"UNIDAD 7"

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

SIGN:
Is any abnormality of the body a physician may discover on examination of the patient.
It’s an abnormality apparent to an examiner (and sometimes to the patient).

Examples:

- Swelling
- Blue discoloration around the eye
- Slow heartbeat
- Pale complexion
- Fever
- Coughing
- Eyes closed, no response
- Koplik´s spot
- Kayser-Fleischer ring

SYMPTOM:
Is also evidence of an abnormality in structure or function. However, the patient experiences a
symptom through one or more of the five organs of sense: Sight (Eye), Smell (Nose), Taste
(Tongue), Hearing (Ear) and Touch (Hand/Skin). The patient feels, tastes, or hears something that
is out of the ordinary and tells the examiner about it.
It’s any change in body function or structure that the patient sees, hears, tastes, smells or feels
(and many not be apparent to an observer). A bodily change the patient perceives.

Examples:

- Tinkling sound in the ear

- Sourness in the mouth
- Ammonia sensation in the nose
- Painful elbow
- Pain in the heel
- Chills
- Nausea
- Edema: fluid in the tissues.
- Atrophy: a wasting away or shrinking of tissues, an organ, or the whole body. It’s an observable
sign of disease. 💪 🚫
- Hypertrophy: overdevelopment. 💪 ⬆️
- Hypotrophy: underdevelopment. 💪 ⬇️

- Nausea: sickness of the stomach with a desire to vomit.

- (Mal de mer): is the French term meaning “motion sickness” (feeling nauseous).
- (Malaise): is a French word literally meaning ill at ease.
- Emesis: it’s the product of vomiting.
- Cholemesis: bile in the vomitus.
- Hematemesis: blood in the vomitus.
- Emetic: pertaining to or related to vomit.

- Orexia: appetite. 🍴
- Anorexia: without appetite or loss of appetite. 😟
- Oreximania: an abnormal desire (madness) for food or an uncontrollable appetite. 🍴⬆️
- Orexigenic: something that produces or originates appetite. 😋

- Vertigo: It’s the sensation of turning around in space or having objects move around. 💫
- Tinnitus: is a jingling or tinkling sound in the ear. 👂🔔

VITAL SIGNS:
[They are evidence that/It’s evidence] a patient is alive (health indicators). Body temperature, pulse
rate, and rate of respiration are vital signs because they provide continous information about the
essential processes of the body. If one of these signs is absent, the patient is dead (or in big trouble).

Body temperature, pulse and respiration are very important vital signs.

Vital signs can be measured.

1.- TEMPERATURE (T)

Body temperature is a measure of how well our body can make and get rid of heat. Normal body
temperature is 98.6 °F (Fahrenheit).

Temperature conversion °F – 32 /1.8 = °C

Body temperature increases in a hot environment and during physical exercise. Many diseases,
serious and not serious, cause a patient´s temperature to rise.
Elevated body temperature is called fever. 🌡🔥
 Low fever is 99°F (37.2°C) to 101°F (38.3°C). 😓
 Moderate fever is 101°F to 103°F (39.4°C). 😟
 High fever is 103°F to 105°F (40.5°C). 🤒

A patient who is afebrile has a normal body temperature of 98.6°F (37°C).

“Pyro” is a word root meaning fire or heat:

- A pyromaniac has a fondness for watching things burn or starting.

- Pyrexia means feverish. Fever can be observed and measured; therefore, pyrexia is a sign of
disease. It’s elevated body temperature.

- Hyperpirexia is a life-threatening high temperature. When patient´s temperature rise above

106 °F (41°C).

- Pyrogen: something that produces/originates fever.

- Pyrogenic: a virus that produces fever (like measles virus).

- Pyretic: pertaining to or related to fever.

- Antipyretic: against fever (Aspirin is an antipyretic agent).

Anti-means against
- Pyretolysis: to reduce fever.
Lysis means dissolution, reduction or destruction
- Asymptomatic: without symptoms.

Hypothermia refers to body temperature below normal. This is a life-threatening condition.

🌡❄
A patient´s temperature may be lowered safely to about 80°F during surgery. This controlled
procedure reduces the patient´s need for oxygen and makes some surgical procedures safer.

2.- PULSE (P)

Is a rhythmical throbbing of the arterial walls. This throbbing is produced when the heart contracts
and forces an increased volumen of blood into the vessels.

- Throbbing pain: a pulsating and increasing algesia (pain). 💓 😣

Throbbing means pulsating, repeatedly or with increasing force.

The normal pulse of an average adult is 70 to 80 beats per minute. Pulse is usually felt over the
radial artery at the wrist.
- Tachycardia: condition when a patient´s pulse is 100 beats per minute or higher. ❤⬆️

- Bradycardia: a pulse less tan 60 beats per minute. ❤⬇

- Perypheral pulse: 💗➡
 A pulse taken at the wrist or ankle.
 A pulse taken away from the center.
Periphery means outer surface of the body. It is the part of the body away from the center.

- Central pulse: ❤⬅
 A pulse taken with a stethoscope on the chest.
 A pulse taken near the center of the body, where the heart is.

3.- RESPIRATION (P)

- Cheyne-Stokes respiration: It’s a foreboding irregular and unusual pattern of breathing where the
respiration gradually increases in rapidity and volumen until the rate reaches a climax (perhaps 60
to 80 breaths per minute). Then breathing subsides and ceases entirely for up to one minute when
respirations begin again. This condition is due to disturbance of the respiratory center in the brain.
This respiration is cyclical. Breathing that reaches a climax, then ceases before beginning.

↘ ↗ 🚫↘ ↗ 🚫 🔃

- Hyperpnea phase: the phase of respiration at 60 to 80 breaths per minute. 👃💨 ⏫

- Apnea phase: the period when all respiration ceases. 👃💨 🚫

- Tachypnea or Hyperpnea: excessively fast breathing (respiration rate over 25 breaths per
minute). 👃💨 ⬆️

- Bradypnea: Very slow breathing. 👃💨 ⬇

- Dyspnea: A difficult or painful breathing. 👃💨 〽

COLORS (Prefixes)

Leuk/o (White)

 Leuko-cyte: white cell.

Melan/o (BLACK)

 Melano-derma: black skin.

 Melano-blast: an immature black cell.
 Melano-sis: condition of black pigmentation.
 Melan-oma: a tumor that causes black pigmentation of the skin.
 Melano-carcinoma: a malignant tumor that causes black pigmentation.

Erythr/o (Red)

 Erythro-derma: red skin.

 Erythro-blast: An immature red cell.

Cyan/o (Blue)

 Cyan-opia: blue vision. 👁

 Cyano-derma: blue skin.
 Cyan-emia: blue-bloodedness.

Chlor/o (Green)

 Chlor-opia: green vision. 👁

 Chloro-cyte: green cell.

Xanth/o (Yellow)

 Xanth-opsia: yellow vision. 👁

 Xanth-emia: yellowish blood.
TREATMENTS AND DIAGNOSIS

- Diagnosis: is an identification of an illness.

Diagnosing an illness means studying it through its signs and symptoms and other available
information. By evaluating (a) the history of the person´s disease, (b) the signs and symptoms
present, (c) laboratory data, and special tests such as X rays and electrocardiograms (EKG).
- Hemodiagnosis: knowledge through the blood.

A diagnosis may specify that the disease is acute, chronic or paroxysmal.

- Acute: having a rapid onset and a short course.

- Chronic: long, drawn out (like diabetes).

- Paroxysmal: sudden periodic attack or recurrence of symptoms of disease (like a fit or convulsion
of any kind).

- Prognosis: prediction of the course and outcome of an illness (disease).

 Favorable (good) prognosis: when recovery will be (easy after surgery). 😃

 Unfavorable (bad) prognosis: when we expect the patient to (die in 3 to 6 months) or has
little chance of recovering. 😢 ☠
 Guarded prognosis (reserved) on evolution: when recovery will be (long and difficult). ❓

- Prognosticate: to predict the outcome of an illness.

QUALIFIERS AND STATISTICS

QUALIFIERS:
In medical terminology we often use qualifiers. These are adjectives or adverbs that when used
with another word make the meaning of that term more specific.

- Local: means a small area or part of the body.

👏
Examples:
 Anesthesia that he dentist injects to prevent pain before extracting a tooth.
 A skin rash around the neck and ears.
 Acne all over the face.
 A second degree scalding burn over the belly and upper thigh.
 An edema that involves a small area of the body (like a bee sting).

- General or Systemic: involves the whole body or many different areas of the body at the
same time / pertaining to all body systems, or the whole body rather than one of its parts.

🚶
Examples:
 Laughing gas, which puts the patient to sleep.
 Measles macules from stem to stern.
 Reddish purple spots over the trunk of the body and wherever clothing covers the skin.
 An antihistamine effect.
 Excessive fluid may accumulated in the lungs, legs and abdomen.

STATISTICS:
In order to understand the statistics, there are two important terms to know:
MORBIDITY and MORTALITY.

- Morbidity: means a diseased state. It’s a statistic that reports the number of cases of a
disease in a specific population for a specific period of time. It shows the rate of sickness.
👥😷

- Mortality: means the state of being mortal, is a statistic that reports the death rate.
👥💀