A recent Forbes post by Dr. Sachin H. Jain caught my eye. It was about jargon, those often head-scratching, made-up terms, expressions or acronyms within a particular industry or professional group. Seems like all industries have their own form. "But in healthcare," writes Jain, "jargon seems a little different."

Jain is an adjunct professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, and president and CEO of SCAN Group & Health Plan, one of the nation's largest not-for-profit Medicare Advantage plans. In addition, he is also a frequent contributor to Forbes.

"In healthcare, jargon is often meaningless. It creates a gap between what is said and what is meant. In many cases even the people who use healthcare jargon have no idea what it means," he says.

He offers a number of examples of common jargon used in the medical world that he believes should be retired and uttered no more, such as "value-based care." According to Jain, "This phrase is used so often by so many people to mean so many different things that I truly have no idea what it means anymore. ... Maybe the solution is to end the use of the term and instead speak plainly about our collective goal: improving outcomes at lower cost."

Maybe you've heard the term "whole person" and "whole health." What does this mean, exactly? "Half a person or half-health? All health should focus on the individual in their entirety," he notes.

Jain is also wary of anything ending in "-centric." "Do you need to tell people that you're patient-centric? Or outcome-centric?" he writes. "Focus on patients and outcomes and you won't need phrases to describe what you're doing."

He does not like the term "provider." "It may be easy to call everyone who cares for a patient a provider, but it makes all of them interchangeable and, in a subtle way, degrades their professionalism," he believes.

How about using the term "consumer" as a modifying word in a medical setting? Says Jain, "Patients are consumers, we're told. ... But of course, they're not consumers. Anyone who's spent time in a clinic knows that patients are people, often at the most vulnerable moment of their lives. ... They want the healthcare system to step in and make the right things happen for them. The fact that it happens all too rarely might be due to the fact that we delude ourselves into thinking being a patient is like being a consumer."

If the abundance of confusing jargon in health care weren't enough, there are often descriptions of conditions that emerge that most of us probably never knew existed. Here's one that was new to me — "time blindness." It describes a cognitive condition that causes difficulties in perceiving and managing time.

"Most individuals with typical neurology possess an internal 'clock' that generally gauges how much time has passed," explains Healthline. "Some individuals, such as (those) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) lack this natural time-keeping sense. This is often referred to as 'time blindness.'" It can significantly affect a person's daily life, in meeting deadlines, managing responsibilities and planning effectively.

The term is not a formal medical diagnosis (jargon, maybe?). It is also not fully understood. Its exact causes are not clear. While ADHD and differences in brain structure and function may play a role, "some people may process information in a nonlinear or atypical manner, making it difficult to gauge time accurately," says Healthline. Time management apps and tools are said to possibly help, as well as other awareness strategies and, in some cases, medication.

Here's another one I recently came across: "Zoom dysmorphia." As is commonly known, the pandemic lockdown forced lots of folks to work from home in a world of Zoom conference calls and meetings. Also, this form of contact became a form of socializing. People staring at their own face on a screen began wreaking havoc with their self-image.

As reported in Wired magazine in 2021, a survey of more than 7,000 people conducted by Harvard University revealed that this activity may have been a contributor to body dysmorphic disorder. The research team referred to it as "Zoom dysmorphia."

"Video conferencing distorts our appearance in ways we might not even realize ... Front-facing cameras distort your image like a 'funhouse mirror,'" Wired reporter Amit Katwala writes, citing Shadi Kourosh, an assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School who participated in the study. "They make noses look bigger and eyes look smaller. This effect is exacerbated by proximity to the lens, which is generally nearer to you than a person would ever stand in a real-life conversation."

"Changes in self-perception and anxiety as a result of constant video-conferencing may lead to unnecessary cosmetic procedures, especially in young adults," reports Kourosh and her co-authors.

"The research group found that 71 percent of the 7,000 people surveyed were anxious or stressed about returning to in-person activities, and that nearly 64 percent had sought mental health support," writes Katwala.

"During the pandemic, the fun house mirror of Zoom twisted the images being reflected back to us, and at the same time, although trapped inside, we were still bombarded with edited images on social media and on television," writes Katwala. "These factors combined had a damaging impact on self-perception, anxiety and mental health — and it's not going away."

Let us end with the concept of "cell death." Did you know it is essential to your health? You would think living cells would be what we need to focus on. Not so, says Zoie Magri, a Ph.D. Candidate in immunology at Tufts University, in a post on The Conversation. "Your cells often sacrifice themselves to keep you healthy. The unsung hero of life is death," she writes. "The death of your cells is often extremely purposeful and strategic. ... Your body swaps out cells every day to ensure that your tissues are made up of healthy, functioning ones."

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