If a case of a disease is said to be "idiopathic", it means "peculiar", "having unknown causes"; that is, the origin of the condition is not related to other conditions or illnesses in the patient.
What are idiopathic diseases?
When referring to a disease or pathological condition, clinicians emphasize the ambiguity of its etiology by using the term "idiopathy".
An idiopathic disease is not a manifestation, symptom or consequence of another pathology. It is primary and is not associated with any other he alth problems.
Idiopathic disorders can occur in almost all organs and systems of the body. Their diagnosis is based on the registration of anomalies from the work of the affected organs and systems; and treatment - to eliminate the symptoms identified during the examination and described by the patient.
In the case of a comprehensive individual approach, quite successful treatment of idiopathic diseases is possible.
When formulating a diagnosis, the doctor, along with the name of the pathology, indicates the sign "idiopathic". This means that we are talking about an independent disease (example: "juvenile idiopathicarthritis).
Can it be predicted?
In some cases, it is only possible to establish a complex of provoking factors that can provoke a particular idiopathic disease, and thus outline the approximate boundaries of risk groups for each of the known pathologies.
Within such a risk group, this disease will indeed occur more often, but a clear quantitative relationship has not been established.
Examples
- Fibrosing alveolitis classified as idiopathic. This is a pathological process that is localized in the alveoli of the lungs, leading to their compaction and infiltration with connective tissue, of a still unclear nature.
- Idiopathic purpura. The disease is typical for girls in the age group up to 14 years.
- Diseases of generalized tics. One of the variants of its course is idiopathic. This disease is characterized by pronounced hyperkinetic phenomena, balance and vocalization disorders. In some cases, obsessive speech is present. There are cases of manifestation of this form of the disease and without any provoking factors. However, a number of cases coincide with external adverse influences (in particular, there is a known case of the development of pathology after the child took a potent drug).
Provoking factors are known; at risk are people who have regular contact with silicate, asbestos, metal or wood dust, as well as with tobacco smoke.
