The scientific study of disease Pathology The scientific study of disease

Important Terms Associated with Pathology Diagnosis: identification of the disease Signs: objective abnormalities that can be see or measured by a physician Abnormal heart sounds Symptoms: subjective abnormalities felt by the patient Pain

Acute: signs and symptoms appear quickly and disappear after a short period of time Chronic: diseases that develop slowly and last for a long period of time

Syndrome: collection of different signs and symptoms that present a clear picture of a pathological condition

Etiology: study of cause/causative agent of disease Idiopathic: diseases with undetermined causes Communicable: diseases that can be transmitted from person to another

Epidemiology: study of the occurrence, distribution, and transmission of diseases in humans

Endemic: disease found in a certain geographic region or in a specific race of people Ex. Cholera outbreak in Asia Ex. Malaria is endemic to parts of Africa because it's hot and skeeters love it.

Epidemic: a disease that spreads to an atypically large number of individuals in a certain population, community, or region at the same time The disease eventually subsides Ex. Measles outbreak in California

Pandemic: epidemics that affect entire continents or world wide (global) Ex. HIV/AIDS

Pathophysiology: the organized study of the underlying physiological processes associated with disease What occurs inside a cell over time (we will look at tissue samples to see this)