Malaise
| Malaise | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Discomfort, uneasiness |
| Pronunciation | |
| Specialty | Family medicine,Internal medicine,Pediatrics,Geriatrics,Psychiatry,Clinical psychology |
| Symptoms | Feeling of uneasiness or discomfort |
| Diagnostic method | Based on symptoms |
| Differential diagnosis | Pain,anxiety,depression |
Inmedicine,malaiseis a feeling of generaldiscomfort,uneasiness or lack of wellbeing and often the first sign of aninfectionor other disease.[1]The word has existed inFrenchsince at least the 12th century.
The term is often usedfigurativelyin other contexts, in addition to its meaning as a general state ofangstormelancholia.
Cause[edit]
Malaise is anon-specific symptomand can be present in the slightest ailment, such as anemotion(causing fainting, avasovagal response) or hunger (lighthypoglycemia[2]), to the most serious conditions (cancer,stroke,heart attack,internal bleeding,etc.).
Malaise expresses a patient's uneasiness that "something is not right" that may need a medical examination to determine the significance.
Malaise is thought to be caused by the activation of an immune response, and the associated pro-inflammatorycytokines.[3]
Figurative use[edit]
"Economic malaise"refers to an economy that is stagnant or inrecession(comparedepression). The term is particularly associated with the1973–75 United States recession.[4]An era of American automotive history, centered around the 1970s, is similarly called the "malaise era."
The "Crisis of Confidence" speech made by US PresidentJimmy Carterin 1979 is commonly referred to as the "malaise speech",although the word itself was not actually in the speech.[5]
See also[edit]
Notes and references[edit]
- ^"Malaise: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia".medlineplus.gov.Archivedfrom the original on 2016-09-16.
- ^Sommerfield, Andrew J.; Deary, Ian J.; McAulay, Vincent; Frier, Brian M. (1 February 2003)."Short-Term, Delayed, and Working Memory Are Impaired During Hypoglycemia in Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes".Diabetes Care.26(2): 390–396.doi:10.2337/diacare.26.2.390.PMID12547868.Archivedfrom the original on 13 September 2016 – via care.diabetesjournals.org.
- ^Dantzer, Robert (1 December 2016)."Cytokine, Sickness Behavior, and Depression".Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America.29(2): 247–264.doi:10.1016/j.iac.2009.02.002.ISSN0889-8561.PMC2740752.PMID19389580.
- ^One example can be found inThe Next 200 Years: A Scenario for America and the World,byHerman Kahnet al., published in 1976, p. 2.
- ^""Crisis of Confidence" Speech (July 15, 1979) ".Miller Center, University of Virginia. Archived fromthe original(text and video)on July 21, 2009.
