biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

, the term self-limiting may describe a medical condition, or it may describe an organism or colony. __TOC__

Self-limiting organisms and colonies

A self-limiting organism or colony of organisms limits its own growth by its actions. For example, a single organism may have a maximum size determined by

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

, or a colony of organisms may release waste which is ultimately toxic to the colony once it exceeds a certain

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

. In some cases, the self-limiting nature of a colony may be advantageous to the continued survival of the colony, such as in the case of

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

s. If their numbers became too high, they would kill the host, and thus themselves. In other cases, self-limitation restricts the viability of predators, thus ensuring the long-term survival of rare species.

Self-limiting medical conditions

When referring to a medical condition the term may imply that a condition would run its course without the need of external influence, especially any medical treatment. However, the fact that a condition may be self-limiting does not mean that medical treatment would not bring the condition or its symptoms to an end more quickly, or that such medical attention would be unnecessary in severe cases.

References

Parasitology {{biology-stub