Asymptomatic (or clinically silent) is an adjective categorising the medical conditions (i.e., injuries or

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

s) that patients carry but without experiencing their symptoms, despite an explicit diagnosis (e.g., a positive medical test). Pre-symptomatic is the adjective categorising the time periods during which the medical conditions are asymptomatic. Subclinical and paucisymptomatic are other adjectives categorising either the asymptomatic infections (i.e.,

subclinical infection A subclinical infection—sometimes called a preinfection or inapparent infection—is an infection by a pathogen that causes few or no signs or symptoms of infection in the host. Subclinical infections can occur in both humans and animals. Dep ...

s), or the psychosomatic illnesses and

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

s expressing a subset of symptoms but not the entire set an explicit medical diagnosis requires.

Examples

An example of an asymptomatic disease is cytomegalovirus (CMV) which is a member of the herpes virus family. "It is estimated that 1% of all newborns are infected with CMV, but the majority of infections are asymptomatic." (Knox, 1983; Kumar et al. 1984) In some diseases, the proportion of asymptomatic cases can be important. For example, in

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

it is estimated that around 25% of the cases are asymptomatic, with these cases detected postmortem or just by coincidence (as incidental findings) while treating other diseases.

Importance

Knowing that a condition is asymptomatic is important because: * It may be contagious, and the contribution of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections to the transmission level of a disease helps set the required control measures to keep it from spreading. * It is not required that a person undergo treatment. It does not cause later medical problems such as

high blood pressure Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms itself. It is, however, a major ri ...

and hyperlipidaemia. * Be alert to possible problems: asymptomatic hypothyroidism makes a person vulnerable to

Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), colloquially referred to as wet brain syndrome, is the combined presence of Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) and Korsakoff syndrome. Due to the close relationship between these two disorders, people with either ar ...

or beri-beri following

intravenous Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutr ...

glucose. * For some conditions, treatment during the asymptomatic phase is vital. If one waits until symptoms develop, it is too late for survival or to prevent damage.

Mental health

Subclinical or subthreshold conditions are those for which the full diagnostic criteria are not met and have not been met in the past, although symptoms are present. This can mean that symptoms are not severe enough to merit a diagnosis, or that symptoms are severe but do not meet the criteria of a condition.

List

These are conditions for which there is a sufficient number of documented individuals that are asymptomatic that it is clinically noted. For a complete list of asymptomatic infections see

. * Balanitis xerotica obliterans * Benign lymphoepithelial lesion * Cardiac shunt * Carotid artery dissection * Carotid bruit * Cavernous hemangioma * Chloromas (Myeloid sarcoma) *

Cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

* Chronic myelogenous leukemia * Coeliac disease *

Coronary artery disease Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), or ischemic heart disease (IHD), is a type of cardiovascular disease, heart disease involving Ischemia, the reduction of blood flow to the cardiac muscle due to a build-up ...

Coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include f ...

* Cowpox * Diabetic retinopathy * Essential fructosuria * Flu or

Influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

strains * Folliculosebaceous cystic hamartoma * Glioblastoma multiforme (occasionally) * Glucocorticoid remediable aldosteronism *

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PDD), also known as favism, is the most common enzyme deficiency anemia worldwide. It is an inborn error of metabolism that predisposes to red blood cell breakdown. Most of the time, those who ar ...

Hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

* Hereditary elliptocytosis * Herpes *

Heterophoria Heterophoria is an eye condition in which the directions that the eyes are pointing at rest position, when ''not'' performing binocular fusion, are not the same as each other, or, "not straight". This condition can be esophoria, where the eyes ...

* Human coronaviruses (common cold germs) * Hypertension (high blood pressure) *

Histidinemia Histidinemia is a rare autosomal recessive metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency of the enzyme histidase. Histidase is needed for the metabolism of the amino acid histidine. Although originally thought to be linked to multiple developmental ...

* HIV (

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

) * HPV * Hyperaldosteronism * hyperlipidaemia * Hyperprolinemia type I * Hypothyroidism * Hypoxia (some cases) *

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), also known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or immune thrombocytopenia, is an Autoimmunity, autoimmune primary disorder of hemostasis characterized by a low platelet count in the absence of other cause ...

* Iridodialysis (when small) * Lesch–Nyhan syndrome (female carriers) * Levo-Transposition of the great arteries *

Measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

* Meckel's diverticulum * Microvenular hemangioma *

Mitral valve prolapse Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a valvular heart disease characterized by the displacement of an abnormally thickened mitral valve leaflet into the atria of the heart, left atrium during Systole (medicine), systole. It is the primary form of myxom ...

Monkeypox Mpox (, ; formerly known as monkeypox) is an infectious viral disease that can occur in humans and other animals. Symptoms include a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over, fever, and lymphadenopathy, swollen lymph nodes. The illness ...

* Monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis * Myelolipoma * Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease * Optic disc pit *

Osteoporosis Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to more porous bone, and consequent increase in Bone fracture, fracture risk. It is the most common reason f ...

* Pertussis (whooping cough) * Pes cavus * Poliomyelitis * Polyorchidism *

Pre-eclampsia Pre-eclampsia is a multi-system disorder specific to pregnancy, characterized by the new onset of hypertension, high blood pressure and often a significant amount of proteinuria, protein in the urine or by the new onset of high blood pressure a ...

* Prehypertension * Protrusio acetabuli * Pulmonary contusion * Renal tubular acidosis * Rubella *

Smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

(extinct since the 1980s) * Spermatocele * Sphenoid wing meningioma * Spider angioma * Splenic infarction (though not typically) *

Subarachnoid hemorrhage Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area between the arachnoid (brain), arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the human brain, brain. Symptoms may include a thunderclap headache, severe heada ...

* Tonsillolith *

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

Type II diabetes Type 2 diabetes (T2D), formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent ...

Typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

* Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia * Varicella (chickenpox) * Wilson's disease Millions of women reported lack of symptoms during

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

until the point of

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to ...

or the beginning of labor; they didn't know they were pregnant. This phenomenon is known as cryptic pregnancies.

References

{{Wiktionary Medical terminology Symptoms

Examples

Importance

Mental health

List

See also

References