Symptom ~ Medical Terminology

In medicine, a symptom (Greek symptoma = a happening, befall) refers to a change in body function or sensation, like weakness or pain, as experienced by a patient (1). It is subjective meaning that it cannot be verified or measured independently and has to be reported by the patient.

A patient’s description of the symptoms, its intensity and duration is recorded in the medical history, but the signs of the disease has to be monitored and assessed for accurate diagnosis and monitoring the progression of a disease. To establish a diagnosis a physician will, apart from subjective symptoms, often need to check for objective signs of disease with physical examination of the patient and medical investigations.

Symptoms may be acute (sudden, newly appearing), chronic (long lasting), remittent (temporary decreasing in severity), intermittent (ceasing completely and beginning again; from Latin inter- + mittere = to let go), or relapsing (recurring after a period of improvement; from Latin re- = back + labi = to slip). Symptoms may also be imagined (psychogenic) and to the patient can be as real as symptoms associated with actual disease. This should be differentiated from signs of disease that are due to the effect of the mind (psychosomatic). For example – thinking of a stressful event in one’s life can raise the blood pressure and this high blood pressure can be verified independently.

Common Symptoms in Disease

• Pain : feeling of severe discomfort which can be excruciating.
• Nausea : feeling of wanting to vomit.
• Fatigue : state of extreme tiredness.
• Bloated : sensation of feeling full in the stomach or abdomen and must be differentiated from distension which is visible enlargement of the abdomen.
• Itching : the sensation of discomfort, but not pain, that urges a person to scratch the affected area. It is best described as a sensation similar to a crawling insect of the skin although the exact term for this sensation is formication.

Symptomatic disease appears with symptoms, and asymptomatic disease without symptoms.

References:

1. What symptom stands for? (dictionary.com)

Article reviewed by Dr. Greg. Last updated on April 24, 2011