Mystery Diagnosis (debuted 2005 on Discovery Health Channel) is a television program that airs on the Discovery Health Channel. Each episode focuses on two or more individuals and their struggles to find out what ailments they suffer from. Like many shows on DHC, Mystery Diagnosis was conceived as a "real-life" version of a popular TV drama. In this case, the concept of patients with difficult-to-diagnose ailments who need a doctor willing to search for "zebras". A popular saying on Mystery Diagnosis deals with the fact that doctors are taught to look first for the obvious diseases. "If you hear hoofbeats in Central Park, look for horses, not zebras" is the quote usually used. Most of the time, the patient will go from doctor to doctor, without any of them being able to determine the strange illness that the patient is suffering from. Sometimes, however, the patient is diagnosed with more common conditions, such as pneumonia and various types of asthma before being diagnosed with the final mystery diagnosis. Usually, the doctor that diagnosed the patient correctly appears on the show. In many cases, the patient will be prepared for surgery. After the surgery, the patient recovers for a few days and is discharged. Then, a brief view of their current life shows how grateful they are to have been diagnosed.
The series has no regular cast except for its narrator, David Guion, who describes the patients' lives and the destruction their illnesses bring. Among the more common illnesses mentioned on the show are epilepsy, Myasthenia Gravis, Alpha 1-Antitrypsin Deficiency, heart disease, Lyme disease, and various undiagnosed tumors.
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