*disease*

[ Named for Dr. Basedow, a German physician. ] (Med.) A disease characterized by enlargement of the thyroid gland, prominence of the eyeballs, and inordinate action of the heart; -- called also exophthalmic goiter. Flint. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) the popular name for a form of the chronic lung disease pneumoconiosis which is observed among coal miners, and is caused by the inhalation of coal dust. It is thus named because of the black appearance of the lungs (pneumomelanosis) of those affected with the disease. See also the related condition anthracosis. [ PJC. ]

[ From Dr. Bright of London, who first described it. ] (Med.) An affection of the kidneys, usually inflammatory in character, and distinguished by the occurrence of albumin and renal casts in the urine. Several varieties of Bright's disease are now recognized, differing in the part of the kidney involved, and in the intensity and course of the morbid process. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Med.) A disease frequently induced by remaining for some time in an atmosphere of high pressure, as in caissons, diving bells, etc. It is characterized by neuralgic pains and paralytic symptoms. It is caused by the release of bubbles of gas, usually nitrogen, from bodily fluids into the blood and tissues, when a person, having been in an environment with high air pressure, moves to a lower pressure environment too rapidly for the excess dissolved gases to be released through normal breathing. It may be fatal, but can be reversed or alleviated by returning the affected person to a high air pressure, and then gradually decreasing the pressure to allow the gases to be released from the body fluids. It is a danger well known to divers. It is also called the bends and decompression sickness. It can be prevented in divers by a slow return to normal pressure, or by using a breathing mixture of oxygen combined with a gas having low solubility in water, such as helium. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

n. [ Carlos Chagas, a physician in Brazil, 1879-1934 ] a form of trypanosomiasis caused by infection with Trypamosoma cruzi, found principally in South America. It is transmitted by certain species of reduviid bugs, and has natural reservoirs in dogs, armadillos, rodents and other domestic and wild mammals. Stedman's Med. Dict., Dorland's Illustr. Med. Dict.
Syn. -- South Amercian trypanosomiasis, Chagas-Cruz disease. [ PJC ]

. (Med.) A disease communicable by contact with a patient suffering from it, or with some secretion of, or object touched by, such a patient. Most such diseases have already been proved to be germ diseases, and their communicability depends on the transmission of the living germs. Many germ diseases are not contagious, some special method of transmission or inoculation of the germs being required. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Diseased p. pr. & vb. n. Diseasing. ] 1. To deprive of ease; to disquiet; to trouble; to distress. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

His double burden did him sore disease. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To derange the vital functions of; to afflict with disease or sickness; to disorder; -- used almost exclusively in the participle diseased. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was diseased in body and mind. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. disese, OF. desaise; des- (L. dis-) + aise ease. See Ease. ] 1. Lack of ease; uneasiness; trouble; vexation; disquiet. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

So all that night they passed in great disease. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

To shield thee from diseases of the world. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An alteration in the state of the body or of some of its organs, interrupting or disturbing the performance of the vital functions, and causing or threatening pain and weakness; malady; affection; illness; sickness; disorder; -- applied figuratively to the mind, to the moral character and habits, to institutions, the state, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Diseases desperate grown,
By desperate appliances are relieved. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public counsels have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have every where perished. Madison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Disease germ. See under Germ.

Syn. -- Distemper; ailing; ailment; malady; disorder; sickness; illness; complaint; indisposition; affection. -- Disease, Disorder, Distemper, Malady, Affection. Disease is the leading medical term. Disorder mean&unr_; much the same, with perhaps some slight reference to an irregularity of the system. Distemper is now used by physicians only of the diseases of animals. Malady is not a medical term, and is less used than formerly in literature. Affection has special reference to the part, organ, or function disturbed; as, his disease is an affection of the lungs. A disease is usually deep-seated and permanent, or at least prolonged; a disorder is often slight, partial, and temporary; malady has less of a technical sense than the other terms, and refers more especially to the suffering endured. In a figurative sense we speak of a disease mind, of disordered faculties, and of mental maladies. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Afflicted with disease. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is my own diseased imagination that torments me. W. Irving.

Syn. -- See Morbid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being diseased; a morbid state; sickness. [ R. ] T. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Causing uneasiness. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Disgraceful to the king and diseaseful to the people. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Abounding with disease; producing diseases; as, a diseaseful climate. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being diseaseful; trouble; trial. [ R. ] Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Uneasiness; inconvenience. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ So called after Dr. Graves, of Dublin. ] Same as Basedow's disease. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Med.) A morbid condition characterized by progressive anæmia and enlargement of the lymphatic glands; -- first described by Dr. Hodgkin, an English physician.

. (a) Any disease caused by the entrance, growth, and multiplication of microorganisms in the body; a germ disease. It may not be contagious. (b) Sometimes, as distinguished from contagious disease, such a disease communicated by germs carried in the air or water, and thus spread without contact with the patient, as measles. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A convulsive tic similar to or identical with miryachit, observed among the woodsmen of Maine. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. Infectious mononucleosis; -- so called because often spread by kissing. [ PJC ]

. (Veter.) A chronic nervous affection of cattle, horses, and sheep, caused by eating the loco weed and characterized by a slow, measured gait, high step, glassy eyes with defective vision, delirium, and gradual emaciation. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Med.) A disease characterized by deafness and vertigo, resulting in incoordination of movement. It is supposed to depend upon a morbid condition of the semicircular canals of the internal ear. Named after Ménière, a French physician. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A disease causing parkinsonism, a degenerative nervous disorder; sometimes used loosely as a synonym for parkinsonism. More precisely, parkinson's disease is the term for the underlying physiological disorder and parkinsonism is the term for the set of symptoms associated with the disease. See parkinsonism.
Syn. -- paralysis agitans, Parkinsonism, Parkinson's disease syndrome, shaking palsy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

Parkinson's disease is the most common form of parkinsonism, a group of disorders that are the result of the loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. Mayo Clinic (Report, 1999) [ PJC ]

According to the National Parkinson's Foundation (NPF), 1 million Americans -- including former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, and television and film star Michael J. Fox -- are affected by Parkinson's disease. Mayo Clinic (Report, 1999) [ PJC ]

(Med.) Caries of the vertebræ, frequently resulting in curvature of the spine and paralysis of the lower extremities; -- so named from Percival Pott, an English surgeon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pott's fracture, a fracture of the lower end of the fibula, with displacement of the tibia. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) A rare hereditary disease affecting lipid metabolism in humans, due to a deficiency of hexosaminidase. It occurs in infants and children, and causes death before the onset of adulthood. It occurs most commonly of people of Jewish origin from easter Europe. It is characterized by accumulation of lipids in nervous tissue, causes a red spot on the retina, and eventual blindness and paralysis before death. [ PJC ]

[ From Thomsen, a physician of Sleswick. ] (Med.) An affection apparently congenital, consisting in tonic contraction and stiffness of the voluntary muscles occurring after a period of muscular inaction. [ 1913 Webster ]