Definitions

Question 1

What is pathology?

Answer 1

Pathology is the study of disease, and the structural, biochemical, and functional changes in cells, tissues or organs that underlie disease.

Question 2

What are the four major aspects of disease?

Answer 2

1. Etiology
2. Pathogenesis
3. Molecular and morphological changes
4. Clinical manifestations

Question 3

What is etiology?

Answer 3

Etiology is the cause of a disease or abnormality. There are three major classes of etiological factors:

1. Congenital: occur before birth and are genetic, developmental and hereditary
2. Acquired: occur after birth anf are causes related to physical and chemical agents, nutritional deficiences and excesses, infections and infestations etc.

Question 4

What is pathogenesis?

Answer 4

Pathogenesis refers to the sequence of events in the response of cells or tissues to the etiologic agent, from the initial stimulus to the ultimate expression of the disease.

Question 5

What are molecular and morphological changes?

Answer 5

Morphological changes refer to the structural alterations in cells or tissues that are either characteristic of a disease or diagnostic of an etiologic process.

Question 6

What are clinical manifestations?

Answer 6

The resulting functional abnormalities which lead to clinical manifestations (signs and symptoms) of a disease, as well as its clinical course and outcome.

Question 7

How are diseases classified?

Answer 7

The process of disease classification is termed nosology. There are three ways that diseases can be classified:

1. aetiogenesis
2. pathogenesis
3. organs/organ systems involved

Question 8

What are endogenous factors?

Answer 8

Endogenous factors are composed of hereditary, constitution and nutritonal status.

• Hereditary* consists of the transmission of morphological and functional characteristics of living beings to their offspring
• Constitution* consists of the aggregation of anatomical (structural) and physiological (functional) characters of an individual at a given time. It is fundamentally determines by hereditary and influenced by modifying factors. The constitution is the phenotypic manifestation of an individual’s genotype.

Question 9

What is predisposition?

Answer 9

Predisposition consists of the tendency of an organism to acquire or develop a certain illness. A predisposition may be familial or individual, and may be subject to external conditioning factors.

Question 10

What is refractoriness?

Answer 10

Refractoriness is innate immunity and consists of the resistance to the pathogenic action of morbid agents, making an individual resistant to the development of certain diseases.