Idiopathic disease in the context of "Physiological response"

Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor and non-motor systems. The motor symptoms are collectively called parkinsonism and include tremors, bradykinesia (slowness in initiating movement), rigidity, and postural instability (difficulty maintaining balance). Non-motor symptoms such as dysautonomia (autonomic nervous system failures), sleep abnormalities, anosmia (decreased ability to smell), and behavioral changes or neuropsychiatric problems, such as cognitive impairment, psychosis, and anxiety, may appear at any stage of the disease. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become more prevalent as the disease progresses.

Most Parkinson's disease cases are idiopathic, though contributing factors have been identified. Pathophysiology involves progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the substantia nigra, a midbrain region that provides dopamine to the basal ganglia, a system involved in voluntary motor control. The cause of this cell death is poorly understood, but involves the aggregation of alpha-synuclein into Lewy bodies within neurons. Other potential factors involve genetic and environmental influences, medications, lifestyle, and prior health conditions.

Signs and symptoms are diagnostic indications of an illness, injury, or condition. While signs are objective and externally observable; symptoms are a person's reported subjective experiences.

A sign, for example, can be an elevated or lower than normal temperature or blood pressure; or an abnormal finding showing on medical imaging. A symptom is something out of the ordinary that is experienced by an individual such as feeling feverish, a headache or other pains in the body. Symptoms can be a result of the immune system's response to an infection, the physical manifestation of an abnormal body condition, or the effect of a consumed substance. Symptoms, though often indicative of a disease process, are not always diagnostically relevant, and can be idiopathic in nature.

Signs and symptoms are diagnostic indications of an illness, injury, or condition. While signs are objective and externally observable, symptoms are a person's reported subjective experiences.

A sign, for example, can be an elevated or lower than normal temperature or blood pressure; or an abnormal finding showing on medical imaging. A symptom is something out of the ordinary that is experienced by an individual such as feeling feverish, a headache or other pains in the body. Symptoms can be a result of the immune system's response to an infection, the physical manifestation of an abnormal body condition, or the effect of a consumed substance. Symptoms, though often indicative of a disease process, are not always diagnostically relevant, and can be idiopathic in nature.

Back pain (Latin: dorsalgia) is pain felt in the back. It may be classified as neck pain (cervical), middle back pain (thoracic), lower back pain (lumbar) or coccydynia (tailbone or sacral pain) based on the segment affected. The lumbar area is the most common area affected. An episode of back pain may be acute, subacute or chronic depending on the duration. The pain may be characterized as a dull ache, shooting or piercing pain or a burning sensation. Discomfort can radiate to the arms and hands as well as the legs or feet, and may include numbness or weakness in the legs and arms.

The majority of back pain is nonspecific and idiopathic. Common underlying mechanisms include degenerative or traumatic changes to the discs and facet joints, which can then cause secondary pain in the muscles and nerves and referred pain to the bones, joints and extremities. Diseases and inflammation of the gallbladder, pancreas, aorta and kidneys may also cause referred pain in the back. Tumors of the vertebrae, neural tissues and adjacent structures can also manifest as back pain.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs become scarred over time. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a dry cough, feeling tired, weight loss, and nail clubbing. Complications may include pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failure, pneumothorax, and lung cancer.

Causes include environmental pollution, certain medications, connective tissue diseases, infections, and interstitial lung diseases. But in most cases the cause is unknown (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). Diagnosis may be based on symptoms, medical imaging, lung biopsy, and lung function tests.