Iatrogenic illness (or injury) Health Dictionary

Illness, disease, or imbalances created by medical or nonmedical treatment that were not present before treatment. In medicine the therapy is blamed (not the therapist) and changed to something else. In alternative medicine it may be called a “healing crisis” and deemed good for you. Beware: if the therapy makes you feel worse in a new way, it is almost always the wrong therapy.... iatrogenic

All forms of illness in which psychological, emotional or behavioural disturbances are the dominating feature. The term is relative and variable in different cultures, schools of thought and definitions. It includes a wide range of types and severities.... mental illness

Any injury to the head, whether associated with a skull fracture (see BONE, DISORDERS OF – Bone fractures) or not. Patients with head injuries should be assessed for signs of neurological damage, which may not develop at once. Patients who after a head injury are or have been UNCONSCIOUS or who are drowsy, vomiting, confused or have any focal neurological signs – for example, blurred vision or a motor or sensory malfunction – should be seen by a doctor. Particular care should be taken with individuals who have consumed alcohol and sustained a head injury in a ?ght, fall or vehicle accident. Symptoms indicative of a severe head injury may be attributed (wrongly) to the effects of alcohol, and crucial time thus lost in treating the injury.

In hospital the possible need for urgent action is monitored by use of the GLASGOW COMA SCALE.

People suffering the results of such injuries and their relatives can obtain help and advice from Headway – the brain injury association.... head injury

A person’s own perceptions, experience and evaluation of a disease or condition, or how he or she feels. For example, an individual may feel pain, discomfort, weakness, depression or anxiety, but a disease may or may not be present.... illness

An injury to the neck region caused by the neck being forcibly bent backwards and forwards (or the other way around). Car accidents are a common cause, when a driver or passenger is suddenly decelerated. The injury usually affects the ligaments, spinal joints and soft tissues of the neck. Subluxation (partial dislocation) of a cervical joint sometimes occurs and cervical vertebra may occasionally be fractured if the forces are severe. Pain and sti?ness of the neck result and these may worsen after a day or so. Treatment includes immobilisation of the neck in a collar, and analgesic and muscle-relaxing drugs. PHYSIOTHERAPY may be necessary. The patient usually recovers fully but may take several weeks to do so.... whiplash injury

Also known as caisson disease, this affects workers operating in compressed-air environments, such as underwater divers and workers in caissons (such as an ammunition wagon, a chest of explosive materials, or a strong case for keeping out the water while the foundations of a bridge are being built; derived from the French caisse, meaning case or chest). Its chief symptoms are pains in the joints and limbs (bends); pain in the stomach; headache and dizziness; and paralysis. Sudden death may occur. The condition is caused by the accumulation of bubbles of nitrogen in di?erent parts of the body, usually because of too-rapid decompression when the worker returns to normal atmospheric presure – a change that must be made gradually.... compressed air illness

The personal cost of acute or chronic disease. The cost to the patient may be an economic, social or psychological cost or loss to himself, his family or community. The cost of illness may be reflected in absenteeism, productivity, response to treatment, peace of mind, quality of life, etc. It differs from health care costs in that this concept is restricted to the cost of providing services related to the delivery of health care, rather than the impact on the personal life of the patient. See “burden of disease”.... cost of illness

Disease induced by a physician: most commonly a drug-induced disease.... iatrogenic disease

Accidental perforation of the skin by an injection needle, commonly of the hand or ?nger and usually by a nurse or doctor administering a therapeutic injection. The term also refers to accidental injuries from injection needles discarded by drug abusers. Dangerous infections such as viral HEPATITIS or HIV may be acquired from needle-stick injuries, and there are strict procedures about the disposal of used syringes and needles in medical settings.... needle-stick injury

See child abuse.... nonaccidental injury

(RSI) An overuse injury that affects keyboard workers and musicians, causing weakness and pain in the wrists and fingers.... repetitive strain injury

A disease which is characterized by a single or repeated episode of relatively rapid onset and short duration from which the patient usually returns to his/her normal or previous state or level of activity. An acute episode of a chronic disease (for example, an episode of diabetic coma in a patient with diabetes) is often treated as an acute disease.... acute disease / illness

A determination of the economic impact of a disease or health condition, including treatment costs.... cost-of-illness analysis

An illness suffered by divers when diving too deep, or too long and characterised bynitrogen bubbles forming in the tissues of the body. This may cause a multitude of symptoms although joint pains are those most-commonly encountered. Confusion may be caused in divers that have suffered an Irukandji sting as the symptoms have some similarities. See also, cerebral gas embolism.... decompression illness (dci)

See MUNCHAUSEN’S SYNDROME.... fabricated and induced illness

(See also CHILD ABUSE). Though NAI has traditionally been seen as abuse against children – and they are still the main victims – such injuries can also be in?icted on vulnerable adults. Adults with learning diffculties, dementias or physical disabilities su?ciently serious as to require institutional care (or who make heavy demands on relatives) are sometimes the victims of NAI. Health professionals, social workers and relatives should bear this possibility in mind when discovering unusual, severe or repeated bruising or fractures in vulnerable adults, even in circumstances where NAI may seem unlikely. (See also MUNCHAUSEN’S SYNDROME; PAEDOPHILIA.)... non-accidental injury (nai)

See UPPER LIMB DISORDERS.... repetitive strain injury (rsi)

A risk prediction system to correlate the “seriousness” of a disease in a particular person with the statistically “expected” outcome.... severity of illness

An illness for which there is no known cure.... terminal illness

Trauma Injury to the urethra is often the result of severe trauma to the pelvis – for example, in a car accident or as the result of a fall. Trauma can also result from catheter insertion (see CATHETERS) or the insertion of foreign bodies into the urethra. The signs are the inability to pass urine, and blood at the exit of the urethra. The major complication of trauma is the development of a urethral stricture (see below).

Urethritis is in?ammation of the urethra from infection.

Causes The sexually transmitted disease GONORRHOEA affects the urethra, mainly in men, and causes severe in?ammation and urethritis. Non-speci?c urethritis (NSU) is an in?ammation of the urethra caused by one of many di?erent micro-organisms including BACTERIA, YEAST and CHLAMYDIA.

Symptoms The classic signs and symptoms are a urethral discharge associated with urethral pain, particularly on micturition (passing urine), and DYSURIA.

Treatment This involves taking urethral swabs, culturing the causative organism and treating it with the appropriate antibiotic. The complications of urethritis include stricture formation.

Stricture This is an abrupt narrowing of the urethra at one or more places. Strictures can be a result of trauma or infection or a congenital abnormality from birth. Rarely, tumours can cause strictures.

Symptoms The usual presenting complaint is one of a slow urinary stream. Other symptoms include hesitancy of micturition, variable stream and terminal dribbling. Measurement of the urine ?ow rate may help in the diagnosis, but often strictures are detected during cystoscopy (see CYSTOSCOPE).

Treatment The traditional treatment was the periodic dilation of the strictures with ‘sounds’

– solid metal rods passed into the urethra. However, a more permanent solution is achieved by cutting the stricture with an endoscopic knife (optical urethrotomy). For more complicated long or multiple strictures, an open operation (urethroplasty) is required.... urethra, diseases of and injury to

A number of different mental and emotional conditions may arise. Some are hereditary, others acquired through anxiety and a sense of insecurity. A sound constitution and strong nervous system are a bulwark against disintegration of the personality. For this purpose nerve restoratives and anxiolytics are indicated.

Alternatives. Teas: German Chamomile, Oats, Skullcap, Valerian, Gotu Kola. Tablets. Devil’s Claw, Ginseng, Pulsatilla, Mistletoe, Motherwort, Valerian. Gotu Kola: used extensively in traditional Indian medicine for mental ailments. Diet. Protein, Salt-free. Lacto-vegetarian.

Vitamins. B-complex, B1; B6; B12; Niacin, Folic Acid. C, E, F. Minerals. Dolomite. Zinc. ... emotional illness

Damage sustained during birth. Minor injuries, such as bruising and swelling of the scalp during a vaginal delivery (see cephalhaematoma) are common. More serious injury can occur, particularly if the baby is excessively large and has difficulty in passing through the birth canal. A breech delivery may result in injury to nerves in the shoulder, causing temporary paralysis in the arm. The face may be paralysed temporarily if the facial nerve is traumatized by forceps. Fractured bones are another hazard of difficult deliveries, but the bones usually heal easily. (See also birth defects; brain damage.)... birth injury

Localized tissue damage caused by chilling, the most serious form of which is frostbite. Cold injury is distinct from hypothermia, which refers to chilling of the whole body.

In frostbite, an area of skin and flesh becomes frozen, hard, and white as a result of exposure to very cold, dry air.

Sometimes there is restriction of the blood supply to the affected area.

Another type of cold injury, immersion foot, occurs when the legs and feet are kept cold and damp for hours or days.

The main risk of both conditions is that blood flow will be slowed so much that the tissues will die, leading to gangrene.

Less serious forms of cold injury include chilblains and chapped skin.... cold injury

Harm to any part of the body.

It may arise from many causes, including physical influences (for example, force, heat, cold, electricity, vibration, and radiation), chemical causes (for example, poisons), bites, or oxygen deprivation.... injury

Accidental puncture of the skin by a contaminated hypodermic needle. Hospital staff are most likely to be at risk. Needlestick injuries carry the risk of serious infections, such as HIV and hepatitis, and need immediate attention. The wound should be cleaned thoroughly; blood tests may be needed to determine whether infection has been transmitted.... needlestick injury

The act of deliberately injuring oneself. Self-mutilation most often occurs in young adults, many of whom are also drug or alcohol abusers, and is 3 times more common in women. It may take the form of cutting the wrists or burning the forearms with cigarettes. In some, it is a means of dealing with stress, such as that caused by child abuse.

More unusual forms of self-harm, such as mutilating the genitals, are usually due to psychosis. Self-destructive biting is a feature of Lesch–Nyhan syndrome, a rare metabolic disorder.... self-injury

Damage to the tissues caused by the passage of an electric current through the body and by its associated heat release. The internal tissues of the body, being moist and salty, are good conductors of electricity. Dry skin provides a high resistance to current flow, but moist skin has a low resistance and thus allows a substantial current to flow into the body. Serious injury or death from domestic voltage levels is thus more likely to occur in the presence of water.

All except the mildest electric shocks may result in unconsciousness. Alternating current (AC) is more dangerous than direct current (DC) because it causes sustained muscle contractions, which may prevent the victim from letting go of the source of the current. A current as small as 0.1 of an amp passing through the heart can cause a fatal arrhythmia. The same current passing through the brainstem may cause the heart to stop beating and breathing to cease. Larger currents, generated by high voltages, may cause charring of tissues, especially where the current enters and exits the body. ... electrical injury

A mental disorder that is characterized by a disturbance of mood. The disturbance may be unipolar (consisting of either depression or mania) or bipolar (swinging between the two). In a severe form that is sometimes referred to as manic– depressive psychosis, there may also be grandiose ideas or negative delusions.

Abnormalities in brain biochemistry, or in the structure and/or function of certain nerve pathways within the brain, could underlie manic–depressive illness. An inherited tendency is also an established causative factor.Severe manic–depressive illness often needs hospital treatment. Antidepressant drugs and/or ECT are used to treat depression, and antipsychotic drugs are given to control manic symptoms. Carbamazepine or lithium may be used to prevent relapse.

Group therapy, family therapy, and individual psychotherapy may be useful in treatment. Cognitive–behavioural therapy may also be helpful. With treatment, more than 80 per cent of patients improve or remain stable. Even those with severe illness may be restored to near normal health with lithium.... manic–depressive illness

Illnesses, disorders, or injuries that result from exposure to chemicals or dust, or are due to physical, psychological, or biological factors in the workplace.

Pneumoconiosis is fibrosis of the lung due to inhalation of industrial dusts, such as coal. Asbestosis is associated with asbestos in industry. Allergic alveolitis is caused by organic dusts (see farmer’s lung).

Industrial chemicals can damage the lungs if inhaled, or other major organs if they enter the bloodstream via the lungs or skin. Examples include fumes of cadmium, beryllium, lead, and benzene. Carbon tetrachloride and vinyl chloride are causes of liver disease. Many of these compounds can cause kidney damage. Work-related skin disorders include contact dermatitis and squamous cell carcinoma. Rare infectious diseases that are more common in certain jobs include brucellosis and Q fever (from livestock), psittacosis (from birds), and leptospirosis (from sewage). People who work with blood or blood products are at increased risk of viral hepatitis (see hepatitis, viral) and AIDS, as are healthcare professionals. The nuclear industry and some healthcare professions use measures to reduce the danger from radiation hazards. Other occupational disorders include writer’s cramp, carpal tunnel syndrome, singer’s nodes, Raynaud’s phenomenon, deafness, and cataracts.... occupational disease and injury

Also called repetitive strain injury, a term, for any injury caused by repetitive movement of part of the body. Symptoms include pain and stiffness in the affected joints and muscles.

Examples include epicondylitis: painful inflammation of one of the bony prominences at the elbow, caused by the pull of the attached forearm muscles during strenuous activities (see golfer’s elbow; tennis elbow).

Overuse injuries of the fingers, thumb, and wrist joints may affect assembly-line and keyboard workers, and musicians; injuries of the neck may affect violinists.

Rest relieves the symptoms.

A change in the technique used during the activity may prevent recurrence.... overuse injury

Damage to the tissues (see ligament; tendon; muscle) that surround bones and joints.... soft-tissue injury

a quick method for determining the severity of a case of serious trauma. It can be used for purposes of *triage and *clinical audit.... abbreviated injury scale

see AKI.... acute kidney injury

a US term for a health condition that severely affects an individual’s physical, mental, social, or economic wellbeing, lasts for an extended period of time, and (usually) requires very expensive treatment. In practice, the definition varies from government agency to agency and from employer to employer. The definition may focus specifically on the economic burden, the time lost from work, the seriousness of the condition, or a combination of these.... catastrophic illness

see hypochondria.... illness anxiety disorder

(injury severity scale, ISS) a system used, particularly in *triage, for grading the severity of an injury. See also abbreviated injury scale.... injury scoring system

(OASIS) a spectrum of injuries that encompasses both third- and fourth-degree *perineal tears. Injury to the anal sphincter mechanism during childbirth may arise secondarily to direct disruption of the sphincter muscles and/or traction of the pudendal nerves. Disruption of the anal sphincter muscles is best assessed by anal ultrasound examination. This is usually performed using a high-frequency (10 MHz) endoanal probe. In selected cases with complex injury and/or suspected rectovaginal *fistula, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may also be employed.... obstetric anal sphincter injury

a penetrating injury by a ski stick.... ski-stick injury

any injury related to the practice of a sport, often resulting from the overuse and stretching of muscles, tendons, and ligaments.... sports injury

(TBI) injury to the brain due to external force, such as occurs following falls, road traffic accidents, and violence. It is a major cause of death and chronic disability worldwide, especially in young males.... traumatic brain injury