Endocrinology and "Humpty-Dumpty"

Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2020 Nov-Dec;24(6):509-511. doi: 10.4103/ijem.IJEM_546_20. Epub 2021 Jan 12.

Abstract

Nursery rhymes represent the simplest and most innocent form of performance art. 'Humpty-Dumpty' is a popular character of a nursery rhyme. This character denotes a humanized egg. In medicine, the term 'Humpty-Dumpty syndrome' has been used in many specialities. In neurology, "Humpty-Dumpty" syndrome is used to denote prosopagnosia and in rehabilitation medicine and psychiatry it is used to denote failure of a patient to recover from the psychological trauma of a stressful event in childhood. We believe that the character of "Humpty-Dumpty" potentially represents a patient with Cushing syndrome. In this article we have elaborated the scientific reasons for the same.

Keywords: Cushing syndrome; Humpty-Dumpty; dementia.