Symptom is a term with origin in Latin symptōma which, in turn, comes from a word in the Greek language. The concept allows to name the sign or indication of something that is happening or that will happen in the future. For example: “The large number of people asking for coins on the street is a symptom of how badly the economy works in this country”, “A child’s poor school performance is usually a symptom of a bigger problem”, “The researchers affirm that the young man had not shown any symptoms that would allow foreseeing a similar decision”.
In the field of medicine, a symptom is a phenomenon that reveals a illness. The symptom is referred subjectively by the patient when he perceives something abnormal in his body. The sickness, the dizziness, the dysthermia and the drowsiness are symptoms of different conditions: “I told the doctor what symptoms I had and he sent me to do several tests”, “The doctor asked me about the symptoms and I explained that I had frequent dizziness”.
In this sense, it should be emphasized that symptoms become fundamental elements when any health professional can establish a diagnosis in a patient and its subsequent treatment so that the disease or pathology that he has can be cured.
Thus, for example, in the case of heart diseases such as heart attack, the most frequent symptoms experienced by the affected person are discomfort in the chest area, notable difficulty in breathing, fatigue that in principle has no explanation, vomiting and even cold sweat or dizziness.
For their part, those who suffer from anxiety should know that there are many symptoms that they can suffer and that they would make it clear that they are suffering from it. Such is the variety of them that doctors establish that they can be divided into several clearly delimited groups: respiratory, genitourinary, neurological, sensory, mental, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurovegetative, muscular, psychophysical …
Among all of them, those most commonly experienced by people with anxiety problems are tachycardia, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, headaches, sweating, tremors, insomnia, muscle contractures, weakness, fatigue, irritability and even variable mood.
It is important to distinguish between the symptom (commented by the patient) and the clinical sign, which is an objectifiable manifestation noticed by the doctor. The clinical signs become evident in the biology of the sick and reflect a disease. Edema and fever are clinical signs.
Another concept that is often confused with a symptom is the syndrome, which is the clinical picture formed by symptoms and signs and which, due to its characteristics, presents a meaning to the doctor.
In business, the term symptom is also used. In this case, this would be the set of indications that will make clear the situation in which a business finds itself and more precisely that a problem is looming. Hence, experts find it necessary to analyze issues such as poor product quality, high costs or unease among employees.
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