-Magloire Bourneville , John James Pringle
• Bowen disease – John T. Bowen
• Brailsford-Morquio syndrome – James Frederick Brailsford , Luís Morquio
• Brandt syndrome – Thore Edvard Brandt
• Brenner tumour – Fritz Brenner
• Brewer kidney – George Emerson Brewer
• Bright disease – Richard Bright
• Brill-Symmers disease – Nathan Brill , Douglas Symmers
• Brill-Zinsser disease – Nathan Brill , Hans Zinsser
• Briquet syndrome – Paul Briquet
• Brissaud disease – Édouard Brissaud
• Brissaud-Sicard syndrome – Édouard Brissaud , Jean Athanase Sicard
• Broadbent apoplexy – William Broadbent
• Brock syndrome – Russell Claude Brock
• Brodie abscess – Benjamin Collins Brodie
• Brodie syndrome – Benjamin Collins Brodie
• Brooke epithelioma – Henry Ambrose Grundy Brooke
• Brown-Séquard syndrome – Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard
• Brucellosis – David Bruce
• Brugada syndrome
• Bruns syndrome – Ludwig Bruns
• Bruton-Gitlin syndrome – Ogden Carr Bruton , David Gitlin
• Budd-Chiari syndrome – George Budd , Hans Chiari
• Buerger disease – Leo Buerger
• Bumpke syndrome – Oswald Conrad Edouard Bumke
• Burger-Grutz syndrome – Max Burger , Otto Grutz
• Burkitt lymphoma – Denis Parsons Burkitt
• Burnett syndrome – Charles Hoyt Burnett
• Byler disease
• Bywaters syndrome – Eric Bywaters

C

• Caffey-Silverman syndrome – John Patrick Caffey , William Aaron Silverman
• Caisson disease – Caisson
• Calvé disease – Jacques Calvé
• Canavan disease – Myrtelle Canavan
• Cannon syndrome – Walter Cannon
• Capgras syndrome – Joseph Capgras
• Caplan syndrome – Anthony Caplan
• Caroli syndrome – J. Caroli
• Carrión's disease – Daniel Alcides Carrión
• Castleman disease – Benjamin Castleman
• Céstan-Chenais syndrome – Étienne Jacques Marie Raymond Céstan ,Louis Jean Chennais
• Chagas disease – Carlos Chagas
• Charcot's disease – Jean-Martin Charcot
• Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease – Jean-Martin Charcot, Pierre Marie , Howard Henry Tooth
• Cheadle's disease – Walter Butler Cheadle
• Chédiak-Higashi syndrome – Alexander Chédiak ,Otokata Higashi
• Chiari-Frommel syndrome – Johann Baptist Chiari ,Richard Frommel
• Chilaiditi syndrome – Demetrius Chilaiditi
• Christ-Siemens-Touraine syndrome – Josef Christ , Hermann Werner Siemens , Albert Touraine
• Christensen-Krabbe disease – Erna Christensen , Knud Krabbe
• Christmas disease – Stephen Christmas
• Churg-Strauss syndrome – Jacob Churg , Lotte Straus
• Claude syndrome – Henri Claude
• Clerambault syndrome – Gaëtan Gatian de Clerambault
• Clerambault-Kandinsky syndrome – Gaëtan Gatian de Clerambault , Victor Kandinsky
• Coats disease – George Coats
• Cock peculiar tumor – Edward Cock
• Cockayne syndrome – Edward Cockayne
• Cogan's syndrome – David Glendenning Cogan
• Colles' fracture – Abraham Colles
• Collet-Sicard syndrome – Frédéric Justin Collet , Jean Athanase Sicard
• Concato disease – Luigi Maria Concato
• Conn's Syndrome – Jerome Conn
• Cooley anaemia – Thomas Benton Cooley
• Cori disease – Carl Ferdinand Cori
• Cornelia de Lange syndrome – Cornelia Catharina de Lange
• Costen syndrome – James Bray Costen
• Crigler-Najjar syndrome – John Fielding Crigler , Victor Assad Najjar
• Crocq-Cassirer syndrome – Jean Crocq , Richard Cassirer
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease – Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt, Alfons Maria Jakob
• Crohn's disease – Burrill Bernard Crohn
• Cronkite-Canada syndrome – L.W. Cronkite , Wilma Canada
• Crouzon syndrome – Octave Crouzon
• Cruveilhier-Baumgarten disease – Léon Cruveilhier , Paul Clemens von Baumgarten
• Cruz disease – Osvaldo Gonçalves Cruz
• Curling ulcer – Thomas Blizard Curling
• Curschmann-Batten-Steinert syndrome – Hans Curschmann , Frederick Batten , Hans Gustav Steinhart
• Cushing's disease – Harvey Cushing

D

• Da Costa syndrome – Jacob Mendez Da Costa
• Dalrymple disease – John Dalrymple
• Danbolt-Closs syndrome – Niels Christian Gauslaa Danbolt , Karl Philipp Closs
• de Quervain's disease
• Dejerine-Sottas disease
• Dent's disease
• Devic's disease
• Di Guglielmo's disease
• Donovanosis
• Down syndrome
• Duane syndrome
• Duncan's disease

E

• Eale's disease
• Edward's Syndrome

F

• Fabry's disease
• Fanconi anaemia
• Farber's disease
• Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome
• Foix-Alajouanine disease
• Franklin's disease
• Friedreich's ataxia

G

• Gaucher's disease
• Graves' disease
• Graves-Basedow disease – Robert James Graves , Karl Adolph von Basedow
• Grawitz' tumor (nephrocellular carcinoma)
• Guam disease
• Guillain-Barré syndrome – Georges Guillain, Jean Alexandre Barré
• Gunther's disease

H

• Hailey-Hailey disease
• Hallervorden-Spatz disease
• Hansen's disease – Gerhard Armauer Hansen
• Hartnup disease
• Hashimoto's thyroiditis – Hakaru Hashimoto
• Heyde's syndrome
• Hirschsprung's disease – Harald Hirschsprung , Danish physician
• Hodgkin's disease, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma – Thomas Hodgkin
• Huntington's chorea

J

• Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease

K

• Kabuki syndrome also known as "Kabuki makeup syndrome"
• Kaposi sarcoma – Moritz Kaposi , Hungarian dermatologist
• Kashin-Beck disease
• Kawasaki disease
• Kearns-Sayre syndrome
• Keinbock's disease
• Keshen disease
• Kikuchi's disease
• Kimmelstiel-Wilson disease
• Kimura's disease
• Kinsbourne's syndrome
• Klatskin's tumor
• Kleinfelter's syndrome
• Köhler's bone disease
• Korsakoff syndrome
• Krabbe's disease
• Kugelberg-Weland disease

L

• Lafora's disease
• Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease
• Leigh's disease
• Leiner's disease
• Lenègre's disease
• Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
• Letterer-Siwe disease
• Lev's disease
• Libman-Sacks disease
• Löffler's eosinophilic endocarditis
• Lou Gehrig's disease

M

• Machado-Joseph disease
• Maladie de Charcot, French name for Motor Neurone Disease – Jean-Martin Charcot, a French neurologist
• Marfan syndrome
• McArdle's glycogen storage disease
• Ménétrier's disease
• Ménière’s disease – Prosper Meniere
• Menke's disease
• Minamata disease – Minamata, Japan
• Mondor's disease
• Monge's disease
• Mucha-Habermann disease

N

• Naxos disease
• Noonan syndrome

O

• Ormond disease

P

• Paget's disease of bone (* Paget's disease)
• Paget's disease of the breast (* Paget's disease of the nipple)
• Paget's disease of the penis
• Parkinson's disease – Dr. James Parkinson
• Patau syndrome
• Pelizeus-Merzbacher disease
• Peyronie's disease
• Philadelphia chromosome
• Pick's disease
• Pickardt syndrome
• Plummer's disease
• Pompe's disease
• Pott's disease – Percivall Pott
• Prinzmetal angina – Myron Prinzmetal

R

• Raynaud's disease – Maurice Raynaud, French physician
• Refsum's disease
• Reiter's syndrome
• Reye's syndrome
• Riley-Day syndrome
• Ritter's disease
• Roger's disease
• Rubenstein-Taybi syndrome

S

• Sandhoff's disease
• Scahmberg's disease
• Seligmann's disease
• Sever's disease
• Simmond's disease
• Stevens-Johnson syndrome
• Still's disease

T

• Takayasu's arteritis
• Tangier disease
• Tay-Sachs disease
• Thomsen's disease
• Turner's syndrome

U

• Unverricht-Lundborg disease

V

• Vincent's angina
• Von Gierke's disease
• Von Hippel-Lindau disease – Dr. Eugen von Hippel
• Von Recklinghausen's disease (* neurofibromatosis)
• Von Willebrand's disease – Erik Adolf von Willebrand

W

• Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia
• Warkany syndrome (trisomy 8)
• Weber-Christian disease
• Wegener's granulomatosis
• Werner's syndrome
• Wernicke's encephalopathy
• Whipple's disease – George Hoyt Whipple
• Wilms' tumor – Dr Max Wilms , a German surgeon
• Wilson's disease
• Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome – Alfred Wiskott , Robert Aldrich
• Wohlfart-Kugelberg-Welander disease
• Wolman disease

X Y Z

• Zieve's syndrome
• Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

See also

• List of eponymous medical signs for a list of medical signs named after people.
• List of eponyms for a complete list of eponyms sorted by name
• Syndrome

External links

• WhoNamedIt.com, a site dedicated to medical eponyms and their namesakes.