Etymology
Among the regions of the abdomen, the hypochondrium is the uppermost part. The word derives from the Greek term ὑποχόνδριος hypokhondrios, meaning "of the soft parts between the ribs and navel" from ὑπό hypo ("under") and χόνδρος khondros, or cartilage (of the sternum). Hypochondria in Late Latin meant "the abdomen".The term hypochondriasis for a state of disease without real cause reflected the ancient belief that the viscera of the hypochondria were the seat of melancholy and sources of the vapor that caused morbid feelings. Until the early 18th century, the term referred to a "physical disease caused by imbalances in the region that was below your rib cage" (i.e., of the stomach or digestive system). For example, Robert Burtons The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621) blamed it "for everything from too much spittle to rumbling in the guts". Immanuel Kant discussed hypochondria in his 1798 book, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, like this: The disease of the hypochondriac consists in this: that certain bodily sensations do not so much indicate a really existing disease in the body as rather merely excite apprehensions of its existence: and human nature is so constituted – a trait which the animal lacks – that it is able to strengthen or make permanent local impressions simply by paying attention to them, whereas an abstraction – whether produced on purpose or by other diverting occupations – lessens these impressions, or even effaces them altogether. Anthropology by Immanuel Kant, 1798 Journal of Speculative Philosophy Vol.
Atypical lichen myxedematosus  is a skin condition caused by fibroblasts producing abnormally large amounts of mucopolysaccharides. : 186

See also
Lichen myxedematosus
Skin lesion

References


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