Grape-y odor (food metaphors in medical terminology)

We continue our journey in the tasteful world of culinary medical metaphors.

The ends of nerve cells are shaped like grapes. Infection with the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa can result in a grape-like odor. A malignant tumor – sarcoma botryoides – resembles a bunch of grapes in appearance. In fact several medical entities in look (and in odor) are akin to grapes.

I was extremely fortunate to explore grape-related medical metaphors in greater detail with the extraordinary Professor Alimuddin Zumla (University College London Medical School) in our Royal College of Physicians journal article. It was nice to know that even professors have a sense of (serious) humor!

Conflict of interest: I am a member of GRAPE (Group for Research and Advancement of Palatable Eponyms). This is 100% true – here is the evidence in a medical journal.