An idiopathic disease is any
disease
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
with an unknown cause or mechanism of apparent
spontaneous
Spontaneous may refer to:
* Spontaneous abortion
* Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis
* Spontaneous combustion
* Spontaneous declaration
* Spontaneous emission
* Spontaneous fission
* Spontaneous generation
* Spontaneous human combustion
* Spontan ...
origin.
From
Greek ἴδιος ''idios'' "one's own" and πάθος ''pathos'' "suffering", ''idiopathy'' means approximately "a disease of its own kind". For some medical conditions, one or more causes are somewhat understood, but in a certain percentage of people with the condition, the cause may not be readily apparent or characterized. In these cases, the origin of the condition is said to be idiopathic. With some other medical conditions, the root cause for a large percentage of all cases have not been established—for example,
focal segmental glomerulosclerosis or
ankylosing spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis characterized by long-term inflammation of the joints of the spine typically where the spine joins the pelvis. Occasionally areas affected may include other joints such as the shoulders or hi ...
; the majority of these cases are deemed idiopathic.
Medical advances and this term
Advances in
medical science improve the understanding of causes of diseases and the classification of diseases; thus, regarding any particular condition or disease, as more root causes are discovered and as events that seemed spontaneous have their origins revealed, the percentage of cases designated as idiopathic decreases.
Usage of synonyms
The word ''essential'' is sometimes
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...
ous with ''idiopathic'' (as in
essential hypertension,
essential thrombocythemia, and
essential tremor
Essential tremor (ET), also called benign tremor, familial tremor, and idiopathic tremor, is a medical condition characterized by involuntary rhythmic contractions and relaxations ( oscillations or twitching movements) of certain muscle groups in ...
) and the same is true of ''primary'' (as in
primary biliary cholangitis, or ''primary amenorrhea''), with the latter term being used in such cases to contrast with ''secondary'' in the sense of "secondary to
.e., caused bysome other condition." Another, less common synonym is ''agnogenic'' (''agno-'', "unknown" + ''-gen'', "cause" + ''-ic'').
The word ''cryptogenic'' (''
crypto-'', "hidden" + ''-gen'', "cause" + ''-ic'') has a
sense
A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the world through the detection of stimuli. (For example, in the human body, the brain which is part of the central nervous system re ...
that is synonymous with ''idiopathic''
and a sense that is contradistinguished from it. Some disease classifications prefer the use of the synonymous term cryptogenic disease as in cryptogenic stroke,
and some forms of
epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...
. The use of cryptogenic is also sometimes reserved for cases where it is presumed that the cause is simple and will be found in the future.
Some
congenital conditions are idiopathic, and sometimes the word ''congenital'' is used synonymously with ''idiopathic''; but careful usage prefers to reserve the word ''congenital'' for conditions to which the literal sense of the word applies (that is, those whose pathophysiology has existed since the
neonatal period).
Syndrome without a name
The term syndrome without a name (SWAN) is used "when a child or young adult is believed to have a genetic condition and testing has failed to identify its genetic cause". It is believed that "about half (50%) of children with
learning disabilities and approximately 60% of children with congenital disabilities (disabilities which are apparent from birth) do not have a definitive diagnosis to explain the cause of their difficulties".
See also
*
Diagnosis of exclusion
A diagnosis of exclusion or by exclusion (''per exclusionem'') is a diagnosis of a medical condition reached by a process of elimination, which may be necessary if presence cannot be established with complete confidence from history, examination o ...
*
Embolic stroke of undetermined source
Embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) is a type of ischemic stroke with an unknown origin, defined as a non- lacunar brain infarct without proximal arterial stenosis or cardioembolic sources. As such, it forms a subset of cryptogenic str ...
*
Functional disorder
‘Functional disorder’ is an umbrella term for a group of recognisable medical conditions which are due to changes to the functioning of the systems of the body rather than due to a disease affecting the structure of the body.
Functional disord ...
*
Idiosyncratic drug reaction
Idiosyncratic drug reactions, also known as type B reactions, are drug reactions that occur rarely and unpredictably amongst the population. This is not to be mistaken with idiopathic, which implies that the cause is not known. They frequently o ...
*
Fever of unknown origin
Fever of unknown origin (FUO) refers to a condition in which the patient has an elevated temperature (fever) but, despite investigations by a physician, no explanation has been found.
References
External links
* {{wiktionary-inline
Medical terminology
Nosology