Should we Illustrate Analogies?
Instead of using realistic anatomical pictures, would illustrated analogies work better?
Several months ago, a medical colleague sent me an image of a billboard. He knows I like simplifying medical concepts visually, so he thought I might like this one. Take a look: It uses a coconut analogy to describe ‘open’ vs. ‘laparoscopic’ surgery. I think it does the job brilliantly. Open surgery is when a surgeon cuts the skin and tissues to get a full view of the organs. Laparoscopic surgery is when a surgeon inserts instruments through small incisions to perform the surgery. Laparoscopic surgery is common when removing infected gallbladders and appendices. I’m not sure where this billboard hangs, but the text is Tamil, according to Google Translate.
After I saw this, I thought about the common analogies we use in medicine. They help patients grasp medical concepts by relating them to everyday familiar objects and processes.
Common Analogies
We all probably know these:
‘Your heart is like a pump.’ When the pump fails, that’s heart failure.
‘Cancer is like a weed.’ It can grow all over when unchecked.
‘Diabetes like a broken key and lock. The insulin acts like a key to unlock the cell and lets glucose in for energy. Either the key is broken (Type 1 diabetes) or the lock (cell receptors) is broken (Type 2 diabetes).
‘Your blood flows through vessels like traffic on roads.’ When there is a traffic jam, you have a blockage.
Analogy + Picture = Clarity?
I started to search for less commonly used analogies. I asked medical friends and searched medical social media sites for unique analogies. Then, I thought—instead of showing a more realistic anatomical picture, would illustrated analogies better convey the same point?
So, I began sketching to see if it would work…….
Let’s try Torticollis.
Torticollis happens when the neck muscles (sternocleidomastoid) cramp up and tilt your head to one side. It’s common in babies who have large heads.
Analogy: “Your baby’s muscles are screaming because they are tired of holding up a bowling ball with a popsicle stick.”
Quick sketch:
Now, I’m not sure this would be helpful or scary. Imagine a young mother’s face seeing her beautiful child’s head depicted as a bowling ball. But I think people would understand the bowling ball's weight compared with teeny tiny popsicle sticks. And perhaps they’d understand the concept better?
Let me try another one…
High blood pressure (hypertension). Credit to Elizabeth Gibb, RN, for this one:)
Analogy: “Think of a water pump in a yard that’s not working right. Is it the pump parts (genetics) or the misuse (our lifestyle) that makes it run poorly? The harder the pump works, the more pressure on the hoses (blood vessels) until either the pump breaks (heart failure) or the hose breaks down (aneurysm). Pumps and hoses cannot be replaced, so we oil them (blood pressure medications) to keep them working smoothly.
I think this analogy has great potential. I’ll keep working on this one.
Ok, ready for one last one?
Anticoagulation (blood thinners).
Many patients take medication to thin their blood (e.g., for blood clots and atrial fibrillation). It’s really important to take the medication as prescribed. If you forget to take a dose or two, your blood will thicken again, which can cause clots to form. Often, we see patients who miss their medications and develop complications. Maybe this one will help clarify why it’s so important.
Analogy: “Blood has the consistency of gravy. If you stop stirring it, it can clump and cause blockages. So, remember to take your ‘blood thinner’ to keep it nice and thin.”
Here are a few more from Twitter
These use pictures of food to help describe medical stuff. Brilliant!
This one might be more for medical learners than for patients, but I thought it was clever.
I’m not sure if it makes sense to depict the analogies instead of more realistic images. Perhaps I’ll try them out on a few colleagues and patients and see if they are helpful. If there is an analogy that you find helpful, please send them along.
And on a practical note……..
This summer, I attended the annual Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI) conference in Rochester, NY. The AMI is a fantastic organization of medical illustrators who are true experts in their field. Medical illustration (in textbooks, journals, magazines, etc.) has a special place in my heart---it's been an integral part of my understanding of science and medicine.
The AMI has a fabulous mentorship program where career medical illustrators generously give their time to mentor others in the field. Here's my 'mentee' card to quickly explain what I do:)
If you are interested in medical illustration, check out this fantastic organization!
https://ami.org/
A little feedback, please…..
As this newsletter grows, I’m curious to know what content you are most interested in. I know some of you follow along for health literacy and medical illustration posts, while others follow along for art and humanities posts. Let me know what interests you most so I can create content you’ll enjoy!
Thanks for reading this far. See you next month. Be well.