Health-care vocabulary · Topic 2 of 14

Words for Illness Course & Severity

Words for Illness Course & Severity — Set 1

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Vocabulary · illness course & severity

Words for Illness Course & Severity — Set 1

How a condition starts, behaves and ends: acute, chronic, exacerbate, precipitous and prognosis are the core words.

01 · Most testedPrognosis = the predicted outcome

02 · Most testedExacerbate = make worse

03 · Most testedPrecipitous = sudden and rapid (or steep)

Most-tested words

acute (adjective) — sudden, often severe, short-lived

chronic (adjective) — long-lasting or keeps coming back

precipitous (adjective) — very sudden and rapid; also steep

exacerbate (verb) — to make worse

prognosis (noun) — the predicted course and outcome

More words

insidious (adjective) — developing quietly, harm unnoticed

latent (adjective) — present but hidden or inactive

etiology (noun) — the cause of a disease

congenital (adjective) — present from birth

preexisting (adjective) — already present beforehand

deteriorate (verb) — to gradually get worse

recur (verb) — to happen again

fatal (adjective) — causing death

virulent (adjective) — extremely harmful, fast-acting (germ)

abrupt (adjective) — sudden and unexpected

transient (adjective) — brief, passing quickly

ominous (adjective) — warning that something bad is coming

predispose (verb) — to make more likely to develop

labile (adjective) — unstable, quick to change

diffuse (adjective) — spread over a wide area

transmission (noun) — the passing of a disease to others

onset (noun) — the beginning of an illness or symptom

Acute vs chronic

Commonly confused

	Acute	Chronic
Starts	Suddenly	Often slowly
Lasts	A short course	Months or years
Pattern	Often severe	May keep coming back

In a sentence

Show 22 example sentences

acute: The patient came in with acute pain that had started an hour earlier.

chronic: Diabetes is a chronic illness, so the patient will need lifelong care.

insidious: High blood pressure is insidious and can cause no symptoms for years.

latent: The virus can stay latent in the body for years before flaring again.

precipitous: The patient's blood pressure took a precipitous drop on standing up.

exacerbate: Cigarette smoke can exacerbate the patient's asthma.

prognosis: Because the tumor was found early, the patient's prognosis is good.

etiology: The etiology of the patient's cough is still unknown.

congenital: The baby was born with a congenital heart defect.

preexisting: The patient's preexisting asthma made the chest infection more serious.

deteriorate: Overnight, the patient's breathing began to deteriorate.

recur: The infection may recur if the patient stops the medicine early.

fatal: Without treatment, the infection could have been fatal.

virulent: A virulent strain of flu swept quickly through the care home.

abrupt: The abrupt start of the patient's chest pain worried the staff.

transient: The dizziness was transient and gone within a minute.

ominous: A sudden, severe headache can be an ominous sign.

predispose: A family history of heart disease may predispose the patient to a heart attack.

labile: The patient's mood was labile, swinging from laughter to tears.

diffuse: The patient described diffuse pain across the whole abdomen.

transmission: Hand washing cuts the transmission of germs between patients.

onset: The patient could not recall the exact onset of the back pain.

Pearl

Acute starts suddenly and runs a short course; chronic lasts a long time or keeps coming back.

Words for Illness Course & Severity — Set 2

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Vocabulary · illness course & severity

Words for Illness Course & Severity — Set 2

Words for what causes disease, how it spreads and how it ends: pathogenic, exposure, paroxysmal and susceptible lead.

01 · Most testedPathogenic = able to cause disease

02 · Most testedParoxysmal = in sudden, intense attacks

03 · Most testedSusceptible = easily affected or infected

Most-tested words

pathogenic (adjective) — able to cause disease

exposure (noun) — contact with something harmful

paroxysmal (adjective) — in sudden, intense attacks

susceptible (adjective) — easily affected or infected

More words

pathology (noun) — the study of disease

incidence (noun) — the rate of new cases

infection (noun) — germs invading and growing in the body

trauma (noun) — a serious injury or distressing event

dysfunction (noun) — not working normally

complication (noun) — a new problem added to an illness

status (noun) — current condition or state

remission (noun) — a period when symptoms fade or vanish

malignant (adjective) — dangerous, spreading (cancerous)

benign (adjective) — not cancer, not spreading; gentle

bacteria (noun) — single-celled microorganisms

virus (noun) — a tiny germ that multiplies in cells

parasite (noun) — an organism that lives off a host

rampant (adjective) — spreading fast and out of control

focal (adjective) — limited to one spot

debilitating (adjective) — severely weakening

contagious (adjective) — able to spread from person to person

terminal (adjective) — incurable, expected to end in death

Benign vs malignant

Commonly confused

	Benign	Malignant
Cancer?	No	Yes (cancer)
Spreads?	Does not spread	Tends to spread and worsen
Danger	Harmless; also means gentle	Dangerous to health

In a sentence

Show 22 example sentences

pathogenic: Not all bacteria are pathogenic; many live in the gut without harm.

pathology: The tissue sample went to the pathology lab for testing.

exposure: After exposure to measles, the child was kept home from school.

incidence: The incidence of flu rises every winter.

infection: Redness and pus around the cut were signs of infection.

trauma: The patient arrived with head trauma after a fall from a ladder.

dysfunction: Tests showed thyroid dysfunction behind the patient's weight change.

paroxysmal: The child had a paroxysmal cough that came in violent fits.

complication: Pneumonia was a complication of the patient's flu.

status: The nurse updated the doctor on the patient's status every hour.

remission: After treatment, the patient's cancer went into remission.

malignant: The biopsy showed that the lump was malignant.

benign: The patient was relieved to learn the mole was benign.

susceptible: Older adults are more susceptible to complications from the flu.

bacteria: The lab grew bacteria from the patient's urine sample.

virus: Antibiotics do not work against a virus such as the common cold.

parasite: Head lice are parasites that feed on blood from the scalp.

rampant: Infection was rampant in the crowded shelter.

focal: The patient had focal weakness in the right hand only.

debilitating: Debilitating migraines kept the patient home from work for days.

contagious: Chickenpox is very contagious, so the child stayed home from school.

terminal: The family gathered after learning the patient's illness was terminal.

Pearl

Benign is not cancer and stays put; malignant is cancer and tends to spread.

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