General Concepts and Principles of Disease Flashcards
Define disease
A disturbances of body structure or function
What are organic diseases?
Diseases associated with structural changes
What are functional diseases?
Diseases associated with no morphological changes but function is profoundly disturbed
What is Etiology?
The cause of a disease
What is Pathogenesis?
The way in which a disease develops
What is Prognosis?
The probable outcome of a disease
What are the 5 classes of diseases?
Congenital/Hereditary Neoplastic Imflammatory Metabolic Degenerative
What are Congenital/Hereditary diseases?
- Diseases that arise from a problem during development
- Can be genetic, intrauterine injury and foetal development issues
What are Inflammatory diseases?
- Diseases that are caused by the body’s reaction to an injurious agent via inflammation
- Reacting to pathogens, Allergic reactions and autoimmune
What are Degenerative diseases?
- Diseases caused by the degeneration of various parts of the body
- Manifestation of the ageing process
- i.e. osteoporosis, ateriosclerosis
What are Metabolic diseases?
- Diseases caused by disturbances in the metabolic processes
- Endocrine and metabolism related
What are Neoplastic diseases?
- Diseases characterised by abnormal cell growth that leads to various types of tumours
- Can be benign or malignant
What are the principals of diagnosis?
Examine clinical history
Conduct physical examination
Differentiate between possible conditions
What is clinical history?
- The history of the current illness, symptoms and main complaints
- Past medical history
- Family history
What are the 4 techniques used in the physical examination?
Inspection
Palpation - feeling for abnormalities
Percussion - tapping an area
Auscultation - listening to the body via a stethoscope
What is differential diagnosis?
The process of differentiating between diseases with similar symptoms
What is an ultrasound?
- A technique for mapping the echoes produced by high frequency sound waves transmitted into the body.
- Echo waves reflecting a change in density of the tissues are recorded
How do X-rays work?
X-rays are passed through the body and recorded after absorption
How is a CT scan done?
X-ray tube is rotated around the patient which produces images of the patient in cross section
How does an MRI work?
- A strong magnet develops a strong magnetic field which can transmit and receive radio-frequency waves
- A computer receives impulses and turns them into images
- Depends on the response of hydrogen protons and water content of body tissues
What is PET and what is it’s use?
Positron Emission Tomography
Can distinguish between a benign and malignant tumour
What is the purpose of screening for diseases?
It allows us to detect asymptomatic diseases, prevents serious diseases going unnoticed
What are the requirements for effective screening?
- A significant number of individuals must be at risk
- Inexpensive and non-invasive test
- Early identification and treatment of disease will give a favorable outcome
