Diagnosis ex juvantibus

Diagnosis ex juvantibus is a Latin expression for German: “Clarification of the diagnosis from the healing success” . This means that the choice of therapy and the possible healing success can be used to determine the cause of the disease.

The term ex non juvantibus is used in situations in which a therapy that usually leads to the resolution of the respective symptoms is unsuccessful.

The principle "Diagnosis ex juvantibus" represents a nosological criterion of the classification among others, such as clinical picture, pathology , disease course etc.

In the discussion about alternative medicine (such as the laying on of hands , homeopathy ), the diagnosis ex juvantibus is of great importance, since proponents often refer to (alleged) treatment successes on the grounds that “He who heals is right”.

Examples

• The administration of a sugar solution if hypoglycaemia is suspected in diabetics.
• Alcohol- related delirium tremens can rarely be diagnosed by giving alcohol, as the symptoms will then go away. In most cases, the delirium tremens cannot be ended by giving alcohol. The same applies to the sometimes dramatic withdrawal symptoms in opioid dependence , by the administration of morphine can be brought within seconds completely disappear. (Although the administration of the substances does not, of course, cure the addiction problem, but only "cure" the withdrawal symptoms).
• The diagnosis of intoxication ( benzodiazepines , opiates ) can be made by administering the appropriate antidotes (e.g. naloxone for opiates ).
• The agonizing urge to move in Restless Legs Syndrome is dramatically improved in a very short time by the administration of levodopa or the application of apomorphine .
• The most common type of anemia is iron deficiency anemia . Less common causes include vitamin B ₁₂ deficiency or problems with the bone marrow ( leukemia , bone marrow-displacing tumors ). A diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia can be made by the patient taking extra iron and then determining whether or not the anemia goes away.
• In normal pressure hydrocephalus or pseudotumor cerebri by lumbar puncture and draining approx. 40 ml CSF.
• A steroid shock therapy for suspected diseases that respond to cortisone administration
• Administration of painkillers to restless dementia patients who cannot provide any information.
• Trial therapy for symptoms that suggest reflux disease .
• Toxoplasmosis treatment in immunocompromised patients.
• Colchicine application in acute gout attacks
• Triptans are only effective for migraines and cluster headaches , but not for other pains.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ex juvantibus. In: Maxim Zetkin-Schaldach: Dictionary of Medicine . dtv, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-423-03029-1 , p. 414.