Anatomical structures, medical conditions, etc. named after women?

December 14, 2014 2:37 PM

Can you help me find pieces of medical terminology named after women, or female medical eponyms? I'm talking about anatomical structures, diseases, conditions, collections of symptoms - hell, even proteins or genes would work! Wikipedia has a list of human anatomical parts named after people, but none of the people listed appear to be female.

I'm nearing the end of my anatomy block in medical school and realizing that none of the tombstone names we've had to memorize have come from female discoverers. I understand that this, to some extent, reflects the dearth of female scientists throughout history, but I hope there are some exceptions!

posted by lizzicide to Science & Nature (6 answers total)

Gaskin Manouver, for managing shoulder dystocia in labour. That is the only one I know of. Named for midwife and natural childbirth pracitioner Ina May Gaskin, who learned it from a native culture and brought it into widespread obstetrics practice.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:07 PM on December 14, 2014 [5 favorites]

"Apgar scores" were named after Virginia Apgar, an anesthesiologist.
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 3:17 PM on December 14, 2014 [9 favorites]

Best answer: The list of eponymous women from Whonamedit? (previously on MeFi) is pretty definitive.
posted by jedicus at 3:21 PM on December 14, 2014 [3 favorites]

This Wikipedia page also includes a number of them in a form where it's easier to see the disease with the woman's name, although they're mixed in with a lot of men. And unfortunately mostly very obscure diseases.

p.s. I recommend Something the Lord Made, a movie about the true life story of the Blalock-Taussig shunt and the study of the "blue babies" at Johns Hopkins… the focus is not on Taussig but it's a good movie. And Taussig herself is a really amazing and awesome female physician from the past.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 4:10 PM on December 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

If being named after a mythical woman isn't a problem, then the Mons Venus should qualify.
posted by pines at 5:11 PM on December 14, 2014

HeLa cells, although the story is complex and includes the woman not getting the recognition she deserved.
posted by matildaben at 8:30 PM on December 14, 2014 [2 favorites]