In medicine, any disease is classified asymptomatic if a patient tests as carrier for a disease or infection but experiences no

symptoms Signs and symptoms are the observed or detectable signs, and experienced symptoms of an disease, illness, injury, or condition. A sign for example may be a higher or lower temperature than normal, raised or lowered blood pressure or an abnormali ...

. Whenever a medical condition fails to show noticeable symptoms after a diagnosis it might be considered asymptomatic. Infections of this kind are usually called subclinical infections. Diseases such as

mental illnesses A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

or psychosomatic conditions are considered subclinical if they present some individual symptoms but not all those normally required for a clinical diagnosis. The term clinically silent is also found. Producing only a few, mild symptoms, disease is paucisymptomatic. Symptoms appearing later, after an asymptomatic incubation period, mean a pre-symptomatic period has existed.

Importance

Knowing that a condition is asymptomatic is important because: * It may develop symptoms later and only then require treatment. * It may resolve itself or become benign. * It may be contagious, and the contribution of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections to the transmission level of a disease helps set the required control measures to keep it from spreading. * It is not required that a person undergo treatment. It does not cause later medical problems such as

high blood pressure Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

and hyperlipidaemia. * Be alert to possible problems: asymptomatic

hypothyroidism Hypothyroidism (also called ''underactive thyroid'', ''low thyroid'' or ''hypothyreosis'') is a disorder of the endocrine system in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. It can cause a number of symptoms, such as po ...

makes a person vulnerable to Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome or beri-beri following

intravenous Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutrie ...

glucose. * For some conditions, treatment during the asymptomatic phase is vital. If one waits until symptoms develop, it is too late for survival or to prevent damage.

Mental health

Subclinical or subthreshold conditions are those for which the full diagnostic criteria are not met and have not been met in the past, although symptoms are present. This can mean that symptoms are not severe enough to merit a diagnosis, or that symptoms are severe but do not meet the criteria of a condition. The DSM-5 has a range of subclinical diagnoses called "other specified" and "unspecified" disorders to fit this category, including Other specified feeding or eating disorder and other specified personality disorder and unspecified personality disorder.

Examples

An example of an asymptomatic disease is

cytomegalovirus ''Cytomegalovirus'' (''CMV'') (from ''cyto-'' 'cell' via Greek - 'container' + 'big, megalo-' + -''virus'' via Latin 'poison') is a genus of viruses in the order ''Herpesvirales'', in the family ''Herpesviridae'', in the subfamily ''Betaherpe ...

(CMV) which is a member of the herpes virus family. "It is estimated that 1% of all newborns are infected with CMV, but the majority of infections are asymptomatic." (Knox, 1983; Kumar et al. 1984) In some diseases, the proportion of asymptomatic cases can be important. For example, in

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

it is estimated that around 25% of the cases are asymptomatic, with these cases detected postmortem or just by coincidence (as incidental findings) while treating other diseases.

List

These are conditions for which there is a sufficient number of documented individuals that are asymptomatic that it is clinically noted. For a complete list of asymptomatic infections see subclinical infection. * Balanitis xerotica obliterans * Benign lymphoepithelial lesion * Cardiac shunt * Carotid artery dissection * Carotid bruit * Cavernous hemangioma * Chloromas (Myeloid sarcoma) *

Cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

Chronic myelogenous leukemia Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), also known as chronic myeloid leukemia, is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulat ...

* Coeliac disease *

Coronary artery disease Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial ischemia, or simply heart disease, involves the reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to build-up of atherosclerotic pla ...

Coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

* Cowpox * Diabetic retinopathy *

Essential fructosuria Essential fructosuria, caused by a deficiency of the enzyme hepatic fructokinase, is a clinically benign condition characterized by the incomplete metabolism of fructose in the liver, leading to its excretion in urine. Fructokinase (sometimes ca ...

* Flu or

Influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

strains *

Folliculosebaceous cystic hamartoma Folliculosebaceous cystic hamartoma abbreviated as (FSCH) is a rare cutaneous hamartoma consisting of dilated folliculosebaceous units invested in mesenchymal elements. it typically affects adults, have a predilection for the central face or sca ...

* Glioblastoma multiforme (occasionally) * Glucocorticoid remediable aldosteronism * Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency * Hepatitis * Hereditary elliptocytosis * Herpes * Heterophoria *

Human coronaviruses Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the c ...

(common cold germs) * Hypertension (high blood pressure) * Histidinemia * HIV (

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

) * HPV *

Hyperaldosteronism Hyperaldosteronism is a medical condition wherein too much aldosterone is produced by the adrenal glands, which can lead to lowered levels of potassium in the blood (hypokalemia) and increased hydrogen ion excretion (alkalosis). This cause of min ...

* hyperlipidaemia *

Hyperprolinemia Hyperprolinemia is a condition which occurs when the amino acid proline is not broken down properly by the enzymes proline oxidase or 1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase, pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase, causing a buildup of proline in t ...

type I *

Hypothyroidism Hypothyroidism (also called ''underactive thyroid'', ''low thyroid'' or ''hypothyreosis'') is a disorder of the endocrine system in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. It can cause a number of symptoms, such as po ...

Hypoxia Hypoxia means a lower than normal level of oxygen, and may refer to: Reduced or insufficient oxygen * Hypoxia (environmental), abnormally low oxygen content of the specific environment * Hypoxia (medical), abnormally low level of oxygen in the tis ...

(some cases) *

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), also known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or immune thrombocytopenia, is a type of thrombocytopenic purpura defined as an isolated low platelet count with a normal bone marrow in the absence of oth ...

Iridodialysis Iridodialysis is a localized separation or tearing away of the iris from its attachment to the ciliary body.Cline D; Hofstetter HW; Griffin JR. ''Dictionary of Visual Science''. 4th ed. Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston 1997. Cassin, B. and Solomon, ...

(when small) * Lesch–Nyhan syndrome (female carriers) * Levo-Transposition of the great arteries *

Measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

* Meckel's diverticulum *

Microvenular hemangioma Microvenular hemangioma is an acquired benign vascular tumor that presents as an asymptomatic, slowly growing, 0.5- to 2.0 cm reddish lesion A lesion is any damage or abnormal change in the tissue of an organism, usually caused by disease ...

Mitral valve prolapse Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a valvular heart disease characterized by the displacement of an abnormally thickened mitral valve leaflet into the left atrium during systole. It is the primary form of myxomatous degeneration of the valve. There ar ...

* Monkeypox *

Monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis Monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBL) is an asymptomatic condition in which individuals have increased blood levels of particular subtypes of monoclonal lymphocytes (i.e. an aberrant and potentially malignant group of lymphocytes produced by a sing ...

* Myelolipoma *

Optic disc pit Optic pit, optic nerve pit, or optic disc pit (ODP) is rare a congenital excavation (or regional depression) of the optic disc (also optic nerve head), resulting from a malformation during development of the eye. The incidence of ODP is 1 in 10,0 ...

Osteoporosis Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to bone fragility, and consequent increase in fracture risk. It is the most common reason for a broken bone ...

* Pertussis (whooping cough) * Pes cavus *

Poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

Polyorchidism Polyorchidism is the incidence of more than two testicles. It is a very rare congenital disorder, with fewer than 200 cases reported in medical literature and six cases (two horses, two dogs and two cats) in veterinary literature. Polyorchidism i ...

Pre-eclampsia Pre-eclampsia is a disorder of pregnancy characterized by the onset of high blood pressure and often a significant amount of protein in the urine. When it arises, the condition begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy. In severe cases of the disease ...

Prehypertension Prehypertension, also known as high normal blood pressure and borderline hypertensive (BH), is a medical classification for cases where a person's blood pressure is elevated above optimal or normal, but not to the level considered hypertension (hi ...

Protrusio acetabuli ''Protrusio acetabuli'' is an uncommon defect of the ''acetabulum'', the socket that receives the femoral head to make the hip joint. The hip bone of the pelvic bone/girdle is composed of three bones, the ilium (bone), ilium, the ischium and the p ...

* Pulmonary contusion *

Renal tubular acidosis Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is a medical condition that involves an accumulation of acid in the body due to a failure of the kidneys to appropriately acidify the urine. In renal physiology, when blood is filtered by the kidney, the filtrate pas ...

Rubella Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...

* Smallpox (extinct since the 1980s) * Spermatocele *

Sphenoid wing meningioma A sphenoid wing meningioma is a benign brain tumor near the sphenoid bone. Pathogenesis A meningioma is a benign brain tumor. It originates from the arachnoid mater, arachnoid (not the dura), the tissue covering the brain and spinal cord lying ...

* Spider angioma *

Splenic infarction Splenic infarction is a condition in which blood flow supply to the spleen is compromised, leading to partial or complete infarction (tissue death due to oxygen shortage) in the organ. Splenic infarction occurs when the splenic artery or one of i ...

(though not typically) *

Subarachnoid hemorrhage Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the brain. Symptoms may include a severe headache of rapid onset, vomiting, decreased level of consci ...

* Tonsillolith * Tuberculosis * Type II diabetes * Typhus *

Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN) is a condition that describes premalignant histological findings in the vagina characterized by dysplastic changes. The disorder is rare and generally has no symptoms. VAIN can be detected by the presenc ...

* Varicella (chickenpox) * Wilson's disease Millions of women reported lack of symptoms during pregnancy until the point of childbirth or the beginning of labor; they didn't know they were pregnant. This phenomenon is known as cryptic pregnancies.

References

{{Reflist Medical terminology Symptoms

Importance

Mental health

Examples

List

See also

References