disease
(diz-ēz' 
)
[Fr. desaise, fr. des, from + aise, ease]
A condition marked by subjective complaints, a specific history, clinical signs and symptoms, and laboratory or radiographic findings. Disease and illness differ in that disease is usually objective and tangible or measurable, whereas illness (and associated pain, suffering, or distress) is subjective and personal. Thus, a person may have a serious but symptom-free disease (such as hypertension) without illness. Conversely, a person may be extremely ill (such as with posttraumatic stress disorder) but have no obvious evidence of disease.
Particular diseases are listed under the first word.
SEE: e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; foot and mouth disease; inflammatory bowel disease; table - Fungal Diseases.
ABBR: ATD
Any disease caused by the inhalation of dusts, gases, or airborne pathogens. Examples include colds, influenza, and tuberculosis.anticipated d.A disease that may be predicted to occur in people with certain genetic, physical, or environmental predispositions.
ABBR: CD
A disease that may be transmitted directly or indirectly from one person to another.SEE: table - Method of Transmission of Some Common Communicable Diseases.
complex d.A disease that appears to run in families but whose expression also appears to be influenced by environmental factors.
congenital d.A disease that is present at birth. It may be due to hereditary factors, prenatal infection, injury, or the effect of a drug the mother took during pregnancy.
ABBR: CD
Any disease, usually an infectious disease, readily transmitted from one person to another.diverticular d.A general term for diverticulosis and diverticulitis.
SEE: diverticulitis; diverticulosis.
evaluable d.In cancer treatment, disease that is measurable, i.e., a disease whose response to treatment can be objectively monitored.
hereditary d.Inherited disease.
hypokinetic d.Any illness produced by lack of physical exercise.
inherited d.A disease caused by genetic factors transmitted from parent to offspring. SYN: hereditary disease.
SEE: table - Inherited Diseases and Conditions: a Brief List.
monogenic d.A disease that is inherited from one generation to the next in classic mendelian fashion.
neglected d.Any disease affecting a large number of people, esp. in developing nations, who receive little attention from governments, medical researchers, and pharmaceutical companies. The term is used to raise social awareness of the illness among public health practitioners and citizens of Western nations. Examples of neglected diseases include Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, malaria, malnutrition, sleeping sickness, and tuberculosis.
(nŏn‵kŭm-ū'nĭ-kă-bĭl )
orphan d.An illness that is so rare that it receives little attention from medical researchers or the pharmaceutical industry. In the U.S., it is an illness that affects less than 200,000 people.
SEE: National Organization for Rare Disorders.
rare d.In the U.S., a disease that affects no more than 200,000 people. Many diseases that are considered rare in the U.S. are mono-genetically inherited, i.e., they are caused by a change in a single gene.
residual d.In cancer therapy, malignant cells or tumor masses that remain in the body after appropriate treatment has been given.
secondary d.A disease caused by another disease, e.g., diseases of the joints and muscles of the lower limbs caused by obesity because of the increased stress of carrying the added weight.
stable d.In oncology, cancer that neither responds to treatment nor worsens significantly during treatment.
subacute d.A disease in which symptoms are less pronounced but more prolonged than in an acute disease, intermediate between acute and chronic disease.
systemic d.A generalized disease rather than a localized or focal one.