Define the following medical term: Prodrome
Question:
Define the following medical term:
Prodrome
Why it's important to catch diseases early!
An early diagnosis of any disease aids in future care and treatment. It allows people to plan ahead while they are able to take vital decisions regarding their care, support needs, financial, and legal matters. One prime example is early detection of cancer. Being able to catch cancer in its early stage can save lives. If diagnosed at an early stage, cancer could be small and restricted to a small area which can be treated successfully. However, if cancer is detected at a later stage, effectiveness of the treatment lowers and the chance of survival also decreases.
Answer and Explanation: 1
Prodrome is referred to as an early symptom or sign that often indicates onset of a disease, before more drastic or diagnostical symptoms or signs develop. Prodromes can be non-specific symptoms such as fever, headache, or lack of appetite found in many infective disorders, or they can be specific to a particular disease. During delivery, a pregnant woman may suffer with prodromal labour, which are early signs of labour that can easily be mistaken for "false labour".
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Chapter 2 / Lesson 8Particular suffixes are used to reference symptoms and signs of illness in medicine. Learn several examples of the suffixes used in medical language to see how they are helpful with categorization and consistency.