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Information about Symptom

The term symptom (from the Greek σύμπτωμα meaning 'chance', 'mishap' or 'casualty', itself derived from συμπιπτω meaning 'to fall upon' or 'to happen to') has two similar meanings in the context of physical and mental health:
  • Strictly, a symptom is a sensation or change in health function experienced by a patient. Thus, symptoms may be loosely classified as strong, mild or weak. In this, medically correct, sense of the word, it is a subjective report, as opposed to a sign, which is objective evidence of the presence of a disease or disorder. Examples of symptoms are fatigue/tiredness, pain, or nausea. In contrast, elevated blood pressure, or abnormal appearance of the retina, would be a medical sign indicating the nature of the disease.
  • A symptom may loosely be said to be a physical condition which indicates a particular illness or disorder (e.g. Longman, 1995). An example of a symptom in this sense of the word would be a rash. However, correctly speaking, this is known as a sign, as would any indication detectable by a person other than the sufferer without verbal information from the patient.
Some symptoms, such as nausea, occur in a wide range of disease processes, whereas other symptoms are fairly specific for a narrow range of illnesses. For example, a sudden loss of sight in one eye has only a very limited number of possible causes.

Some symptoms can be misleading to the patient or the medical practitioner caring for them. For example, inflammation of the gallbladder often gives rise to pain in the right shoulder, which may understandably lead the patient to attribute the pain to a non-abdominal cause such as muscle strain, rather than the real cause.

The terms "chief complaint", "presenting symptom", or "presenting complaint" is used to describe the initial concern which brings a patient to a doctor. The symptom that leads to a diagnosis is called a cardinal symptom.

A symptom can more simply be defined as any feature which is noticed by the patient. A sign is noticed by the doctor or others. It is not necessarily the nature of the sign or symptom which defines it, but who observes it. Clearly then, the same feature may be noticed by both doctor and patient, and so is at once both a sign and a symptom. The distinction is as simple as this, and therefore it may be nonsensical to argue whether a particular feature is a sign or a symptom. It may be one, the other, or both, depending on the observer(s). Some features, such as pain, can only be symptoms. A doctor cannot feel a patient's pain (unless he is the patient!). Others can only be signs, such as a blood cell count measured by a doctor or a laboratory.

In engineering, "symptom" may be used to refer to an undesired effect occurring in a system. To eliminate the effect, a root cause analysis is performed which traces the symptom to its cause and again through the cause's cause and so on until the subsystem is identified that can be changed to eliminate the symptom.

See also

References

  • Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1995). Third edition.

External links

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Symptoms and signs (R00-R69, )
Circulatory and
respiratory systems		Tachycardia - Bradycardia - Palpitation - Heart murmur - Nosebleed - Hemoptysis - Cough - abnormalities of breathing (Dyspnea, Orthopnoea, Stridor, Wheeze, Cheyne-Stokes respiration, Hyperventilation, Mouth breathing, Hiccup, Bradypnea, Hypoventilation) - Chest pain - Asphyxia - Pleurisy - Respiratory arrest - Sputum - Bruit
Digestive system and abdomenAbdominal pain - Acute abdomen - Nausea - Vomiting - Heartburn - Dysphagia - Flatulence - Burping - Fecal incontinence - Encopresis - Hepatomegaly - Splenomegaly - Hepatosplenomegaly - Jaundice - Ascites - Fecal occult blood - Halitosis
Skin and subcutaneous tissuedisturbances of skin sensation (Hypoesthesia, Paresthesia, Hyperesthesia) - Rash - Cyanosis - Pallor - Flushing - Petechia - Desquamation - Induration
Nervous and
musculoskeletal systems		abnormal involuntary movements (Tremor, Spasm, Fasciculation, Athetosis) - Gait abnormality - lack of coordination (Ataxia, Dysmetria, Dysdiadochokinesia, Hypotonia) - Tetany - Meningism - Hyperreflexia
Urinary systemDysuria - Vesical tenesmus - Urinary incontinence - Urinary retention - Oliguria - Polyuria - Nocturia
Cognition, perception,
emotional state and behaviour		Anxiety - Somnolence - Coma - Amnesia (Anterograde amnesia, Retrograde amnesia) - Dizziness/Vertigo - smell and taste (Anosmia, Ageusia, Parosmia, Parageusia)
Speech and voicespeech disturbances (Dysphasia, Aphasia, Dysarthria) - symbolic dysfunctions (Dyslexia, Alexia, Agnosia, Apraxia, Acalculia, Agraphia) - voice disturbances (Dysphonia, Aphonia)
General symptoms and signsFever (Hyperpyrexia) - Headache - Chronic pain - Malaise - Fatigue - Fainting (Vasovagal syncope) - Febrile seizure - Shock (Cardiogenic shock) - Lymphadenopathy - Edema (Peripheral edema, Anasarca) - Hyperhidrosis (Sleep hyperhidrosis) - Delayed milestone - Failure to thrive - food and fluid intake (Anorexia, Polydipsia, Polyphagia) - Cachexia - Xerostomia - Clubbing
Ancient Greek refers to the second stage in the history of the Greek language[1] as it existed during the Archaic (9th–6th centuries BC) and Classical (5th–4th centuries BC) periods in Greece.
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Mental health is a term used to describe either a level of cognitive or emotional wellbeing or an absence of a mental disorder.[1][2] From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability
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Strong is a generic adjective pertaining to strength. It is the opposite of weak. Its comparative form is stronger, and the superlative is strongest.
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Mild is a generic term that is normally used to mean average, bland (lacking zest), or not strong. The following is sometimes described as "mild":
  • weather, especially when conditions tends towards a climate's average (but still a subjective description nonetheless)

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The word weak is a generic adjective pertaining to a lack of strength. Weak is the opposite of strong. It may also refer to:

Computing

  • A is vance and his little sporting injuries
in concurrent programming refers to weaker consistency models.
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In reason, subjectivity refers to the property of perceptions, arguments, and language as being based in a subject's point of view, and hence influenced in accordance with a particular bias.
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Objectivity in science is the property of scientific measurement that can be tested independent from the individual scientist (the subject) who proposes them. It is intimately related to the aim of verifiability and reproducibility.
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disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions. In human beings, "disease" is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes discomfort, dysfunction, distress, social problems, and/or death to the person afflicted, or similar problems
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Fatigue
Classifications and external resources

ICD-10 R 53.
ICD-9 780.7

DiseasesDB 30079
MedlinePlus 003088

MeSH D005221 The word fatigue
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Fatigue
Classifications and external resources

ICD-10 R 53.
ICD-9 780.7

DiseasesDB 30079
MedlinePlus 003088

MeSH D005221 The word fatigue
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Pain is a sensation transmitted from sensory nerves through the spinal cord and to the sensory area of the cerebrum, where the sensation is perceived. It is defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional
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Nausea
Classifications and external resources

ICD-10 R 11.
ICD-9 787.0

Nausea (Latin: Nausea, Greek: Ναυτεία
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Hypertension
Classification & external resources

ICD-10 I 10. ,I 11. ,I 12. ,
I 13. ,I 15.
ICD-9 401.x

OMIM 145500
DiseasesDB 6330
MedlinePlus 000468
eMedicine med/1106   ped/1097 emerg/267


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For the moth genus, see Retina (moth).


The retina is a thin layer of neural cells that lines the back of the eyeball of vertebrates and some cephalopods. It is comparable to the film in a camera.
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Simply, a sign is an indication of some fact or quality; and, in everyday English, a medical sign is an "objective" indication of some medical fact or quality that is detected by a physician during a physical examination of a patient—such as elevated
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Rash
Classifications and external resources

A typical rash
ICD-10 R 21.
ICD-9 782.1

A rash is a change in skin which affects its color, appearance, or texture. A rash may be localized to one part of the body, or affect all the skin.
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Simply, a sign is an indication of some fact or quality; and, in everyday English, a medical sign is an "objective" indication of some medical fact or quality that is detected by a physician during a physical examination of a patient—such as elevated
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patient is any person who receives medical attention, care, or treatment. The person is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician or other medical professional.
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Nausea
Classifications and external resources

ICD-10 R 11.
ICD-9 787.0

Nausea (Latin: Nausea, Greek: Ναυτεία
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Eyes are organs of vision that detect light. Different kinds of light-sensitive organs are found in a variety of organisms. The simplest eyes do nothing but detect whether the surroundings are light or dark, while more complex eyes can distinguish shapes and colors.
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Cholecystitis
Classification & external resources

ICD-10 K 81.
ICD-9 575.0 , 575.1

DiseasesDB 2520

eMedicine med/346   Cholecystitis is inflammation of the gall bladder.
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strain is an injury to a muscle in which the muscle fibers tear as a result of overstretching. Strains are also colloquially known as pulled muscles. The equivalent injury to a ligament is a sprain.
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physician applies to a person who practices some type of medicine. Such medical practitioners are concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury, through both an area of knowledge
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In general, diagnosis (plural diagnoses) has two distinct dictionary definitions. The first definition is "the recognition of a disease or condition by its outward signs and symptoms", while the second definition is "the analysis of the underlying physiological/biochemical
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complete blood count (CBC), also known as full blood count (FBC) or full blood exam (FBE) or blood panel, is a test requested by a doctor or other medical professional that gives information about the cells in a patient's blood.
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laboratory (informally, lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory
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Engineering is the applied science of acquiring and applying knowledge to design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. The American Engineers' Council for Professional Development, also known as ECPD,[1] (later ABET [2]
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Root cause analysis (RCA) is a class of problem solving methods aimed at identifying the root causes of problems or events. The practice of RCA is predicated on the belief that problems are best solved by attempting to correct or eliminate root causes, as opposed to merely
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General
  • cachexia (R64)
  • loss of appetite (R63.0)
  • weight loss (R63.4)
  • weight gain (R63.
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    • In general, diagnosis (plural diagnoses) has two distinct dictionary definitions. The first definition is "the recognition of a disease or condition by its outward signs and symptoms", while the second definition is "the analysis of the underlying physiological/biochemical
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