Intro to Patho

Question 1

Disease definition

Answer 1

An interruption, cessation, or disorder of a body system or organ that is characterized by an etiological agent, signs and symptoms, and changes in anatomy.

Question 2

What are the causes of disease called?

Answer 2

etiologic factors

Question 3

What are risk factors?

Answer 3

Variables that increase a person’s probability of having a disease

Question 4

What is pathogenesis?

Answer 4

sequence of events in cells and tissues between exposure to etiologic agent and manifestation of disease

**How the disease process evolves

Question 5

Morphology

Answer 5

The fundamental structure or form of cells and tissues

Question 6

Histology

Answer 6

Study of cells and extracellular matrices of tissues

Question 7

What is a lesion?

Answer 7

A traumatic or pathological discontinuity of an organ or tissue

Question 8

Syndrome

Answer 8

Compilation of signs and symptoms characteristic of a disease state

Question 9

What is an adverse outcome of a disease or treatment?

Answer 9

a complication

Question 10

What are sequelae?

Answer 10

Lesions or impairments that are caused by or follow disease

Question 11

Validity

Answer 11

extend to which a measurement tool measures what it is actually intended to.

Example: validity of a sphygmomanometer may be determined by comparing results to intra-arterial measurments

Question 12

Reliability

Answer 12

Extent to which an observation, if repeated, gives the same results (includes differences in measurement by the observer)

Example: differences in blood pressure measurement technique may vary the reliability between nurses

Question 13

Standardization

Answer 13

Ways to improve the validity and reliability of measured values.

Question 14

Test sensitivity

Answer 14

The proportion of people who have a disease and test positive for that disease on a given test

If a person tests negative on a very sensitive test, they do not have the disease.

Question 15

Test specificity

Answer 15

The proportion of people who do NOT have a disease who test negative for the disease on a given test.

Question 16

What does specificity indicate?

Answer 16

A true-negative result.

A test that is 95% specific correctly identifies 95 of 100 normal people. The other 5% are false-positive results.

Question 17

Predictive value

Answer 17

Extent to which a test can predict the presence of a disease

Question 18

Positive predictive value

Answer 18

proportion of true-positive results that occur in a population

example: People who are diagnosed with breast cancer after finding nodules in a cancer screening would make up the positive predictive value

Question 19

Negative predictive value

Answer 19

True negative results that occur in a population

example: Proportion of people who do not have breast cancer and also do not have nodules found in the cancer screening make up the negative predictive value

Question 20

Preclinical stage of disease

Answer 20

It is not clinically apparent, but it is destined to progress to clinical disease

Question 21

Subclinical disease

Answer 21

Disease is not clinically apparent, and is also not destined to progress.

Question 22

Clinical disease

Answer 22

Signs and symptoms are present

Question 23

What is incidence vs prevalence in epidemiology?

Answer 23

Incidence: The number of new cases in a population that is at risk at a specific time.
Prevalene: the measure of existing disease (not just new cases!) in the population as a whole at a specific time.

Question 24

What is the natural history of a disease?

Answer 24

The disease’s natural progression without treatment