Thursday, July 22, 2010

What's in a name?

Many people, podcasters specifically, seem to have a hard time remembering the name of the show. There are only a hand full who have gotten it right, even less who have gotten it right on the first try. I have heard everything from "Pathology of the Dead" to "Para-phsyiology of the Living Dead". Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a post with me whining and bitching about how "nobody gets it", I actually find it quite humorous, and I think it ads to the fun of the show. However, it brings to light that maybe people without a medical background may have problems with the word "Pathophysiology". So, let's break it down...

Lets start with the suffix:
-logy: Stems from the Greek "logos"meaning "word. It is used in reference to "the study of, or field".

Patho-: Derived from the Greek "pathos" meaning "suffering or disease."
The word "Pathology" refers to the study of a disease, but with PotLD I strive to go beyond just the disease.

Physi-: Comes from the Greek "physis" which means "Nature". Physiology, then is the study of how living organisms function, and the physical and chemical factors and processes involved.

Pathophysiology: Refers to the bodily function changes that cause an illness or the bodily function changes that the illness causes.

In most cases the Pathogen (disease agent) is unknown, but through the study of how the body functions and how other diseases affect it we can learn about aspects of the zombie causing pathogen. And we will further that learning once we get to the Taphonomy (the study of decaying organisms over time) portion of the series.

I hope this clears up any confusion you may have about the name, and if you still get it wrong, I still don't care, I'm just glad you're watching.

As always, thanks for watching (and reading) Pneumoparapsychology of the Dead!
Stay Spooky! :P

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