Is Your Diagnosis Idiopathic Something-or-Other?

Mine was too. Idiopathic Neuropathy. I asked my doctor what "Idiopathic" means. He shrugged his shoulders. It took me a minute to figure out that "Idiopathic" means "No one knows". 

No one wants to hear that they have a nameless disease. Not only is there no telethon, but people raise eyebrows. And the raised eyebrows can mean one (or more) of at least three things:

• You have an imaginary disease (Psychosomatic)
• You're faking it
• You have cancer and they don't want to tell you.

So it's good to have a word like "Idiopathic". After all, doctors are treated like gods. They make life & death decisions & they are expected to always be right.

"I don't have a clue" is not acceptable from a doctor. "Idiopathic" is perfect. Put it next to another disease name and it sounds like a real diagnosis.

Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias 
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) 
idiopathic scoliosis
Idiopathic acute transverse myelitis (ATM)
idiopathic peripheral neuropathy
idiopathic diabetes
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)
Acute Idiopathic Pancreatitis
Idiopathic pain
systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis

These are just a few of the common idiopathies out there. Under the "Find Your Idiopathy" tab is a more comprehensive, but still not complete, list. To expand it, we need your help.