Children with an enlarged thymus suffer from sudden attacks of unconsciousness, convulsions, and sometimes sudden death; this condition is known as status thymicolymphaticus. Tumors of the thymus are found in about 10% of patients with myasthenia gravis.
The thymus is also present in many other animals. When animal thymus tissue is sold in a butcher shop or at a meat counter, thymus is known as sweetbread.
Thymus (family Lamiaceae) is the genus of plants to which thyme belongs.