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What is in a name?

What is in a name? “…where name and image meet”, W.H. Auden, 1907–1973. ‘Perhaps’ (prologue from On This Island ). Name changing has become a common preoccupation over the last few years. We have seen the International Association for Allergy & Clinical Immunology evolve into the World Allergy Organisation. The American Academy has added Asthma to Allergy and Immunology and in the UK, the National Asthma Campaign has evolved into Asthma UK. Why should we be so preoccupied with branding? For organisations, the name appears critical in aligning with the image that it conjures in the minds of the general public and the media. Thus, organizations representing patients and fundraising for research need a very simple name which is immediately recognizable. Perhaps another consideration is that on most web based lists, organizations appear in alphabetical order. Thus, change from National Asthma Campaign to Asthma UK will place the organization on page 1 of a web list. For professional bodies, the issues are somewhat different and, here, an image of gravitas is perhaps required. Name changing also occurs in labelling of conditions and, recently, a review of nomenclature of allergic diseases has created considerable controversy. Should we use the label ‘atopic eczema’ or ‘atopic dermatitis’ or ‘atopic eczema dermatitis syndrome'? These labels all cover the same condition and there are strong views about all of these names. Recently in the UK, there has been an interesting discussion about the use of adrenaline and epinephrine. In the UK, ‘adrenaline’ has been the preferred word until relatively recently. However, to fall in line with much of the rest of the world, it was proposed that we should use the word ‘epinephrine’. Nevertheless, it immediately became apparent that this was causing immense confusion in the minds of patients. Thus for the present, both labels are being employed. I suppose in the end, the conclusion must be that a name should fit for purpose and the extract I have found from a W.H. Auden poem seems entirely appropriate. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Wiley

What is in a name?

Pediatric Allergy and Immunology , Volume 15 (3) – Jun 1, 2004

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0905-6157
eISSN
1399-3038
DOI
10.1111/j.1399-3038.2004.00180.x
pmid
15209948
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

“…where name and image meet”, W.H. Auden, 1907–1973. ‘Perhaps’ (prologue from On This Island ). Name changing has become a common preoccupation over the last few years. We have seen the International Association for Allergy & Clinical Immunology evolve into the World Allergy Organisation. The American Academy has added Asthma to Allergy and Immunology and in the UK, the National Asthma Campaign has evolved into Asthma UK. Why should we be so preoccupied with branding? For organisations, the name appears critical in aligning with the image that it conjures in the minds of the general public and the media. Thus, organizations representing patients and fundraising for research need a very simple name which is immediately recognizable. Perhaps another consideration is that on most web based lists, organizations appear in alphabetical order. Thus, change from National Asthma Campaign to Asthma UK will place the organization on page 1 of a web list. For professional bodies, the issues are somewhat different and, here, an image of gravitas is perhaps required. Name changing also occurs in labelling of conditions and, recently, a review of nomenclature of allergic diseases has created considerable controversy. Should we use the label ‘atopic eczema’ or ‘atopic dermatitis’ or ‘atopic eczema dermatitis syndrome'? These labels all cover the same condition and there are strong views about all of these names. Recently in the UK, there has been an interesting discussion about the use of adrenaline and epinephrine. In the UK, ‘adrenaline’ has been the preferred word until relatively recently. However, to fall in line with much of the rest of the world, it was proposed that we should use the word ‘epinephrine’. Nevertheless, it immediately became apparent that this was causing immense confusion in the minds of patients. Thus for the present, both labels are being employed. I suppose in the end, the conclusion must be that a name should fit for purpose and the extract I have found from a W.H. Auden poem seems entirely appropriate.

Journal

Pediatric Allergy and ImmunologyWiley

Published: Jun 1, 2004

There are no references for this article.