[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting]

Episode 6.05 – Instant Karma
Air Date: October 12, 2009
On last week’s episode of House, the father thought it was the fact that he had been so fortunate in his business decisions that had caused his son to be dying. So he gave up all of his wealth because he believed it would save his son. Somehow, soon after he did it, House figured out how to save the son.
These were the diseases that the team touched on in the episode, but I added a link for karma. Most Westerners are not all that familiar with the …read more

[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting]

Episode 6.04 – The Tyrant
Air Date: October 5, 2009
This episode of House was less about the diagnosis and more about the human drama of the Tyrant. He was a ruthless dictator in an African country who had committed genocide and other atrocities. I’m not totally sure they decided exactly what his ailment was, because he died before they got it completely tracked down.
I know that the last two links are not diagnoses, but are links to two actual countries that have had similar genocide and atrocities committed by dictators. If you aren’t aware of those sad/tragic …read more

[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting]

Episode 6.03 – Epic Fail
Air Date: September 28, 2009
This is a link to the medical research that was done to write this episode of House. All of these diseases and problems were addressed during the various attempts to diagnose the patient. They really do their homework to get everything to be as accurate as possible for the show.
Since this is the episode where House becomes obsessed with cooking, I wish they had also given us some of those amazing recipes!

Complex regional pain syndrome
Mercury exposure
Cocaine facts
Psittacosis
Brain tumor
Thrombocytosis
Amyloidosis
Fabry disease

[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting]

Episode 6.01/6.02 – Broken
Air Date: September 21, 2009
FOX has a wonderful page on the House site that gives us links to the various places where we can find out more about the diseases and disorders talked about on the show. House is very helpful in spreading information about lesser-known illnesses. It can help those with the disorders to know more about it at times and that helps to also raise awareness for the disease.
I used to work with a guy whose daughter has Celiac Disease and his family was very happy that an episode of House …read more

[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

Many thanks to House is Right reader Grace for calling my attention to an article about a recent AMA recommendation to ban the wearing of white coats by doctors. And today’s House-ism just seemed like the perfect tie-in for the article in Slate Magazine that tells us this:
The American Medical Association voted Tuesday on a resolution that would recommend hospitals ban doctors’ iconic white lab coats, citing evidence that the garment contributes to the spread of infection.
So, go figure, House really was Right!!
There are actually several reasons that the medical community is divided …read more

[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

Here are the medical diagnoses of note from season 5 of House:

“Dying Changes Everything”
Diffuse lepromatous leprosy – Also known as “pretty” leprosy, makes the skin look younger, smoother.
“Not Cancer”
Cancer stem cells – Resembled local cells.
“Adverse Events”
Interaction of multiple experimental drugs taken in pill form, which were intermittently absorbed and released by a bezoar, a mass of undigested food in the stomach.
“Birthmarks”
Pins in the brain left from an attempted infanticide.
“Lucky Thirteen”
Sjogren’s syndrome – An autoimmune disorder that attacks …read more

[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

Season 4 brought us the survival of the fittest docs trying to make it onto House’s new team. But it also gave us a bunch of new and amazing diagnoses. These are the diaganoses from season 4 of House:

“Alone”
Allergic reaction to cephalosporins, a class of antibiotics, in misidentified patient.
“The Right Stuff”
Von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome – An inherited genetic condition that causes small tumors.
“97 Seconds”
Strongyloides – A human parasitic roundworm, complicated by Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
“Guardian Angels”
Ergot poisoning – A type of fungus found …read more

[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

Here’s the continuation of the medical diaganoses that have been tackled by House and his team. These are from season 3:

“Meaning”
Addison’s disease (Richard) – Causes adrenals to shut down. Scurvy (Caren) – A disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus.
“Cane and Able”
Chimerism – Absorption of twin in the womb, causes left-over clumps of cells with foreign DNA. Treatment …read more

[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

Since House has been named the world’s most popular TV series, there is obviously a very good reason for it. It has a lot to do with the amazing writing, the well-developed characters that fascinate us and the medical mysteries that House and the team solve each week. Here are the diseases that the show covered in season 2:

“Acceptance”
Methanol poisoning – Methanol (also known as methyl alcohol, carbinol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits), is a chemical compound. It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable, …read more

[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

One of the more fascinating things about the House series is the amount of medical research that must go into the creation of each episode. The docs on House track down the most rare and difficult illnesses anywhere each week. We love the characters, but the medical “zebra diseases” are engrossing too. Here are the medical diagnoses that House and the team made during season one:

“Everybody Lies” (pilot)
Neurocysticercosis – A parasite infestation of the nervous system.
“Paternity”
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis – A progressive encephalitis that affects primarily children and young
…read more