exam june 30 Flashcards
incidence
→ The number of new cases of a particular disease in a defined population (defined population group) during a defined period of time. The number of people who develop a given disease for the first time.
Eg the number of men in Belgium first diagnosed with AIDS in the previous month.
prevalence
→ Total number of people with a disease, disability or condition present at a present in a population or area at a given time.
E.g. the number of men in Belgium diagnosed with AIDS (old + new cases).
epidemiology
→ The doctrine of the occurrence and course of diseases and pests.
→ The doctrine of what disease occurs in a given population (distribution of disease) and how this pattern of disease changes with the appearance of new cases (incidence) and the disappearance of existing cases.
anamnesis
→ The history of a sick person, obtained by spontaneous communication from the patient (or his/her relatives) and by answering specific questions from the researcher. This includes data regarding the present condition,previously experienced diseases, life history, family and environment (social conditions)…
→ Questioning of the disease history preceding the medical examination
diagnosis
→ Determining the nature of an illness; identifying what underlying pattern, disorder or disease underlies the symptoms exhibited; brief description that includes only those features, which are necessary to distinguish the form from those that resemble it.
differential diagnosis
→ Determining a condition, disease or complaint by excluding other possible conditions based on the findings from the history and medical examination.
→ Establishing a diagnosis by weighing the observed symptoms against those of various known syndromes.
morbidity
→ Disease prevalence: indicate the rate of occurrence of a disease relative to number of persons in a population and in a period. Difference with prevalence is that this is a relative figure
mortality
→ Mortality rate: indicates how many people die from a disease compared to the number of people suffering from the disease
prevention
→ the prevention of disease, the deliberate prevention of damage to body and/or mind.
→ A distinction is made between primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.
Primary prevention
→ one ensures that something unpleasant is prevented
→ For example: brushing teeth prevents caries (cavities)
→ It is important to recognise when this problem may occur so that measures can be taken to prevent it. Primary prevention is thus making information available to groups, which do not have health problems.
→ The focus is on staying healthy.
secondary prevention
→ one wants to detect something unpleasant as soon as possible to avoid aggravation of the condition
→ for example: breast cancer screening for the quick detection of breast cancer so that it is still treatable and the person does not have to die from it.
→ The focus is on cure.
tertiary prevention
→ trying to prevent something unpleasant from happening again (e.g. adjusting lifestyle after a heart attack to avoid another heart attack
avoid)
→ or preventing the symptoms of a disease from worsening (Example of the latter: adapting the lifestyle of a diabetic patient so that he/she is less likely to suffer damage to the retina (this is something common in people with diabetes))
antibiotics
a drug that cures illnesses and infections caused by bacteria
analgesic
A drug that dulls the sense of pain, a painkiller
surgeon
a physician who specialises in surgery
