von Recklinghausen's disease
1
9.6
- noun
- /vɒn ˈrɛklɪnhaʊzənz dɪˈziːz/
- Specialized
- The patient was diagnosed with von Recklinghausen's disease after multiple neurofibromas appeared on her skin.
Examples
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He inherited von Recklinghausen's disease from his mother, who also had café-au-lait spots.
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Genetic testing confirmed the presence of von Recklinghausen's disease in the family.
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Many patients with von Recklinghausen's disease experience skin changes.
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Did you know that von Recklinghausen's disease is hereditary?
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The patient was diagnosed with von Recklinghausen's disease after multiple neurofibromas appeared on her skin.
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He inherited von Recklinghausen's disease from his mother, who also had café-au-lait spots.
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Genetic testing confirmed the presence of von Recklinghausen's disease in the family.
Synonyms
2
9.9
A condition passed down in genes that causes many harmless growths on nerves and spots on the skin
Surface Forms
Morphology
von + Recklinghausen's + disease
The presence of 'disease' makes it clear to a B1 learner that this is a medical condition named after a person (the pattern 'X's disease' or 'von X disease' is widely recognized across languages), so they would grasp it denotes a disorder. However, the constituents give no information about the specific symptoms or that it is neurofibromatosis type 1; the proper name and 'von' are non-descriptive, so the precise medical meaning is not predictable.
Etymology
Von Recklinghausen's disease is named after the doctor Friedrich von Recklinghausen, who first described the condition in the 1800s. He wrote about people with many soft skin lumps and light brown spots, so today the name refers to this 'inherited' disorder with many 'neurofibromas'.