Signs and symptoms
Signs and symptoms are the observed or detectable signs, and experienced symptoms of an illness, injury, or condition.
Signs are objective and externally observable; symptoms are a person's reported subjective experiences.[1] A sign for example may be a higher or lower temperature than normal, raised or lowered blood pressure or an abnormality showing on a medical scan. A symptom is something out of the ordinary that is experienced by an individual such as feeling feverish, a headache or other pains in the body.[2][3]
Signs and symptoms[edit]
Signs[edit]
A medical sign is an objective observable indication of a disease, injury, or medical condition that may be detected during a physical examination.[4] These signs may be visible, such as a rash or bruise, or otherwise detectable such as by using a stethoscope or taking blood pressure. Medical signs, along with symptoms, help in forming a diagnosis. Some examples of signs are nail clubbing of either the fingernails or toenails, an abnormal gait, and a limbal ring a darkened ring around the iris of the eye.
History[edit]
Symptomatology[edit]
A symptom (from Greek σύμπτωμα, "accident, misfortune, that which befalls",[49] from συμπίπτω, "I befall", from συν- "together, with" and πίπτω, "I fall") is a departure from normal function or feeling. Symptomatology (also called semiology) is a branch of medicine dealing with the signs and symptoms of a disease.[50][51][52] This study also includes the indications of a disease.[53] It was first described as semiotics by Henry Stubbe in 1670 a term now used for the study of sign communication.
Prior to the nineteenth century there was little difference in the powers of observation between physician and patient. Most medical practice was conducted as a co-operative interaction between the physician and patient; this was gradually replaced by a "monolithic consensus of opinion imposed from within the community of medical investigators".[54][55] Whilst each noticed much the same things, the physician had a more informed interpretation of those things: "the physicians knew what the findings meant and the layman did not".[47]: 82
Diagnosis[edit]
The recognition of signs, and noting of symptoms may lead to a diagnosis. Otherwise a physical examination may be carried out, and a medical history taken. Further diagnostic medical tests such as blood tests, scans, and biopsies, may be needed. An X-ray for example would soon be diagnostic of a suspected bone fracture. A noted significance detected during an examination or from a medical test may be known as a medical finding.[61]