Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

[ey-lerz dan-los, -luhs]

noun

Pathology.

1. a rare hereditary disease of connective tissue, characterized by joint hypermotility and abnormally stretchable skin.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome¹

After Edvard Ehlers (1863–1937), Danish dermatologist, and Henri Alexandre Danlos (1844–1912), French dermatologist, who separately reported it in 1901 and 1908

Example Sentences

There he saw many patients who had POTS, often alongside other chronic conditions like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, or EDS, a genetic condition that causes the body to produce weak connective tissue, such as ligaments, cartilage, and even blood vessels.

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Darcie expected to add epilepsy to her already long list of other diagnoses: migraine, anorexia, irritable bowel syndrome, autism, depression, anxiety, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, a fainting and dizziness problem called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, and a joint condition called hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

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One condition she points to is hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, or hEDS, in which a person’s joints have an unusually large range of movement.

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It is one of 13 subtypes of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome; the other 12 subtypes cause biochemical changes in connective tissue, have a known genetic cause, are rare, and can be severe.

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Since hEDS was identified as a mild form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in 1997, it has become the most common form of the disorder, despite no proven pathology or genetic cause.

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