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#REDIRECT [[Signs and symptoms]]
{{Redirect|Symptomssore lips (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Symptomatology|text=This subject requires a separate article}}
[[File:Symptoms of acute HIV infection.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=A diagram of a human torso labelled with the most common symptoms of an acute HIV infection|[[Medical sign|Signs]] (e.g. enlarged spleen, lymphadenopathy) and symptoms (e.g. headache, vomiting) of acute HIV infection]]
A '''symptom''' (from [[Greek language|Greek]] σύμπτωμα, "accident, misfortune, that which befalls",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2398870 |title=Sumptoma, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', at Pursues |publisher=Perseus.tufts.edu |date= |accessdate=2011-12-17}}</ref> from συμπίπτω, "I befall", from συν- "together, with" and πίπτω, "I fall") is a departure from normal function or feeling which is apparent to a [[patient]], reflecting the presence of an unusual state, or of a [[disease]]. A symptom can be subjective or objective. Tiredness is a subjective symptom whereas cough or fever are objective symptoms.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/symptom|title=Symptom &#124; Definition of symptom in English by Lexico Dictionaries}}</ref> In contrast to a symptom, a [[medical sign|sign]] is a clue to a disease elicited by an examiner or a doctor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/physical%20sign|title=Medical Definition of PHYSICAL SIGN}}</ref> For example, [[paresthesia]] is a symptom (only the person experiencing it can directly observe their own tingling feeling), whereas [[erythema]] is a sign (anyone can confirm that the skin is redder than usual). Symptoms and signs are often [[sensitivity and specificity|nonspecific]], but often combinations of them are at least suggestive of certain [[diagnoses]], helping to narrow down what may be wrong. In other cases they are specific even to the point of being [[pathognomonic]].


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The term is sometimes also applied to [[Human physiology|physiological]] states outside the context of [[Pathophysiology|disease]], as for example when referring to "symptoms of [[pregnancy]]". Many people use the term sign and symptom interchangeably.<ref>{{cite web|title=What Are Signs And Symptoms And Why Do They Matter?|url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161858.php|website=Medical News Today|accessdate=5 December 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206135909/https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161858.php|archivedate=6 December 2017}}</ref>


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==Types==
Symptoms may be briefly acute or a more prolonged but acute or [[Chronic (medical)|chronic]], [[Relapse|relapsing]] or [[remission (medicine)|remitting]]. [[Asymptomatic]] conditions also exist (e.g. [[subclinical infection]]s and [[silent disease]]s like sometimes, [[Hypertension|high blood pressure]]).

Constitutional or general symptoms are those related to the systemic effects of a disease (e.g., fever, malaise, anorexia, and weight loss). They affect the entire body rather than a specific organ or location.

The terms "chief complaint", "presenting symptom", "iatrotropic symptom", or "presenting complaint" are used to describe the initial concern which brings a patient to a [[physician|doctor]]. The symptom that ultimately leads to a [[diagnosis]] is called a "cardinal symptom".

===Non-specific symptoms===
Non-specific symptoms are self-reported symptoms that do not indicate a specific disease process or involve an isolated body system. For example, [[fatigue (medical)|fatigue]] is a feature of many acute and chronic medical conditions, which may or may not be mental, and may be either a primary or secondary symptom. Fatigue is also a normal, healthy condition when experienced after exertion or at the end of a day.

===Positive and negative ===
Symptoms can be divided into positive and negative. Positive symptoms are the ones observed in persons with a disease or other abnormal condition, but normally not observed in average healthy persons. A negative symptom is absence of a function or feeling normally present in an average person.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

For example, in describing [[mental disorder]]s,<ref name="positive">{{cite web |url=http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Positive-symptoms.html |title=Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders: positive symptom |publisher=Minddisorders.com |accessdate=2011-12-17 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102111246/http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Positive-symptoms.html |archivedate=2012-01-02 }}</ref><ref name="negative">{{cite web |url=http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Negative-symptoms.html |title=Negative symptoms - effects, withdrawal, examples, person, used, brain, Definition, Description |accessdate=2010-07-14 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820044840/http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Negative-symptoms.html |archivedate=2010-08-20 }} Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders: negative symptom</ref> especially [[schizophrenia]], positive and negative symptoms are as follows.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter2/sec2.html |title=Mental Health: a Report from the Surgeon General |publisher=Surgeongeneral.gov |accessdate=2011-12-17 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111043025/http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter2/sec2.html |archivedate=2012-01-11 |year=1999 }}</ref>

====Positive symptoms====
Positive symptoms are symptoms that are present in the disorder and are not normally experienced by most individuals. It reflects an excess or distortion of normal functions (i.e., experiences and behaviors that have been added to a person's normal way of functioning).<ref name="Understanding Psychosis Fact Sheet">[http://www.mifa.org.au/sites/www.mifa.org.au/files/documents/164819%20Understanding%20Psychosis.pdf Understanding Psychosis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225041115/http://www.mifa.org.au/sites/www.mifa.org.au/files/documents/164819%20Understanding%20Psychosis.pdf |date=2012-12-25 }}, Mental Health Illness of Australia.</ref> Examples are [[hallucinations]], [[delusions]], and bizarre behavior.<ref name = "positive" />

For somatic sensory symptoms, the positive ones are tingling, itching and various sensations described as pricking, bandlike, lightning-like shooting feelings (lancinations), aching, knifelike, twisting, drawing, pulling, tightening, burning, searing, electrical, or raw feelings. The terms used to describe positive sensory symptoms are [[paresthesia]] and [[dysesthesia]].

====Negative symptoms====
Negative symptoms are functions that are normally found in healthy persons, but that are diminished or not present in affected persons. Thus, it is something that has disappeared from a person's normal way of functioning.<ref name="Understanding Psychosis Fact Sheet" /> Examples are social withdrawal, [[apathy]], [[anhedonia|inability to experience pleasure]] and defects in attention control.<ref name = "negative" />

The negative sensory symptoms are diminished or missing sensations. The most common one is numbness. The following terms are used for negative symptoms. [[Hypoesthesia]] (hypesthesia) is a partial loss of sensitivity to moderate stimuli, such as pressure, touch, warmness, coldness, etc. [[Anesthesia]] is the complete loss of sensitivity to stronger stimuli, such as pinprick. [[Hypalgesia]] (analgesia) is loss of sensation to painful stimuli.<ref>''Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine'', 19th edition, [https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=1130&sectionid=79724797 Chapter 31: Numbness, Tingling, and Sensory Loss]</ref>

==Possible causes==
Some symptoms occur in a wide range of disease processes, whereas other symptoms are fairly specific for a narrow range of illnesses. For example, a sudden [[blindness|loss of sight]] in one [[human eye|eye]] has a significantly smaller number of possible causes than [[nausea]] does.

Some symptoms can be misleading to the patient or the medical practitioner caring for them. For example, [[cholecystitis|inflammation of the gallbladder]] often gives rise to pain in the right shoulder, which may understandably lead the patient to attribute the pain to a non-abdominal cause such as muscle [[strain (injury)|strain]].

==Symptom versus sign==
A [[medical sign]] has the potential to be objectively observed by someone other than the patient, whereas a symptom does not. There is a correlation between this difference and the difference between the [[medical history]] and the [[physical examination]]. Symptoms belong only to the history, whereas signs can often belong to both. Clinical signs such as rash and muscle tremors are objectively observable both by the patient and by anyone else. Some signs belong only to the physical examination, because it takes medical expertise to uncover them. (For example, laboratory signs such as [[hypocalcaemia]] or [[neutropenia]] require [[blood test]]s to find.) A sign observed by the patient last week but now gone (such as a resolved rash) was a sign, but it belongs to the medical history, not the physical examination, because the physician cannot independently verify it today.

==Symptomatology==
Symptomatology (also called semiology) is a branch of [[medicine]] dealing with symptoms.<ref name="BMA">{{cite book |author=The British Medical Association (BMA) |date=2002 |title=Illustrated Medical Dictionary |publisher=A Dorling Kindersley Book |page=406 |isbn=978-0-75-133383-1}}</ref> Also this study deals with the signs and indications of a [[disease]].<ref>{{cite book |author=David A. Bedworth, Albert E. Bedworth |title=The Dictionary of Health Education |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SihnDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA484 |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-534259-8 |pages=484 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509174430/https://books.google.com/books?id=SihnDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA484 |archivedate=2018-05-09 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
*[[:Category: Symptoms]]
*[[List of medical symptoms]]
*[[Pathogenesis]]
*''[[Sinthome]]''
*[[Symptomatic treatment]]
*[[Medical sign]]
{{colend}}

==References==
<references />

{{Medical terms to describe disease conditions}}

{{Symptoms and signs}}

[[Category:Medical terminology]]
[[Category:Symptoms| ]]

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