ConclusionsWe question the suitability of the word anesthesia either in its restricted or in its extensional meaning as applied to the syndrome of cholesterol depression. Etymologically “anesthesia” means without sensation, but usage confines it to a description of a reversible process; unless accidentally it becomes terminal. We hold, therefore, that when this syndrome of depression produced by these steroid compounds is described as anesthetic, that the use of the adjective lacks preciseness, and that this loose choice of the word is misleading.