 When he coined the term Heine-Medin disease he followed a suggestion of Sigmund Freud, who considered the naming of a disease after its discoverer less problematic than naming it after symptoms or agents.Wickman had found out that Heine's term Spinale Kinderlähmung (spinal infantile paralysis) and Medin's work on poliomyelitis only referred to parts of the disease.Wickman's term, however, was not to assert itself in the long run.