Symptom
A symptom is defined as a noticeable patient reported change in their health functions that can be suggestive of a disorder or
disease.
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Someone experiencing
symptoms notices an abnormal change from their typical bodily functions, sensations or appearances. Examples of symptoms include chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, or nausea.
Symptoms should not be confused with "signs" - symptoms are subjective in nature; signs are objective. Symptoms are only felt by the person experiencing them, while signs are visible to an observer like a doctor or nurse. An example of a sign is a rash.
Many disorders and diseases share the same or similar symptoms - fatigue, for example, is a common symptom of many cancers, AIDS, mononucleosis and pneumonia - however, most have specific indicators of more serious disease. For instance, in addition to experiencing shortness of breath and fatigue, someone with lung cancer may also cough up bloody phlegm, suffer from a "smoker's" cough that worsens or have increasing hoarseness.
Some symptoms can be misleading and are sometimes not indicative of the actual disorder. For example, someone experiencing right shoulder pain may believe they've strained a muscle, whereas they may actually be experiencing cholecystitis, or inflammation of the gallbladder.