"Yedduh Grivvel"
When I first heard about Yedduh Grivvel (Yoder Irritable-Restlessness), I didn't know it had an English name. It is also known as Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). The sitcom "Seinfield" contained an episode in which it was called "jimmy legs."
My earliest knowledge of this condition followed an explanation from someone in the sizable local Yoder family that a nearly uncontrollable desire to move one's legs periodically descends on members of this family. If they're in bed, they thrash around. If they're sitting, they shuffle their legs. If they're standing, they start walking. Anything to get moving.
I've observed it happening in church among one of the older Yoder ladies who sits in front of me. She squirms and rearranges her feet repeatedly. It's happened in the middle of praying in a small group, when one member abruptly lost the ability to meditate because of the urgent need to move. I remember the grade school rumor that a classmate's parents did not sleep together because they kept disturbing each other with their nighttime restlessness. They were both Yoders, no doubt related, but so distantly that it didn't matter--except when the common malady descended at night.
An article title in today's newspaper informs us that "Scientists identify genes for restless leg syndrome." The article tells us that RLS is biologically based and not an imaginary disorder.
The gene has been identified in Iceland, the U.S., Germany, and Canada, where studies were done on people with RLS.
So now all the Yoders who have thought all along that something real and strange nibbled at their nerves and muscles and caused them unaccountable discomfort can feel vindicated. What science has ferreted out has been known here a long time (It's real and it's genetically based.), except science is still not up to speed on the name. Science still doesn't know, and Kramer of "Seinfield" doesn't know that it is properly called "Yedduh Grivvel."
At least the official names let people qualify for the diagnosis who do not have Yoder for a last name. Small comfort. I'd prefer to think that I've dodged a bullet by not being a Yoder. Let's all stick with "Yedduh Grivvel."
My earliest knowledge of this condition followed an explanation from someone in the sizable local Yoder family that a nearly uncontrollable desire to move one's legs periodically descends on members of this family. If they're in bed, they thrash around. If they're sitting, they shuffle their legs. If they're standing, they start walking. Anything to get moving.
I've observed it happening in church among one of the older Yoder ladies who sits in front of me. She squirms and rearranges her feet repeatedly. It's happened in the middle of praying in a small group, when one member abruptly lost the ability to meditate because of the urgent need to move. I remember the grade school rumor that a classmate's parents did not sleep together because they kept disturbing each other with their nighttime restlessness. They were both Yoders, no doubt related, but so distantly that it didn't matter--except when the common malady descended at night.
An article title in today's newspaper informs us that "Scientists identify genes for restless leg syndrome." The article tells us that RLS is biologically based and not an imaginary disorder.
The gene has been identified in Iceland, the U.S., Germany, and Canada, where studies were done on people with RLS.
So now all the Yoders who have thought all along that something real and strange nibbled at their nerves and muscles and caused them unaccountable discomfort can feel vindicated. What science has ferreted out has been known here a long time (It's real and it's genetically based.), except science is still not up to speed on the name. Science still doesn't know, and Kramer of "Seinfield" doesn't know that it is properly called "Yedduh Grivvel."
At least the official names let people qualify for the diagnosis who do not have Yoder for a last name. Small comfort. I'd prefer to think that I've dodged a bullet by not being a Yoder. Let's all stick with "Yedduh Grivvel."
posted by Mrs. I at
9:59 AM
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