A disease refers to any anomaly or disturbance in the body's normal functioning that has identifiable symptoms and a specific cause. It could be a result of external factors or due to internal dysfunctions. In humans, the term is used to mention conditions that cause dysfunction, pain, social problems, distress, and sometimes even death to the afflicted individual. In a broader sense, the term 'disease' at times includes injuries, disorders, disabilities, infections, syndromes, deviant behaviors, isolated symptoms, and unusual variations of function and structure. Many disorders and diseases can be prevented through a number of means such as proper nutrition, sanitation, vaccinations, adequate exercise, and other public health and self-care measures.
Medical tests play a very important role in the early detection of diseases in an individual. Instead of looking for medical help once the symptoms are detected, early detection tests can help one identify the problem and decide on a course of action. Prenatal screening, for example, can help detect abnormalities in a woman and the baby, and these abnormalities can accordingly be treated. One of the most common test that doctors may recommend as part of a person's routine check-up is a blood test. Other types of tests include imaging test and genetic test.
With a few exceptions, dysfunction and disease do not develop very quickly. They tend to show up slowly over many years as overt and subtle signs of health loss that are ignored by an individual. One of the quickest ways through which an individual can restore his/her well being and health is by avoiding indulging in things that may have caused the problem in the first place and providing the body with missing nutrients so that it can rebuild and restore itself to optimal health. Some of the main causes of acceleration of dysfunction and disease can be differentiated as follows:
In a broad sense, disease can be categorized or differentiated as communicable and non-communicable disease. Disease can also be classified into the following categories, though one might find a great deal of overlap among the various classes.
Medical tests refer to a type of medical procedure that helps detect, evaluate, or diagnose disease, processes vulnerability of an individual, and helps an individual as well as his/her health care providers determine the right course of treatment. Medical tests and procedures are extremely important to help diagnose a disease. It is important that one is able to detect health problems before it is too late to cure them. Some testing procedures have risks involved and may require general anesthesia. On the flip side, tests such as a pap smear or blood tests have very little risks involved. As mentioned earlier, tests are important for early detection and doctors' advice regular check-ups (including blood tests as well as imaging tests) after a certain age.
There are a number of tests that are available. These tests could be specialized tests that are conducted for a particular type of disorder or a group of disorders that are related. Some other tests are generally used for a range of disorders. There are three types of tests, namely, diagnostic, screening, and evaluation.