Diagnosis

(noun)

Diagnosis of infectious disease sometimes involves identifying an infectious agent either directly or indirectly. In practice most minor infectious diseases such as warts, cutaneous abscesses, respiratory system infections and diarrheal diseases are diagnosed by their clinical presentation.

Related Terms

Examples of Diagnosis in the following topics:

  • Disease Diagnosis

    • Medical diagnosis or the actual process of making a diagnosis is a cognitive process.
    • A diagnostic test is any kind of medical test performed to aid in the diagnosis or detection of disease.
    • The resultant diagnostic opinion by this method can be regarded more or less as a diagnosis of exclusion.
    • When making a medical diagnosis, a lag time is a delay in time until a step towards diagnosis of a disease or condition is made.
    • Types of lag times are mainly onset-to-medical encounter lag time or the time from onset of symptoms until visiting a health care provider and encounter-to-diagnosis lag time or the time from first medical encounter to diagnosis.

  • Specimen Collection

    • Laboratory diagnosis of diseases begins with the collection of a clinical specimen for examination or processing in the laboratory.
    • Laboratory diagnosis of an infectious disease begins with the collection of a clinical specimen for examination or processing in the laboratory.
    • The laboratory, with the help of well-chosen techniques and methods for rapid isolation and identification, confirms the diagnosis.
    • Another type of specimen used for disease diagnosis is cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
    • Describe how laboratory diagnosis of disease begins with the collection of a clinical specimen for examination and processing

  • Gender Dysphoria

    • Gender dysphoria is a controversial diagnosis characterized by a person's discontent with the sex and gender they were assigned at birth.
    • The DSM-5 also moved this diagnosis out of the sexual disorders category and into a category of its own.  
    • The diagnosis for children has been separated from that for adults.
    • The previous diagnosis of gender identity disorder (GID) caused a great deal of controversy.
    • The diagnosis remains controversial today.

  • Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)

    • Different tests can be used for diagnosis such as pelvic ultrasound and laboratory tests for STIs.
    • Usually, more than one test is needed for proper diagnosis.
    • Early diagnosis and treatment are critical to limit the spread of the infection to the lower part of the tract and to avoid long term consequences.

  • Bacterial Vaginosis

    • For diagnosis in the clinical practice, a swab from the vaginal wall is obtained and examined with a few different tests called the Amsel criteria:
    • At least three of these tests have to be positive for conclusive diagnosis.
    • Describe the symptoms, causes and methods of diagnosis for bacterial vaginosis

  • Diagnosing Microbial Diseases

    • Diagnosis of microbial diseases calls upon numerous techniques to help identify and characterize the pathogenic agent.
    • The parasite responsible for Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, requires a vector for diagnosis.
    • An additional tool utilized for microbial disease diagnosis is microscopy.
    • Biochemical tests are also used to help in microbial disease diagnosis.

  • Somatic Symptom Disorders

    • The diagnosis of somatic symptom disorders is historically rooted in the late 18th century diagnosis of "hysteria," which is now considered obsolete.
    • In 1980 the American Psychiatric Association replaced the diagnosis of hysteria in the DSM with more precisely defined conditions and symptoms, such as somatization disorder.
    • Their replacement, somatic symptom disorder, has the following criteria for diagnosis:
    • Somatic symptom disorder is a controversial diagnosis.
    • Consequently, any person suffering from a poorly understood physical illness could be seen as fulfilling the criteria for this psychiatric diagnosis.

  • Asthma

    • Its diagnosis is usually made based on the pattern of symptoms and/or response to therapy over time.
    • The diagnosis is usually made based on the pattern of symptoms (airways obstruction and hyperresponsiveness) and/or response to therapy (partial or complete reversibility) over time.
    • Their guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma state that a diagnosis of asthma begins by assessing for the presence of multiple key indicators such as wheezing, coughing, or viral infections which will increases the probability of a diagnosis of asthma.
    • Spirometry is needed to establish a diagnosis of asthma.
    • Upon diagnosis, bronchodilators are recommended for short-term relief of symptoms.

  • Prenatal Diagnostic Tests

    • Prenatal diagnosis is a way to screen a fetus for diseases and/or conditions that may increase morbidity and/or mortality.
    • Prenatal diagnosis and prenatal screening are methods for testing for diseases or conditions in a fetus or embryo before it is born.
    • There are three purposes of prenatal diagnosis: (1) to enable timely medical or surgical treatment of a condition before (fetal therapy) or after birth, (2) to give the parents the chance to decide to abort a fetus with the diagnosed condition, and (3) to give parents the chance to prepare psychologically, socially, financially, and medically for a baby with a health problem or disability, or for the likelihood of a stillbirth.
    • In the case of neural tube defects, a detailed ultrasound can noninvasively provide a definitive diagnosis.
    • The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines currently recommend that all pregnant women, regardless of age, be offered invasive testing to obtain a definitive diagnosis of certain birth defects.

  • Reflexes and Diagnosis