Extremely disappointed at further casualty of abbreviation

Dear Editor,

In the good old days, ‘ED’ meant only one thing — erectile dysfunction — and we all knew what we were dealing with when we saw it in print. Now we have the situation where in the relatively recent past, ‘casualty’ became ‘A&E’ and then became the ‘emergency department’, hence a further ‘ED’.

The other week in Irish Medical Times (20 August, 2010), I was horrified to see an article about a very interesting subject, ‘eating disorders’, also being referred to as ‘ED’ (‘Treating causes, not symptoms’, see http://www.imt.ie/features-opinion/2010/08/treating-causes-not-symptoms.html).

I have wondered in the past how I could ask my local Casualty Consultant how the problems he was having with his ‘ED’ could be phrased without embarrassment to both parties.

Anyway, I have just finished a lengthy ‘ED’ (evening duty), am looking forward to some ‘EDs’ (edible delights), and I hope they won’t lead to my ‘ED’ (early demise).

Keep up the good work with your publication — which is always interesting every week — but please keep ‘ED’ in its place.

Dr Brian D Byrnes,
Clannad Medical Centre,
Kilbarrack Shopping Centre,
Dublin 5.