Groats Syndrome
What is Groats Syndrome?
Groats Syndrome is a fictitious disorder also referred to as groat’s disease and is believed to be caused by neurological changes in body. By fictitious, it means that it is not yet considered a real disease or disorder.
It may be a disorder in the actual sense, but scientists and medical researchers are yet to conduct research and tests to determine if it is a real disorder or not. This fictitious disease is not listed anywhere in medical books.
The disorder is presumed to manifest in form of excessive hyperactivity and spasticity and supposedly has a high mortality rate occurring through a slow, painful process. 1,2
Where did its Name Come from?
The fictional disorder got its name after a fictitious doctor who is said to have diagnosed it, and his name is Larry David. This is in a show entitled “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Larry David, the fictitious doctor, and the man who writes the show is believed to have come up with the disease’s name after he imagined and thought that a basketball player known as Dick Groat, had a name that was sounding like a disease’s name.
And in the show, Larry is seen making an assumption that the disease was named for Dick Groat, and the reason is that Larry assumes the basketball player probably had this disease since he was excited most of the time and did not field so well.
In the show, the disease is described as affecting adults and kids who tend to have tough times in managing and controlling their hyperactivity. An individual tends to be feel as though they have had five cups of coffee. And that feeling is felt all the time.
Despite being a fictional disease, a walk to raise funds for victims of the disease was staged in American and it takes place every March 21. The walk is given the name “Walk Across America For Groats Disease” and it takes close to six months before the participants reach the final destination. The walk begins at Springboro, Ohio and ends in California.
Reference List
- Groats syndrome. Available at http://www.mademan.com/mm/groats-syndrome.html
- List of Fictional Disorders. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_diseases
