If they say “idiopathic” about the case of the disease, it means “peculiar”, “having unknown reasons”; that is, the origin of this condition is not associated with other conditions or diseases of the patient.
What are idiopathic diseases?
Applying the term “idiopathy” to a disease or pathological condition, clinicians emphasize the obscurity of its etiology.
An idiopathic disease is not a manifestation, symptom, or consequence of another pathology. It is primary and is not associated with any addiction to other health 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 detected during the examination and described by the patient.
In the case of an integrated individual approach, a completely successful treatment of idiopathic diseases is possible.
When formulating the diagnosis, the doctor, along with the name of the pathology, indicates the sign of "idiopathic." This means that we are talking about an independent disease (example: "juvenile idiopathic arthritis").
Is it possible to predict?
In some cases, it is only possible to establish a set of provoking factors that can provoke one or another idiopathic disease, and thus outline the approximate boundaries of risk groups for each of the known pathologies.
Within this risk group, this disease will indeed occur more often, however, a clear quantitative dependence has not been established.
Examples
- Fibrosing alveolitis, classified as idiopathic. This is a pathological process localized in the alveoli of the lungs, leading to their compaction and infiltration by connective tissue, which is still unclear in nature.Provocative factors are known; at risk are people who have regular contact with silicate, asbestos, metal or wood dust, as well as tobacco smoke.
- Idiopathic purpura. The disease is characteristic of 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 severe hyperkinetic phenomena, balance disorders and vocalization. In some cases, there is obsessive speech. Cases of manifestation of this form of the disease are known without any provoking factors. However, a number of cases coincide with external adverse effects (in particular, the case of the development of pathology after a child has taken a potent drug is known).